Hazelnut Coffee Cheesecake - #MyBaristaMoment

This cheesecake may be the richest and most delicious dessert I have ever tasted – but let’s get back to that in a second. First, let me tell you about the inspiration for this dessert – Smart & Final’s Ambiance coffee. We are HUGE coffee drinkers in our house, I am talking between a pot or two of coffee a day, so when I find out about a coffee I have not yet tried – I jump on the chance to get it brewing in our coffee maker. When I found out that Smart & Final had their own line of coffees, named Ambiance, I couldn’t drive to their store fast enough. Smart & Final has two brands I am already in love with, First Street and La Romanella – so I was sure their Ambiance coffee was going to make me an instant fan as well. Ambiance does not only have a line of delicious coffees, but they also have soy milk, coffee creamer, coffee filters, coffee toppings, sugar and a sugar substitute. How awesome is that?

When I got to the store the first thing I looked for was the Ambiance coffee, and when I found it I was pleasantly surprised to see they carried my favorite flavor, Hazelnut! I grabbed a bag of it without hesitation. Then I checked out their other flavors for Mr. Hungry Harp – he is less of a flavored coffee type guy, he likes his coffee dark and strong. I chose the Kona Style blend for him, simple and no frills. ;) After picking out a couple coffees to try I set out for the ingredients I would need to make the cheesecake of a lifetime – and lucky for me, Smart & Final had everything I needed! Check out everything I found on my trip to Smart & Final here on Google+.

Hazelnut Coffee Cheesecake
Chocolate Hazelnut Crust
Ingredients
20 chocolate sandwich cookies, finely crushed
1/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1/4 cup finely ground Ambiance Hazelnut Flavored Coffee
5 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
Directions
1. Combine cookies, brown sugar, coffee and butter in food processer until smooth
2. Press crumbs into bottom of springform pan

Hazelnut Coffee Cheesecake Filling
Ingredients
32 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 shot of strongly-brewed Ambiance Hazelnut Flavored Coffee
2 tablespoons finely ground Ambiance Hazelnut Flavored Coffee
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Combine cream cheese and sugar until smooth
3. Stir in brewed coffee, ground coffee, and vanilla
4. Add flour, mix enough to just combine
5. Mix in eggs 1 at a time
6. Pour filling into springform on top of crust – place springform on rimmed baking sheet
7. Bake for about an hour. The top will be browned and will slightly jiggle when moved
8. Let cheesecake cool completely
9. Top with ganache and sprinkle with crumb topping
10. Refrigerate overnight or until ganache is set.

Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
16 ounces First Street semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup strongly-brewed Ambiance Hazelnut Flavored Coffee
Directions
1. Bring whipping cream to simmer in large saucepan, remove from heat
2. Add chocolate and coffee

I am very happy to report that both the Kona Blend and the Hazelnut coffees rocked! As soon as I got home from shopping I was pouring the Hazelnut coffee into my coffeemaker and within minutes I was enjoying a cup of Ambiance coffee. Delicious and a great deal – I am sold on Ambiance coffee as I knew I would be. :)

Anyone who decides to give Smart & Final’s Ambiance coffee a try in the next 3 weeks can go to www.smartandfinal.com/Ambiance2012 and enter a code on the receipt from their purchase of Ambiance and be entered to win some awesome prizes including a DeLonghi BCO264B Cafe Nero Combo Coffee/Espresso Maker and $50 SmartCash cards. Check it out!!

PLUS visitors to the www.smartandfinal.com/Ambiance2012 will be able to vote for their favorite Ambiance Coffee recipe and everyone who votes will be entered for a chance to win $50 worth of Ambiance products! If you have the time it would be awesome for you to pop over there and vote for this recipe. I think it’s pretty awesome myself. :)

I even let the little man try it, he can't talk yet but I think he liked it...

This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #collectivebias #CBias. All opinions are my own, I swear. :)