Cold Set, Warm Nuts: Nottingham’s Cheesecakes Put to a Blind Test

Cheesecake has a reputation problem. Too often it is the safe choice on a dessert menu, the cold brick next to the sticky toffee pudding, the thing you order when you cannot decide. But give a cheesecake a handful of toasted nuts and it becomes something else entirely: creamy, savoury-edged, crunchy where it matters. For this blind tasting, we gathered eight nut-based slices from independent bakeries and dessert shops across Nottingham, stripped away the packaging, and judged them on texture, nut flavour and value. No logos, no loyalties, no Instagram-friendly garnishes to sway us.

How the blind tasting worked

We bought the slices on the same mild November morning in 2026, kept them chilled, and served them at the same temperature — because a cheesecake judged straight from the fridge is a different beast from one that has had twenty minutes on the counter. Each slice was cut into anonymous portions, numbered, and scored by three tasters. We looked for a base that could hold its own without turning to dust, a filling that tasted of more than sugar and cream cheese, and nuts that had been treated with respect. Toasted, ideally. Salted, sometimes. Buried in the mix rather than sprinkled on as an afterthought.

We also noted price. Nottingham’s independent dessert shops are not immune to the cost-of-living squeeze, and a cheesecake slice now ranges from about £3.50 to £6.50 depending on where you go. A high price can be earned by excellent ingredients, but it cannot rescue a soggy base.

Why cheesecake is a brilliant vehicle for nuts

A cheesecake is mostly fat and acid, which means it can carry strong flavours without being overwhelmed. Nuts love that. Hazelnut praline gets a creamy backdrop; pistachio keeps its green, slightly savoury edge; walnut brings a welcome bitterness against the sweetness. The base is another opportunity — ground almonds or pecans in the biscuit crumb can add a second layer of nuttiness that a plain digestive never manages.

There is texture, too. A good nut cheesecake should not be uniformly soft. It needs a little resistance: a praline shard, a scatter of toasted halves, a crunchy crumb. That contrast is what separates a proper dessert from a chilled block of sweetened cream cheese.

The slices that stood out

The pistachio one from a Hockley bakery

This was the quiet favourite. The filling was pale green without looking artificial, and the pistachio flavour arrived late but stayed. The base had a decent salty edge, and the top was finished with chopped pistachios that had clearly seen a dry pan. At £5.20 it was not the cheapest slice on the table, but it was the one we kept returning to. Texture: smooth but not mousse-like. Nut flavour: persistent. Value: fair.

The hazelnut praline slice from Sherwood

A richer, more indulgent affair. The praline was folded through the filling in ribbons rather than blitzed in, which gave it a slightly grainy, nutty bite. The base was darker and more buttery than most. One taster called it “a Ferrero Rocher that had been to a dinner party” — which is meant as praise. At £6.00 it was the priciest of the bunch, and while it was excellent, it needed to be shared.

The peanut butter cheesecake from a West Bridgford dessert shop

Peanut butter is a bully in a cheesecake. It can flatten everything else. This one got the balance right: salty, roasted peanut flavour with a thin chocolate crumb that kept things from turning cloying. The texture was denser than the others, almost fudgy in the middle. If you like the idea of a cheesecake that eats like a peanut butter cup, this is your slice. At £4.80 it was good value for the richness.

The walnut and maple slice from Mapperley

This was the most grown-up of the eight. Walnuts can taste dusty if they are old, but these were fresh and lightly toasted. The maple gave it a soft, autumnal sweetness that stopped short of pancake syrup. The base was a little softer than we would have liked — one taster described it as “on the edge of surrender” — but the flavour carried it. At £4.50, a solid mid-table pick.

The almond and cherry slice from Beeston

Pretty, but a bit polite. The almond flavour was there in the base, and the cherries added a sharp little kick, but the filling was too light and airy. It felt more like a mousse than a cheesecake. At £5.00 it was the weakest value of the day. Not bad, just not enough nut presence for a nut-focused tasting.

The ones that missed the mark

A pecan cheesecake from the city centre looked promising but tasted mostly of vanilla. The pecans were candied and clustered on top rather than integrated, and the base was sweet enough to make your teeth ache. At £5.50 it was the biggest disappointment. A coconut and macadamia slice from Mansfield Road had an interesting flavour but a crumb that turned to paste in the mouth. And a cheap supermarket-style slice from a convenience store — included as a control — reminded us why independent bakeries exist.

The verdict

The best nut cheesecake in Nottingham for 2026 is the pistachio slice from the Hockley bakery. It had the clearest nut flavour, the best texture and a price that did not feel like a punishment. The hazelnut praline from Sherwood is the one to order when you want something properly decadent, and the peanut butter slice from West Bridgford is the best value if you are feeding a serious sweet tooth.

Cheesecake may never be the most fashionable dessert in the city, but give it toasted nuts and a bit of care and it deserves a place at the table. Our advice: skip the plain vanilla, ask what nuts are in the base, and always check whether they have been toasted. It is a small thing that makes a very big difference.