Directions
If you need to prepare a dessert for an important dinner and you want to surprise your guests with special preparation, try this white chocolate cheesecake with walnuts, almonds and caramel. As you may have noticed, it is a dessert that looks fantastic. This classic cheesecake exudes goodness from every pore. Crunchy on the outside and velvety filling, walnuts and almonds add an aromatic touch and unique texture.
As beautiful as this cheesecake is, making it is straightforward. As the only advice, it is better to cook it in the oven in a bain-marie, slowly, to prevent it from breaking and forming those annoying cracks during cooking. For the rest, the recipe is a piece of cake!
Ingredients and doses for making white chocolate cheesecake with walnuts, almonds and caramel
20 cm diameter pan
- 250 grams of digestive biscuits
- 60 grams of hazelnuts
- 20 grams of walnuts
- 80 grams of butter
- 3 grams of ground cinnamon
To make the filling
- 350 grams of white chocolate
- 80 grams of liquid cream
- 40 grams of sugar
- 40 grams of hazelnuts
- 40 grams of almonds
- 500 grams of cream cheese or robiola
- 200 grams of mascarpone
- 3 eggs
- 5 drops of vanilla essence
For the caramel and almond topping
- flakes of almonds
- 12 walnuts
- 220 grams of sugar
- 60 grams of butter
- 90 grams of fresh cream
How to make white chocolate cheesecake with walnuts, almonds and caramel
Let’s start with preparing the cheesecake base: put walnuts and hazelnuts in the mixer and chop until you get a fine flour. Remove and now crumble the digestive biscuits and when they are reduced to a powder, add the chopped walnuts and hazelnuts and the butter and blend for a few more minutes.
Line a 20 cm diameter mold with parchment paper, then lay the base dough inside and compact it also, remembering to make the edge, at least 3 cm are needed to contain the filling. Mash well to compact and then cook the cheesecake base in the hot oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes, then take it out of the oven.
Well, let’s move on to the preparation of the cheesecake filling. In a saucepan, melt the white chocolate with the cream, in a bain-marie, without haste. Stir until completely dissolved. Let it cool down.
Chop the almonds and hazelnuts until they are reduced to a coarse mush. Let’s say we don’t want flour because small fragments are needed to break the consistency of the filling.
Put the mascarpone, cream cheese or robiola, cream and sugar in the mixer bowl and start mixing with a whisk. At least 6-7 minutes are needed to whip the cheeses well. When the cheese is bubbly, add the eggs one time and incorporate them into the filling. Now take the melted chocolate and pour it a little at a time while the planetary mixer works. Add the vanilla, almonds and chopped hazelnuts.
Put the filling inside the mold with the base, helping to spread it evenly with a spatula. Level and put the mold in a plastic oven bag and let it adhere well to the mold. Be careful to fold it around the edge, the water must not enter, but the bag must not collapse on the cake as it cooks. Heat some water and pour it into a pan with high sides. Put the cheesecake inside. Be careful not to put too much water: 4 cm of water in the pan is more than enough. Bake the cheesecake at 160 degrees for 55-60 minutes in the preheated oven.
After 55 minutes, turn off, open the oven door and let the cheesecake cool.
Ok, don’t give up. We’re almost done! All that remains is to prepare the caramel for the final topping of the dessert and then we’re done.
The preparation of the caramel topping is effortless to do. Pour the sugar into a thick-bottomed saucepan, turn on the stove, start stirring and cook the sugar over medium-low heat. When the sugar turns brown, add the first 30 grams of butter cut into small pieces and stir. When the butter is incorporated, add the other 30 grams, stir and at the same time lower the heat to low. Pour in the cream being careful not to burn yourself from splashes or bubbles and cook for another 3 minutes, constantly stirring. Turn off the stove, stir a couple of times again, and let it cool for about ten minutes.
Pour the caramel over the cheesecake, cover it evenly and sprinkle a handful of almond flakes. If you want, make a frame of walnuts place them along the edge of the cheesecake.
Refrigerate and let it rest overnight. Serve it not quite at room temperature, taking it out of the refrigerator 15 minutes before slicing it.
Which wine goes well with white chocolate cheesecake with walnuts, almonds and caramel?
You need structure and a lot of sweetness in the wine to withstand this sweet, complex and fatty impact. Easy solutions could be sweet vermouth, port wine, Marsala, Madeira wine, Sherry, Brandy, Cognac and Calvados, sweet Champagne or a Malvasia dei Colli di Parma. The bubbles help degrease the palate, refreshing with good acidity.
