Alvin Quah

METHOD:

Crush chocolate ripple biscuits until it resembles fine sand. Combine with hazelnut meal and melted butter and mix well. Press mixture down on the base of a 16cm springform pan. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Then add Nutella, sugar and thickened cream. Beat until well combined. Spread mixture on chilled biscuit base and smooth the surface with a palate knife. Refrigerate for at least 4hr or overnight.

For salted candied hazelnuts, first roast hazelnuts in 180C oven for 7 minutes. Remove from oven and wrap them in a tea towel and rub together to remove the skins of the hazelnuts. Discard the skins and set the roasted hazelnuts aside.

Place sugar and water in a saucepan. Over medium heat, melt sugar and continue to cook until the colour turns amber or golden brown. Immediately remove from heat and add hazelnuts to the toffee, making sure they are well coated. Tip candied hazelnuts on a flat surface on a piece of baking paper. When cool to touch, quickly but gently separate the individual hazelnuts and coat each one with ground sea salt.

To decorate cheesecake, remove cake from springform pan and carefully place each salted candied hazelnut on the rim of the cake.