Strawberry Nutella Cheesecake

First, about the ingredients.

The strawberries will be baked together with the cheesecake itself, so use small and not very juicy berries of equal size. Unfortunately, frozen strawberries won’t work here, as they release too much juices.

We will use strawberry jam to top the prepared cheesecake. Take a thick, smooth jam that won’t be runny. If you want to use a preserve with whole berries, you should mash them finely and then add some syrup if needed. But it would be much more convenient to use a thick jam.

How to choose and prepare cottage cheese you can read here.

Prepare the crust. Place the cookies into a food processor and pulse into fine crumbs. You may also place the cookies in a bag and use a rolling pin to crush them.

Add cocoa powder and melted butter. Mix. You will get a consistency of wet sand.

Cover a 23 cm springform pan with a cookie sheet.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Pour the batter into the pan evening off the surface. Press firmly onto bottom of the pan.

Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 min. Take out and let chill to room temperature.

For the next baking reduce the temperature to 150 degrees Celsius.

Now let’s make the filling. In a mixing or a regular bowl, add mashed cottage cheese, eggs, powdered sugar and double cream. Process with a mixer until smooth. Don’t process too long otherwise the mixture can get too fluffy meaning it will puff up in the oven and then fall down.

Transfer 500 g of the mixture to a separate bowl. Add Nutella and mix until smooth.

To the rest of the mixture, add potato starch, vanilla sugar or vanilla beans, mix well.

Pour the Nutella mixture over the chilled crust. Even off the surface.

For the cheesecake to preserve its soft consistency and for the surface not to crack, bake using a water bath and a relatively low temperature – 150 degrees Celsius.

Use a large pan to fill with 3 cm layer of water. Place it on the bottom rack of the oven.

Place the pan with the first layer of the cheesecake on the middle rack of the oven.

Close the door and bake at 150 degrees Celsius for 30 min.

Meanwhile, wash the strawberries, remove the stems and pat them dry with a paper towel to get rid of any excess water.

30 min later the first layer of the filling will slightly thicken. Take the pan out of the oven, pour the remaining mixture over the first layer and smooth the surface.

Place the strawberries apart of each other on top of the cheesecake. Don’t place large strawberries too close to each other as they could release too much juices and the consistency of the cheesecake could not be perfect.

Bake at 150 degrees Celsius for another 45-60 min. Keep the air moist in the oven by filling the pan with water when necessary. Check for doneness by pressing the cheesecake in the center with your finger. Don’t use a toothpick or a match.

Try not to open the door while baking, the cheesecake is sensitive to temperature extremes.

While baking, the berries may release juices that will later dry. The surface of the done cheesecake will be dry.

When the cheesecake is tender in the center, turn off the oven and slightly open the door. Let the cheesecake chill in the oven for 1 hour. Then take it out of the oven and let chill to room temperate. Then place it in the fridge for at least 12 hours. It is extremely important! The cheesecake need to be refrigerated for at least 12 hours to take on its flavor and soft consistency. Based on my observations, the most delicious it gets in 24 hours. In other words, bake today in the evening, try tomorrow in the evening.

Before serving, take the cheesecake out of the fridge and top with the chilled strawberry jam.

The cut will be perfect if you use a hot dry knife. Pour some boiling water on the knife, pat dry and go on to cut.

How to serve:

Serve chilled with tea of coffee.

How to keep:

The cheesecake can be kept refrigerated for 2-3 days.

You can cover it with plastic wrap (without jam on top) and freeze. It can be kept frozen for months. Take out of the freezer before serving, defrost at room temperature, without removing the plastic wrap. Remove the wrap, top with the strawberry jam and serve.