Lightly sweetened and baked, these mini hazelnut cups are filled to the brim with a silky no bake Nutella cheesecake that is sure to electrify the taste buds. Euphoria, anyone?
The zombies are going to eat me. That’s it. I have finally faced a harsh reality. The zombies are going to eat me. They will come at me with their decomposing flesh and harsh death breath to eat my crazy brains.
The zombie apocalypse is about survival, about how long you can survive in a constant state of fear and adrenaline release. It is about running, hiding, and plunging knives into the brains of possible former loved ones revived into a state of brain hunger. I just can’t do it. I am no Michonne.
Have you seen me run? I am only fit to outrun elderly ladies in walkers and children under the age of 3. Fact: I haven’t been able to outrun my 6 year old daughter in a year. I wasn’t born with a survival instinct. I cannot throw a scared old lady to the zombies to prolong my life for what, hours? I am NOT suitable to be in your zombie apocalypse team unless you need someone to whining like a motherf***** about how she’s too damn tired. Don’t seek me out. I will only disappoint you.
The zombies are going to eat my brains.
I am not fit. Despite cardio at 5AM, in spite of attempting to eat all the right things, even though I drink almost a gallon of water per day, you can tell by the size of my ass: I love eating Nutella. F**k it – I’m just going to come out and say it – I sneak Nutella and chocolate when nobody is looking. What can I say? I’m weak. Mentally my body wants to be skinny, but my mouth goes Pac Man on me.
And the zombies are going to eat my brains.
Let’s talk about these half-baked Nutella bites for a hot second. Why do I call them half-baked? Glad you asked homeslice. The half-baked part comes from these cute hazelnut cups. I’m ever so slightly obsessed with edible cups. I’m ever so slightly obsessed with filling edible cups with cream cheese bases. I am, like most women in existence, slightly obsessed with a hazelnut and chocolate spread.
So I put them together in mini bites. The result is a slightly sweetened but deeply hazelnut flavored cup with a silky smooth no bake Nutella cheesecake filling.
We don’t need to describe Nutella, do we?
Do we?
Of course we do. Nutella is like finding the Holy Grail, like roaming around in a dessert and finding an oasis. It is, hot dammit – Chocolate and hazelnuts combined to make a spread that the moment it hits your tongue you’re gone. It’s like an acid trip where instead of seeing pink elephants you see waterfalls of Nutella and you run, run like a motherf*****, jump in and possible drown. – Because it promises to be worth it. And that’s a damn good way to go.
Just look at these lil’ mofos. They are beauties, aren’t they? These are sure to shut off that survival instinct situation, allowing your inner Pacman to take over. And once it does, accept that you’ll be joining me along with all the other zombies eating brains.
[purerecipe]
Ingredients
For the hazelnut cups
- 2 cups chopped hazelnuts
- 2 Egg whites from large eggs 2 oz., 60 grams
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Nutella Cheesecake
- 8 oz cream cheese cold
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- ¼ cup Nutella or other chocolate hazelnut spread
- 1 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 cup cold heavy cream
Instructions
Make the hazelnut cups:
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F and have 24 mini silicon cupcake molds ready.
- Place chopped hazelnuts in a food processor and pulse until the hazelnuts are sufficiently ground. You’re looking for your hazelnuts to have sort of a ground consistency, close to hazelnut flour. Measure out 2 cups.
- Place the ground hazelnuts in a medium bowl and add the sugar. Mix to combine the sugar and coconut. Add the vanilla extract, followed by the egg whites. Mix until the hazelnuts are well moistened. Press the hazelnuts into the silicon molds evenly. I like to start from the bottom and work my way to the sides. Don’t coat the silicon cups too thickly; otherwise your cups won’t bake through and will break when you try to pop them out of the molds.
- Bake the cups for 25-30 minutes or until the hazelnuts, especially the tops are lightly golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Pop the hazelnut cups out of the molds and place on top of a sheet of parchment to cool completely.
- Makes 24 hazelnut cups
Make the Nutella Cheesecake:
- To a bowl fitted with a whisk attachment, add cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, Nutella, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and paste. Begin mixing over low speed until the confectioners' sugar is somewhat incorporated.
- Increase the speed to high and whip until combined and mixture is smooth. Stop and scrape the mixer. Continue whipping on high and add the heavy cream in 3 parts, making sure the whip cream has incorporated and thickened before each addition.
- Whip until the mixture is thickened and has a mousse consistency. Stop the mixer. Remove bowl from the mixer and wrap the bowl in plastic wrap. Place in the freezer for about 30 minutes to chill. Once chilled, pour cheesecake mixture to a piping bag fitted with a star or round tip. A ziplock bag works here too. Be sure to snip the end of the ziplock bag. You can also spoon this jammy. Whatever floats your boat.
To assemble:
- To the hazelnut cups, spoon or pipe the Nutella cheesecake cream until you reach the top of each hazelnut cup. If desired, top with a Rocher chocolate for decoration. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Makes 24 of these delicious bad boys.
