Amaretto Hazelnut Macaroon Cheesecake

Ingredients:

For the Hazelnut Crust:
150g Hazelnuts
3 Egg whites
2 tsp Vanilla extract
400g icing sugar
100g Sugar
1/8 tsp Salt

Fo the Filling:
120ml Amaretto
3 tsp unflavoured powdered gelatine
2 tsp Vanilla extract
675g Cream cheese (or you can use my home-made cream cheese recipe to prepare your own)
150g Sugar
2 tbsp Lemon juice
1 tsp freshly-grated lemon zest
480ml double cream

Method:

First prepare the hazelnut macaroon crust. Pace the hazelnuts on a baking tray and roast in an oven pre-heated to 175°C for about 10 minutes or until nicely toasted. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Whisk together the eggs and vanilla until foaming then remove as much of the hazelnut skins as you can before chopping in a food processor along with 200g of the icing sugar. Now add the remaining icing sugar and regular sugar and pulse the mixture a few times to combine. With the food processor running add the egg mixture and process for about 15 seconds, or until the batter is smooth. Reserve about 80ml of this batter. Pour the remaining batter into a 25cm diameter springform pan that's been greased and lined with parchment. Smooth the top with a spatula then set aside.

Pour the remaining, reserved, batter onto a baking tray and spread out in to a 20cm diameter disk. Place the crust in an oven pre-heated to 175°C and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until set and golden. Bake the disk for about 20 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Chop the disk into 3mm pieces and soak in 60m of the Amaretto. Meanwhile, remove the crust from the springform pan then replace the base of the springform pan with a foil-wrapped cardboard circle. Replace the crust on top of this.

Now prepare the filling. Place the remaining Amaretto in a cup and sprinkle the gelatine over the top. Set aside to stand for 5 minutes. Boil some water and pour into a bowl. Allow to cool slightly then sit the Amaretto and gelatine mixture in this. Beat the mixture for 4 minutes to dissolve then set aside.

Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese until soft. Add the lemon juice and lemon zest. In a separate bowl beat the double cream until it forms soft peaks. Beat the gelatine mixture into the cream cheese then fold 1/3 of the cream into the cream cheese mix. Now fold in the remaining whipped cream. Finally fold in the soaked macaroon pieces then scrape the mixture into the prepared pan. Cover with clingfilm (plastic wrap) and refrigerate for at least 3 hours (preferably over nigh) before removing the sides of the pan and serving.