Easy Cheesecake Recipe (Nigella Lawson)

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Nigella Lawson’s incredible chocolate cheesecake. A double chocolate cheesecake to die for!

NIGELLA  LAWSON CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE RECIPE

Lots of chocolate and cream cheese, some sour cream and heavy cream, digestives for the crust and more chocolate for the topping. A rich and delightful list of ingredients, this is what makes Nigella Lawson’s chocolate cheesecake recipe better than any other I know.

This was my first chocolate cheesecake ever. After taking the first bite I was speechless. As I am now! I really have no words to describe how unbelievably good Nigella Lawson’s chocolate cheesecake recipe was.

I am a big fan of Nigella Lawson, I think I have all her books and there are quite a few recipes I cooked out of them.

I love her books not only for the recipes but also because they are so readable, you don’t feel like you’re just looking through a cookbook, it is more than that. I like the way she uses the language, the way she talks about her recipes, she always finds the best words to describe the taste and texture of food.

And because I think I can hardly do this chocolate cheesecake justice when describing it, I will just use Nigella’s own words to describe it, two sentences actually, but such good sentences, there is no way in the world I could find better words:

“If you’d ever told me that I’d write a recipe for chocolate cheesecake, I’d have denied it in horror. In theory, the cheesecake purist within me shudders at the idea of something so unorthodox, but for some reason, I made one and I found that I shivered only with delight”.

I shivered with delight as well and so did every person who ate this cake. Nobody has ever had a chocolate cheesecake before, so they were all looking rather skeptical.

But of course, they all had to give it a try (or suffer my displeasure 🙂 ) and they were all awed. I could not recommend Nigella’s easy cheesecake recipe strongly enough.

INGREDIENTS

Digestives:

• Digestive biscuits are popular British biscuits originating in Scotland. They were developed by doctors in order to help digestion sometimes during the 19^th century.
• Nowadays, “the digestive is ranked the fourth most popular biscuit for dunking into tea among the British public, with the chocolate digestive coming in at number one.”
• Digestives are perfect for Nigella Lawson’s chocolate cheesecake recipe, but if you don’t have them, you can replace them with other kinds of biscuits, for instance, graham crackers.

Chocolate:

• I use good quality dark chocolate to make this easy cheesecake recipe.
• You will need chocolate for both the cheesecake and the chocolate glaze and I cannot say it often enough: a chocolate cake or dessert is only as good as the chocolate you use.
• I recommend the European style dark chocolate for best results.

Which cheese is used for cheesecake?

• In this case, lots of full-fat cream cheese, Philadelphia style and more dairy like sour cream and heavy cream.
• The remaining ingredients are regular cheesecake ingredients like unsalted butter, cream cheese, sugar, eggs, sour and heavy cream.

HOW DO YOU MAKE NIGELLA’S CHEESECAKE?

Prepare the springform tin:

• Nigella’s chocolate cheesecake will be baked in a water bath. I don’t do that often, but in this case, it is really worth it!
• You will have to prepare your baking dish properly so that no water will reach the chocolate cheesecake.
• Line a 20 cm/8-inch springform with a double layer of strong aluminum foil on the outside. Set aside.

How to make a digestive biscuit crust:

• Finely crush the digestives in a food processor until you obtain crumbs, then add the melted butter.
• Press the crumbs into the prepared springform tin and place in the fridge while you make the filling.

How to melt the chocolate:

• Place the finely chopped chocolate in a small metal bowl that would fit on top of a pan.
• Pour water in the pan, place the bowl with the chocolate on top but make sure that the water doesn’t touch the bowl.
• Heat the water gently, but do not let it come to a boil. Melt the chocolate, stirring often.

How to make the chocolate filling:

• Beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy, add the sugar, eggs and egg yolks one at a time, whisking well after each one.
• Add the sour cream and the lime juice and beat well.
• Pour the melted chocolate into the cream cheese mixture and fold it in gently until everything is smooth again.
• Pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared springform tin.

How to bake the double chocolate cheesecake:

• Place the prepared springform into a roasting tin.
• Boil water in a kettle and pour the water in the roasting tin to come 2 – 2 ½ cm/ ¾ – 1 inch up the sides of the cake pan.
• Bake for about 1 hour until the chocolate cheesecake is lightly browned around the edges and the center is just set on top, but still a bit wobbly underneath.
• Remove the aluminum foil and let cool on a wire rack at room temperature. Refrigerate once cool.
• Unmold and glaze before serving.

How to make the glaze:

• Place Nigella’s chocolate cheesecake on a large serving platter before glazing it.
• Place the finely chopped chocolate, heavy cream and golden syrup in a small pan.
• Heat gently while stirring all the time but don’t let it come to a boil.
• When the chocolate is almost melted remove from the heat and continue stirring until the mixture is smooth.
• Let cool for a few minutes.
• Pour some of the glaze over the cheesecake.
• Serve the remaining glaze on the side.

MORE CHEESECAKES?

Passion Fruit Cheesecake

Baked Blueberry Cheesecake with Lemon Curd

Strawberry Cheesecake with Cream Cheese and Yogurt

No-Bake Blueberry Lemon Curd Cheesecake

Crustless Cheesecake

German Cheesecake

My favorite Nigella Lawson books:

How To Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food

Nigella Bites: From Family Meals to Elegant Dinners — Easy, Delectable Recipes For Any Occasion

Feast: Food to Celebrate Life

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Easy Cheesecake Recipe (Nigella Lawson)

Nigella Lawson's incredible chocolate cheesecake. A double chocolate cheesecake to die for!

4.41 from 10 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Pies and Cheesecakes

Cuisine: English

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Servings: 8

Calories: 692kcal

Author: Adina

Equipment

• ▢
  springform

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients 

• ▢ Crust:
• ▢ 125 g/ 4.4 oz digestives See note 1
• ▢ 60 g/ 2 oz/ ¼ cup unsalted butter
• ▢ Filling:
• ▢ 500 g/ 18 oz/ 2 ¼ cups full-fat cream cheese
• ▢ 100 g/ 3.5 oz/ ½ cup sugar
• ▢ 3 large eggs
• ▢ 3 large egg yolks
• ▢ 150 g/ 5.3 oz/ 2/3 cups sour cream
• ▢ 1 teaspoon lime juice or more to taste
• ▢ 150 g/ 5.3 oz dark chocolate See note 2
• ▢ Glaze:
• ▢ 75 g/ 2.6 oz dark chocolate
• ▢ 125 ml/ 4.2 fl.oz/ ½ cup heavy cream
• ▢ 1 teaspoon golden syrup See note 3

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Line a 20 cm/8-inch springform with a double layer of strong aluminum foil on the outside.

Crust:

• Melt the butter.
• Place the digestives and the butter in a food processor and process until you get wet crumbs.
• Press the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan and place it in the fridge while you make the filling.

Filling:

• Beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy.
• Add the sugar and incorporate.
• Add the eggs and the egg yolks one at a time, whisking well after each one. Add the sour cream and the lime juice. Beat well.

Melt the chocolate:

• Place the finely chopped chocolate in a small metal bowl that fits on top of a pan.
• Pour water in the pan, place the bowl with the chocolate on top but make sure that the water doesn't touch the bowl.
• Heat the water gently, but do not let it come to a boil. Melt the chocolate, stirring often.
• Pour the melted chocolate into the cream cheese mixture and fold it in gently until everything is smooth again.

Bake:

• Place the prepared springform into a roasting tin. Boil water in a kettle and pour the water into the roasting tin to come 2 – 2 ½ cm/ ¾ – 1 inch up the sides of the cake pan.
• Bake for about 1 hour until the cake is lightly browned around the edges and the center is just set on top, but still a bit wobbly underneath.
• Remove the aluminum foil and let cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate.
• Unmold and glaze before serving.

Chocolate glaze:

• Place the cheesecake on a serving platter before glazing it.
• Place the finely chopped chocolate, heavy cream, and golden syrup in a small pan.
• Heat gently while stirring all the time but don't let it come to a boil.
• When the chocolate is almost melted remove from the heat and continue stirring until the mixture is smooth.
• Let cool for a few minutes, then pour some of the glaze over the cake.
• Serve the remaining glaze on the side.

Notes

1. Graham crackers can be used instead.
2. Use best quality dark chocolate. I recommend European style chocolate for best results.
3. Corn syrup can be used instead.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 692kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 53g | Saturated Fat: 30g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 18g | Cholesterol: 251mg | Sodium: 286mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 36g

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