Nutella Ganache Covered Cheesecake

Don’t blink. Because if you do, a decade passes. Just like that.

Life changes.

History changes.

Loved ones lost.

Children born.

Houses become homes.

Farewells turn into new beginnings.

Relationships tested.

Knowledge gained.

Love strengthened.

10 years ago today, I married the man I have grown to love more and more each day, in ways I could have never understood a decade ago. The years have brought us closer, and we have been blessed, in so many ways. I share glimpses of this with you. And I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without him.

So, something sweet. This Nutella Ganache Covered Cheesecake represents so much of our ten years of marriage. There is the sweet, there is the savory. There is the appreciation of the unknown (you may be surprised to learn that this Nutellaholic married a man who did not understand the virtues of chocolate hazelnut until recently – proof that we all can learn to love something new, if only we try). There is the nostalgic (the day I met my husband, I ate a chocolate dipped cheesecake). There is the shared (we both love a good New York style cheesecake).

I have long been on the hunt for a New York style cheesecake recipe that reminds me of the dense yet fluffy creations I grew up on back East. Many versions later, I think I have finally found one that works, for now. I turned to Ina Garten; if anyone would understand a good cheesecake, surely she might…and she did not let me down.

Celebrate with us – celebrate those milestones – appreciate the sweetness of love.

Nutella Ganache Covered Cheesecake

You will need a 9-inch spring-form pan.

Ingredients:

For the crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (10 crackers)
1 tablespoon sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the ganache:
Please refer to this simple but perfect recipe from Maris at In Good Taste: Chocolate Nutella Ganache.

For the filling:
5 8oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 whole large eggs, at room temperature
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Optional garnish:
Ferrero Rocher Fine Hazelnut Chocolates

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a food processor or blender, process graham crackers till fine. If you don’t have a food processor, you can also place the crackers in a resealable bag and crush with a rolling pin. Add butter and sugar, and combine. Pour into pan, pressing down with fingers or measuring cup. Bake in the oven for about 8 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

Make the Chocolate Nutella Ganache. Use just enough (about 1/3 cup) to lightly coat the crust. Place in the refrigerator while you make the filling.

Raise the oven temperature to 450°F.

Make the filling. In a bowl of an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and sugar on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes. The mixture should be light and fluffy. Lower the mixer speed to medium and add the eggs and egg yolks, a couple at a time, scraping down the bowl periodically. Lower the mixer speed to low and add the sour cream, lemon zest and vanilla extract. Pour into the refrigerated crust.

Place the pan on a foil covered baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn down the oven to 225°F and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn the oven off and open the oven door. Let the cheesecake sit in the opened oven untouched for 30 minutes. Carefully remove the cheesecake from the oven and allow it to cool completely at room temperature for three hours. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The following day, carefully remove the cheesecake out of the pan: run a wet knife along the edge of the pan then unlatch the sides to remove. Stir the ganache to soften. Carefully and slowly pour the ganache over the cheesecake, starting in the center and allowing the ganache to move outwards and over the edge and sides of the cake, if you wish. Garnish with Ferrero Rocher Chocolates. Return to refrigerator and chill until the ganache is firm before serving.

Cheesecake recipe adapted from Ina Garten's Raspberry Cheesecake, via Food Network.

by Liren on September 2, 2011

42 Comments

« Previous Post

Tina@flourtrader — September 2, 2011 @ 4:35 am (#
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Happy anniversary! This is a stunning cheesecake and a great way to celebrate. I have bookmarked the recipe. Enjoy your special day with the one you love!
Noelle — September 2, 2011 @ 5:41 am (#
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How decadent! What a beautiful dessert! I will be thinking about this for a while. :D
Monet — September 2, 2011 @ 6:46 am (#
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Happy Anniversary! And what a wonderful and decadent way to celebrate. Just Beautiful! Thank you for sharing a delicious and inspiring recipe, my friend. I hope your weekend is full of laughter! Hugs from Austin.
Barbara | Creative Culinary — September 2, 2011 @ 7:26 am (#
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Happy Anniversary Liren to you and your husband and what a sweet post with an equally sweet treat. Beautiful sweet treat that is!
Lisa { AuthenticSuburbanGourmet } — September 2, 2011 @ 7:32 am (#
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Liren – congratulations to you and your hubby! It is funny how 10 years goes so quickly yet slow at the same time. This cheesecake is a great dessert to celebrate – delish! We have our 13 year anniversary coming up next week. Enjoy the long weekend ahead.
Elizabeth @ Saffron Lane — September 2, 2011 @ 8:17 am (#
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A very big congrats to you both, Liren! My husband would love this cheesecake — maybe for our five-year this month. Congrats again!
Olga @MangoTomato — September 2, 2011 @ 8:57 am (#
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Congratulations on such a wonderful celebration and to many more happy years together!
This dessert looks picture perfect.
Mindy — September 2, 2011 @ 9:09 am (#
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Aww, so sweet. The Dad and I just celebrated number 7. My how the time flies.
This looks AMAZING! I’ve never had much luck with cheesecake, but this is worth giving it another shot!
Maris (In Good Taste) — September 2, 2011 @ 9:58 am (#
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I love this! Happy anniversary and I am so glad you put my Nutella Ganache to good use!
Erin @ Dinners, Dishes and Desserts — September 2, 2011 @ 10:30 am (#
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Congratulations!! We celebrated our 10 year on Wednesday. This cheesecake looks absolutely amazing! Great way to celebrate!
The Farmers Wife — September 2, 2011 @ 12:34 pm (#
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Happy Anniversary! What a wonderful post, I love what you wrote. And this recipe… Exquisite! Love it!
Lisa — September 2, 2011 @ 1:07 pm (#
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This looks amazing! You had me at “nutella ganache.”

Many congrats to you and your husband on your anniversary!
Crystal's Cozy Kitchen — September 2, 2011 @ 2:26 pm (#
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Congrats on 10 years! Love the nutella ganache – all I can say is YUM!
kankana — September 2, 2011 @ 4:00 pm (#
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Happy Anniversary and wish you many many many more decades ! This is just the cake for celebration .. and I can’t help but drooolll
Priya — September 2, 2011 @ 4:02 pm (#
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Nutella Yum!!! Your blog looks good, I’m a new blogger.
My wishes for many more happy years to come….
Carolyn — September 2, 2011 @ 5:04 pm (#
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Liren, this is phenomenal! I love the whole post, and I will be hitting my 10-year anniversary with my husband in a little over a month, so it really spoke to me. Hope I can come up with a dessert this delicious!
Christine — September 2, 2011 @ 6:16 pm (#
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Congratulations! Your husband and you are lucky to have found each other. This is a heavenly and beautiful cheesecake to celebrate such as significant milestone.
merry jennifer — September 3, 2011 @ 12:25 pm (#
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I hope your anniversary was amazing!
Claire — September 3, 2011 @ 2:10 pm (#
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Happy anniversary! What a beautiful cheesecake
Cheri @ Kzoo Kitchen — September 3, 2011 @ 2:32 pm (#
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Happy Anniversary! September 2nd is also by birthday! Thank you for the amazing decadent dessert. I can’t wait to make it.
Jun Belen — September 3, 2011 @ 4:33 pm (#
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Beautiful cake to celebrate a momentous occasion. Happy Anniversary!!
Ann — September 3, 2011 @ 6:59 pm (#
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Yum! The cheesecake looks amazing! Happy Anniversary! It’s amazing how fast the time passes. I wish you many more happy years!
kristin eldridge photography — September 3, 2011 @ 7:10 pm (#
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Oh this looks so delicious! Adding to my list of ‘must dos!’
Tres Delicious — September 3, 2011 @ 7:45 pm (#
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Oh my…that looks delighting. I like it being so stylish and elegant.
Kim Bee — September 3, 2011 @ 11:22 pm (#
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Aw, this post just warmed my heart. Lovely, you really are an inspiration. This recipe is lovely.
Sasha @ The Procrastobaker — September 4, 2011 @ 2:21 am (#
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The ferrero rocher’s on top just win this for me! There are few better combinations than hazelnut and chocolate, and this cheesecake just looks phenomenal! Gorgeous recipe and photos indeed :)
skip to malou — September 4, 2011 @ 7:16 am (#
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Happy 10th anniversary. I tell you it gets sweeter every year and every step you travel together.
Keep the sweetness.. and keep the love always!

xo,
Malou
Jun — September 4, 2011 @ 8:04 am (#
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Happy anniversary! The cheesecake looks perfect!
natalie — September 4, 2011 @ 8:37 am (#
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Nutella is my favourite! This recipe looks perfect!
Russell at Chasing Delicious — September 4, 2011 @ 9:25 am (#
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Wow! This cheesecake looks incredible! Happy anniversary too. This looks like the perfect way to celebrate.
geisslein — September 4, 2011 @ 10:29 am (#
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The words for your husband are so heart touching…love this post! And I need trying to make this yummy looking cake! Greetings from germany, geisslein
joy — September 4, 2011 @ 5:40 pm (#
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The cheesecake looks great.
Stefanie — September 4, 2011 @ 11:04 pm (#
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Mmmm, nutella ganache…. genius! And even better on cheesecake! Beautiful pic. Makes me want to reach out and grab it! :)
Tobias @ T and Tea Cake — September 5, 2011 @ 5:39 am (#
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I have been eyeing this recipe since I have first seen it on foodgawker and tasteologie yesterday… Thought I should finally comment. ;)

This just sounds and looks like the perfect combination! The cheesecakelooks so light while the ganache so oozingly tempting and rich!

The happy anniversary! You words are so well put and touching.

Cheers,
Tobias
RavieNomNoms — September 6, 2011 @ 7:03 am (#
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Oh man, a cheesecake with nutella ganache? That is just like heaven…I am so very impressed! Your pictures are simply gorgeous as well.
Pingback: Dinner Party! « The List Queen
Jen — November 19, 2011 @ 9:05 pm (#
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Wow!
What an awesome cheesecake. I was going to make the below version but I think I will attempt your version instead.
http://www.wascene.com/food-drink/new-york-cheesecake-recipe/

Many thanks,
Jen
Lori — December 23, 2012 @ 10:57 am (#
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Hi there, going to attempt your beautiful cake today. Just wondering what you did with the ganache while the cake was in the fridge overnight. Did you put it in the fridge as well or leave it at room temperature? I’m thinking it should go in the fridge due to the cream, but I’m wondering if it will harden. Thanks!
Lori — December 23, 2012 @ 11:25 am (#
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I just realized the nutella won’t harden…was thinking it was chocolate :)
Pingback: 100 Nutella Recipes - Cookies, Cakes, Crepes + MORE!
Wafa Al-Alawi — May 5, 2013 @ 12:33 pm (#
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This looks like heaven!
One question though, is the lemon zest optional? I hate the lemony taste in cheesecake! I like to taste the cheese quite more, if it doesn’t taste like lemon in the filling then I’m still gonna use it but otherwise tell me to skip it.
This still looks amazing though, I’ve been googling “nutella cheesecake” but all the recipes mix the chocolate + cream cheese for the filling and this is just wanted I wanted!

Visit my blog if you’d like, doodles and poetry!

xx,
Wafa
- Liren replied: — May 5th, 2013 @ 3:34 pm
  
  Hi Wafa! I’m so glad you’d like to try the cheesecake! The lemon zest is optional but I assure you that it really does not make the filling taste like lemon, it’s quite subtle. But of course, if you really dislike lemon, then by all means, omit it! I hope you enjoy!