Cook Like a Rock Star - Anne Burrell [74]
FOR THE MOUSSE
1½ cups Nutella
½ cup mascarpone or cream cheese
1 cup heavy cream, chilled
FOR THE CAKE
1 Preheat the oven to 325°F.
2 Butter and flour a 9-inch round or square baking pan.
3 In a food processor, pulse the hazelnuts until coarsely chopped. Reserve.
4 In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, sugar, hazelnut paste, and vanilla. Using an electric mixer, beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
5 Beat in the eggs one at a time.
6 Add the baking powder, salt, and cocoa and beat to combine.
7 Gradually add the flour, stopping the beater when it is just combined.
8 Fold 1 cup of the chopped hazelnuts into the batter, reserving the rest for garnish.
9 Transfer the cake batter to the prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake.
10 Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pan, and let cool completely.
FOR THE MOUSSE
1 In a large mixing bowl, combine the Nutella and mascarpone.
2 In another large bowl, beat the heavy cream to soft peaks—you can use an electric beater here or just a whisk and good old-fashioned elbow grease.
3 Add a spoonful of the whipped cream to the Nutella mixture and stir until you don’t see any streaks.
4 Using a rubber spatula, fold a third of the remaining whipped cream into the Nutella mixture. To do this, lift the mixture gently from underneath, bring the spatula up, turn it over, and fold the mixture over as you rotate the bowl slowly. You want to do this gently; the point is to keep it fluffy and not squish the air out of the whipped cream. Repeat this process two more times with the remaining whipped cream. You’re done when you should have a fluffy, homogeneous mixture.
TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKES
1 Cut the cake into 3-inch squares or rounds and cut each of these in half equatorially.
2 Schmear the Nutella mousse on both the bottom and the top half of each of the hazelnut cakes, then give each of the cakes a light sprinkey-dink of the chopped hazelnuts. Place the top half back on the bottom and serve immediately.
That’s just hazel-NUTTY!
Goat Cheese Cheesecake with Spiced Nilla Wafer Crust
SERVES: 8 TO 12 • TIME: ABOUT 1½ HOURS, PLUS COOLING TIME
My favorite thing about cheesecake is the texture. I like a dry, dense New York–style cheesecake over a light, creamy one. By using goat cheese in addition to cream cheese, this recipe gives me a fabulous texture that’s slightly crumbly, a bit tangy, and has just the perfect hint of sweetness. Add to that a spectacularly spiced crust, and an old classic is totally new and exciting again!
MISE EN PLACE
FOR THE CRUST
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pan
2 cups Nilla wafer crumbs
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
2 grates of fresh nutmeg
Pinch of kosher salt
FOR THE FILLING
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 12-ounce log of goat cheese
12 ounces sour cream
4 large eggs
1½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
FOR THE CRUST
1 Butter a 9-inch springform pan.
2 In a large mixing bowl, combine the Nilla wafer crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and butter. Stir together until well combined and homogeneous.
3 Use your fingers to press the crumb mixture onto the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Reserve.
FOR THE FILLING
1 Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2 In an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and goat cheese together until light and fluffy. Add the sour cream and continue beating until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating in each until thoroughly mixed before adding the next one. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until just combined.
TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE
1 Pour the filling into the prepared crust. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes; rotate the baking sheet and cook for another 25 to 30 minutes or until the filling is set. If the filling starts to color, tent the springform pan with aluminum foil.
2 Remove the cake from the oven and let cool completely