Chocolate hazelnut cheesecake

The brown-butter cookies I tried from AmbitiousKitchen.com were really good, so I thought I'd try this chocolate-cheesecake recipe for Christmas. It uses Oreos for the crust and a Nutella ganache for icing.

Ingredients
25 Oreos
120 g (1 cup) hazelnuts
100 g melted butter (1/4 cup)

285 g dark chocolate (ideally, 72 %) chopped
180 g (3/4 cup) plain yoghurt
680 g cream cheese at room temperature
280 g (5/4 cups) granulated sugar
25 g (1/4 cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
3 large eggs and 1 additional yolk

115 g Nutella
115 g Heavy cream
60 g dark chocolate (ideally, 72 %) chopped

1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts

Directions

Crust
Finely grind the Oreos and hazelnuts in a food processor. Add the melted butter and process further until well combined and crumbs look like wet sand.

Grease/line a springform pan, and press the mixture uniformly into the bottom and the side of the pan to create the crust. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 440 K (170 deg. C) and let out to cool.

Filling
Melt the 285 g of dark chocolate and set aside to cool. In an electric mixer, mix the cream cheese and the yoghurt until smooth. Add the sugar and cocoa powder, and mix again until smooth. Beat the eggs / egg yolk and mix in the cream cheese until smooth. Finally, fold in the melted chocolate.

The crust should have cooled by now, so pour the filling evenly over the crust. Tap lightly to release any trapped air and smooth out with a spatula.

Place back into the oven, which is still at 440 K (170 deg. C) and bake for about 75 minutes or until the centre appears just set and dry.

Allow to cool for about ten minutes, and loosen the crust from the side with a smooth knife. Place in the refrigerator overnight.

Ganache
In a saucepan, heat the cream on medium-low. Add Nutella and stir until smooth. Add in the 60 g of chopped chocolate, and stir until smooth again. Spread warm ganache over the cheesecake just before serving, or chill them together first.

Decorate with toasted hazelnuts.