There are times when only an indulgent dessert will do! Even better if it's a chocolate one, like this decadent Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake. It's rich, nutty, chocolatey, and oh-so creamy! And the best part? It's so simple to make!
Made with dark chocolate and real toasted hazelnuts (crushed coarsely for a delightful nutty texture and flavor), this chocolate hazelnut cheesecake is a showstopper! And for a cheesecake that looks as fancy as this, you'll be surprised at how easy it is to make!
I've always loved baked cheesecakes because of their creamy and smooth texture. And while it can seem tricky to make, they really are quite simple to make. The only "problem" is waiting for the cheesecake to set in the refrigerator! I usually like to make them the night before so they chill overnight. They are easy to take out of the pan the next day and cut neatly too.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
✨ With an incredibly rich and velvety texture, a little crunch from the hazelnuts, and a crisp chocolate crust, this chocolate cheesecake is truly heavenly for all chocolate lovers!
✨ Easy to make, no water bath, no complicated steps, making this cheesecake is really as easy as it gets!
✨ Made with real ingredients - dark chocolate and hazelnuts! No Nutella!
✨ This chocolate cheesecake is make-ahead friendly! It sets beautifully in the refrigerator overnight, making it a great dessert for stress-free entertaining!
✨ It's so versatile! This cheesecake is a dream on its own, but it pairs so well with a cherry sauce, chocolate ganache, fresh berries, or even a drizzle of caramel!
Reader Love ❤️
Absolutely loved this cake. Thank u for sharing. The cherry sauce on the top tasted absolutely divine and goes so well with the chocolate. Love your recipes.
Recipe Ingredients
Cream cheese: Use softened full-fat cream cheese. You can use store-bought or homemade cream cheese. You can also use ricotta cheese, like in this baked mango cheesecake.
Sugar: Use regular granulated sugar. You can also use superfine sugar as it blends in the batter very easily.
Greek yogurt: For that creamy tang! Full-fat plain Greek yogurt is the best. Also, make sure it's at room temperature!
Cream: I used 25% fat cream at room temperature in this recipe. Heavy cream will work just as well.
Eggs: Please use room temperature eggs.
All-purpose flour: I used all-purpose flour. It helps stabilize the batter and gives a firmer texture.
Chocolate: 55% or 70% dark chocolate is always my choice in baking. You can use a sweeter chocolate, too, if you prefer. Please pick the best-quality baking chocolate you can get.
Hazelnuts: Whole, raw hazelnuts are the best for this cheesecake. You can roast them in a skillet for a few minutes until golden and fragrant. Please cool them before grinding them to a coarse powder. You can also use store-bought hazelnut powder if that's easily available to you.
Please see the recipe below for full information about the ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake
This chocolate hazelnut cheesecake is a crowd favorite, and it's one of the easiest baked cheesecakes you'll ever make!
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F. Mix cocoa powder, crushed Marie biscuits, and melted butter in a small bowl.
Step 2: Press it down evenly at the bottom of your spring-form pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
Step 3: Make the filling - Beat the cream cheese, cream, Greek yogurt, flour, and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed.
Step 4: When this mixture is smooth, add the eggs. Beat on low speed until well combined.
Step 5: Stir in the vanilla extract, melted chocolate, and coarsely ground hazelnuts until well combined.
Step 6: Pour into the prepared crust. Carefully place in the oven and bake for about 45-55 minutes. Turn off the heat, slightly crack the door open, and allow to cool for 30 minutes.
Final step: Let the cake cool on the countertop for another hour and then refrigerate for at least 8 hours for it to set completely. Remove carefully from the pan, place on your serving plate, and serve with the cherry sauce on top.
How To Make The Red Wine Cherry Sauce
This cherry sauce is a lovely contrast to the rich chocolate base, and it comes together in just a few minutes!
- Combine cherries, sugar, water, and red wine in a small saucepan.
- Cook on medium heat for 10-15 minutes until the cherries are soft and bubbling.
- Add some more water or wine if the sauce looks too thick. If the sauce looks too watery, stir in the cornstarch mixture.
- Let the mixture come to a boil and turn off the heat. Taste and adjust for sweetness. Let the sauce cool completely. It will thicken as it cools.
Pro Tips
- Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.
- Allow the melted chocolate to cool to room temperature before adding to the batter.
- For enhanced hazelnut flavor, roast them before grinding. You can also add a tablespoon of hazelnut liqueur to the batter!
- Please don't overbeat the batter. You don't want to aerate it. Less air in the batter means the cake will be moist, dense, and rich.
- While using the electric beater to mix the ingredients, keep the speed at low. That will prevent incorporating too much air into the batter.
- Before baking the cheesecake, lightly tap on the counter to release any air bubbles in the batter.
- Once the center of the cheesecake feels slightly springy to the touch and wobbles just slightly, you should turn off the heat and crank the oven door open for about 30 minutes with the cake in the oven. This ensures that the top doesn't fall or crack.
- It's best to cool the cake in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
- I like to cover the bottom and sides of the springform cake pan with foil to avoid any instance of batter leaking out and messing up your oven. This is experience talking!
Serving the Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake
Though perfect served as is, this chocolate hazelnut cheesecake is also superb with chocolate ganache (like in this Bailey's cheesecake recipe), caramel sauce, fresh fruits, or fresh fruit sauces.
I particularly love using seasonal fruit sauces (as in this peach cheesecake! )for the topping and always make some extra, which goes on our ice cream bowls! And for this cake, we have the cherry sauce. Optional, but highly recommended!!
Store the leftover chocolate cheesecake with hazelnuts in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. You can also freeze the chocolate cheesecake without the sauce for up to 1 month. Thaw in the fridge, top with cherry sauce, and serve!
More Delicious & Easy Cheesecake Recipes
Half the joy of cooking is sharing it with others. That’s why I’m always eager to hear from you. So go right ahead & drop a comment or reach out on Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, or Facebook. I hope you love this chocolate hazelnut cheesecake as much as we do!
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake
Ingredients
CHEESECAKE CRUST
- 7 oz Marie biscuits, crushed
- 1/3 cup Butter, melted
- 1 Tbsp Cocoa powder
CHEESECAKE FILLING
- 2 1/4 cup Cream cheese
- 1/3 cup Cream
- 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup All purpose flour
- 3/4 cup Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1/3 cup Hazelnuts, coarsely ground
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup Dark chocolate, melted and cooled
RED WINE CHERRY SAUCE
- 1.5 cup Cherries, pitted
- 2 Tbsp Water
- 2 Tbsp Sugar
- 3 Tbsp Red wine You can use any red wine. If you don't want to use wine, substitute with balsamic vinegar or lemon juice.
- 1/2 tsp Cornstarch mixed with 2 tsp water Optional
Instructions
Cheesecake Crust
- Preheat your oven to 180 C / 350 F. Cover the outside of your 8" springform pan with foil.
- Mix cocoa powder, crushed Marie biscuits, and melted butter in a small bowl. Press it down evenly at the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 160 C while you're preparing the filling.7 oz (200g)Marie biscuits, crushed, 1/3 cup (100g)Butter, melted, 1 Tbsp Cocoa powder
Cheesecake Filling
- Beat the cream cheese, cream, Greek yogurt, flour, and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed.2 1/4 cup (520g) Cream cheese, 1/3 cup (80g) Cream, 1/3 cup (80g) Greek yogurt, 3/4 cup ( 150 g)Sugar, 1/4 cup (32g) All-purpose flour
- When this mixture is smooth, add the eggs, mixing well on low speed until incorporated.2 Eggs
- Stir in the vanilla extract, melted chocolate, and coarsely ground hazelnuts until well incorporated. Don't overbeat.1/2 cup Dark chocolate, melted and cooled(100 g), 1/3 cup Hazelnuts, coarsely ground(50 g), 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- Pour into the prepared crust. Carefully place in the oven and bake at 160 C / 320 F for about 45-55 minutes at 160 C. The top of the cake should look cooked, and the center should be a bit wobbly.
- Turn off the heat and slightly crack the door open and allow to cool for 30 minutes.
- Let the cake cool on the countertop for another hour and then refrigerate for at least 8 hours for it to set completely. Remove carefully from the pan, place on your serving platter, and serve with the cherry sauce on top.
Red Wine Cherry Sauce
- Combine cherries, sugar, water, and red wine in a small saucepan. Cook on medium heat for 15-20 minutes until the cherries are soft and bubbling. Add some more water or wine if the sauce looks too thick. If the sauce looks too watery, stir in the cornstarch mixture. Let the mixture come to a boil and turn off the heat. Taste and adjust for sweetness. Let the sauce cool completely. It will thicken as it cools. Serve atop the cheesecake. ENJOY!!!1.5 cup Cherries, pitted, 2 Tbsp Water, 2 Tbsp Sugar, 3 Tbsp Red wine
Video
Notes
- Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.
- Allow the melted chocolate to cool to room temperature before adding to the batter.
- For enhanced hazelnut flavor, roast them before grinding. You can also add a tablespoon of hazelnut liqueur to the batter!
- Please don't overbeat the batter. You don't want to aerate it. Less air in the batter means the cake will be moist, dense, and rich.
- While using the electric beater to mix the ingredients, keep the speed at low. That will prevent incorporating too much air into the batter.
- Before baking the cheesecake, lightly tap on the counter to release any air bubbles in the batter.
- Once the center of the cake feels slightly springy to the touch and wobbles just slightly, you should turn off the heat and crank the oven door open for about 30 minutes with the cake in the oven. This ensures that the top doesn't fall or crack.
- It's best to cool the cake in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
- I like to cover the bottom and sides of the springform cake pan with foil to avoid any instance of batter leaking out and messing up your oven. This is experience talking!
Lisa says
Absolutely loved this cake. Thank u for sharing. The cherry sauce on the top tasted absolutely divine and goes so well with the chocolate. Love your recipes.
Natasha Minocha says
Thank you very much, Lisa. I'm thrilled this cake turned out well for you. I really appreciate your support and love.xx
Karishma says
Hi, Is there any substitute for eggs ?
Natasha Minocha says
Hi Karishma, unfortunately, for this cake, I really don't think there is a substitute for eggs.