Hazelnut Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

Baked this one for my friend's birthday.  Using condensed milk instead of sugar in the cheesecake mixture and no added sugar to the base makes this one a bit less sweet.  For the real sweet-tooths out there, add a third of a cup of granulated sugar to the base crust...

Ingredients

For the crust

- 1 and 1/3 packets of Arnotts Milk Arrowroot biscuits http://www.arnotts.com/our-products/products/plains.aspx
- 1/2 a stick of butter (125grams, melted)
- 100g of Hazelnuts

For the filling

- 2 packets of Cream Cheese (low fat or reduced fat)
- 4 eggs
- 1 can of Nestle Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 2 tablespoons of creamy peanut butter
- 2/3 cup of choc-hazelnut Nutella spread
- 1 teaspoon vailla essence

Directions

Start by roasting and peeling the hazelnuts.  Cut the hazelnuts in half and lay out on a lined baking tray.  Bake at 350C for 5-7 minutes.  Don't overcook them as charred hazelnuts is not what you want.  You'll notice an aroma when the nuts are done.  To remove the skins pour the nuts between two tea-towels and rub one towel over the other.  The friction will remove the skins.

Place the Milk Arrowroot biscuits and roasted hazelnuts in a sealable food storage bag.  Using a rolling pin, gently crush the contents.  Transfer the biscuit crumbs to a medium mixing bowl combined with melted butter and sugar (if desired).
Pour the combined mixture to a 9" pie dish and distribute the contents padding aroun the interior edges of the dish.  There will be enough to decorate the top edge of the dish as well.

Bake the crust at 150C for 10 minutes and then take out of the oven and allow to cool.

In  a large mixing bowl and using hand beaters, beat the cream cheese, peanut butter and condensed milk until the lumps are taken out.  Add one egg at a time and the vanilla essence and continue to beat until the eggs are well mixed into the contents.

Put 1 and 1/2 cups of the miture in a separate mixing bowl and fold the Nutella into this.  Now we are ready to layer the cheesecake.  Pour half of the main filing into the base.  On top of that add the filling containing Nutella and finally atop that with the remainder of the cheesecake filling.  Take a metal spatula and carefully swirl the cheese cake filling, spreading some of the chocolate Nutella into the top of the cheesecake and making a wonderful pattern that will be preserved (until eaten haha).

Place the dish into a baing tray filled with an inch of water.  This step is a must as the water will keep the oven moist when it bakes and prevent the cheesecake from cracking.

Bake at 150C for 45 minutes but check regularly for doneness.  The cheesecake will be ready when it jiggles a bit in the middle when you shake it.  Once cooked leave the door of the oven ajar and let the cheescake cool competely in the oven before taking out. 

Refrigerate overnight and you'll be ready to go for your morning tea.

Enjoy!