Nutella Cheesecake (No Bake)

1. Oreo cookies – You can also use plain chocolate biscuits instead, such as Arnott’s Chocolate Ripple, but add 1 1/2 tbsp / 20g of butter. This is because Oreo cookies have a filling which is partly what helps bond the crust.

2. Gelatine – I use McKenzie’s brand, widely available at grocery stores in Australia.

3. Cream cheese – You must use BLOCK cream cheese which is firmer than the tub form, which is designed to be spreadable.

Cream cheese in the UK: If my understanding is correct, the block sort of Philadelphia cream cheese isn’t available in the UK. If this is true and you can only get spreadable, add an extra 1/2 tsp of gelatine in the blooming step to compensate for the softer cream cheese. I just made it this afternoon and it worked out practically the same!

4. Icing sugar – Note for Australians: It’s better to use SOFT icing sugar rather than PURE icing sugar, but it’s ok to use pure icing sugar in this recipe. Pure icing sugar sets hard and is used for things like royal icing. Soft icing sugar is mixed with tapioca/maize starch so it sets more softly, and is used for things like buttercream frosting.

5. Nutella – I’ve used non-Nutella brand hazelnut spreads successfully in the past.

Homemade Nutella – Though I haven’t tried it for this particular recipe, homemade Nutella would elevate this to epic-like status. However, you’ll need to add an extra 1/2 tsp of gelatine as homemade Nutella is runnier than store bought.

6. How to toast hazelnuts – Heat a pan over medium heat (no oil). Put the hazelnuts in and toast for 3 minutes, shaking the pan regularly, until you can start to smell strong nutty aromas. Remove from pan, cool, then chop reasonably finely (I like to chop it finely enough to have some “dust”)