In the past couple of years, I have spent a lot of time in the kitchen. I have made everything from cookies to brownies to cakes to quick breads. You name it, I have probably baked it. But for some reason, I always found myself avoiding cheesecake recipes – something about its temperamental reputation intimidated me.
Finally, I decided it was time to face my cheesy fears. As it turns out, all my preconceived notions about cheesecake were totally false. if you have the right recipe, it is actually quite easy to make and equally as delicious.
Once I realized this, I started getting creative with colors (like this Tie Dye Cheesecake) and flavors. This Honey Lavender recipe is definetly one of my favorites!
Something about the combination of honey + lavender really gives this cheesecake an amazing taste without being too overpowering. I hate when things taste super floraly. This guy is nice and light and absolutely to die for! You will definitely be going back for a second piece!
HONEY LAVENDER CHEESECAKE
Ingredients
CRUST
- 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
FILLING
- 2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon lavender extract
- 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
- Violet food coloring
TOPPING
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
For the crust
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare a 9" springform pan with cooking spray.
- In a small bowl combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter until throughly combined.
- Press crumb mixture into the bottom of the pan and about 1/2 inch up the side.
- Bake 12 - 15 minutes until the crumbs are set.
- Let cool on a wire rack.
For the filling
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- In a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, cream cream cheese until light and fluffy.
- Add sugar and beat on high for an additional 3 minutes.
- Add vanilla extract, lavender extract, honey and salt and mix until just combined.
- Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the side of the bowl with a spatula after each addition.
- Add a few drops of violet food coloring and mix until desired color.
- Add sour cream and mix until combined.
- Add heavy cream and mix until combined.
- Wrap the outside of your springform pan in aluminum foil.
- Pour cream cheese filling into springform pan. Smooth the top with a spatula.
- Place the pan inside a high-sided roasting pan.
- Create a water bath by filling the roasting pan with hot water until you reach halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan.
- Bake for 1 1/2 hours.
- After an hour and a half, turn the oven off and crack the door open 1 inch.
- Leave the cheesecake like this for 1 hour.
- After an hour, take the cheesecake out of the oven and set on the counter to come to room temperature.
- Once it is cool, place aluminum foil over the top (making sure the foil does not actually touch the cheesecake) and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
For the topping
- In a medium bowl, combine sour cream, honey, vanilla and powdered sugar. Mix until combined.
- Spread mixture over the top of the cooled cheesecake.
My co-worker saw your Lavender Cheesecake recipe and fell in love with the idea of a lavender cheesecake. She doesn’t bake, but I used to bake all the time as a kid and I loved to make cheesecakes. So I said to my her let’s make the cakes together and have a dinner too. So we did, side by side in my kitchen – she made one and I made one. We live up in the mountains and had to cook them a little bit longer, but they came out perfect! Everyone loved them! So special! (By the way, my mom didn’t ground me, but she got mad at me for baking all the time too!)
I am so glad to hear that it worked out! And that is amazing you got in trouble for baking all the time too! It’s such a funny thing to get in trouble for!
Can I use lavender syrup instead of extract?
You can – but it will be a much more subtle lavender flavor.
I made this 4 times already and every time was just as delicious as the first!! It’s definitely a keeper 😁
How does the recipe differ if I have a 7in. Pan instead of 9?
Less filling or longer cooking time?
This recipe is amazing!!!!!
The most ideal conversion would be to reduce the recipe by 1/3. And for the baking – it shouldn’t be too much less. It depends on your oven – but I would bake it only 5-10 minutes less on each bake time. I know that the 1/3 reduction can be a little complicated – especially with the eggs – so you can also divide the recipe in half and the cheesecake just won’t be as tall. I would do 10-15 minutes less on each bake time for this one. I hope that helps! Good luck!
Deeeeelicious❣️❣️❣️❣️ One hour left to cook, then one hour open one inch. This is the second time making it, have been craving it since the last bite of the other. Did add another quarter teaspoon lavender as I found myself searching for the flavor before. Love this recipe, bookmarked forever❣️
So glad to hear you love this as much as I do!
I have made this twice and I am so happy with it every time! Something I am going to try for a little twist is switching out the lavender for rose extract instead and making a honey rose cheesecake! We will see how it turns out 🙂
Does this go directly in the fridge from the oven, or is it supposed to cool first? I’m going to try it this week!
After the resting period in the oven you can let it come to room temperature before you put it in the fridge. Have fun trying this!
I wanted everyone to have there own cheesecake so I made them in muffin pan and topped them off with blackberries! Off the charts! And so beautiful!
I found that a 10 inch pan worked better. I had too much filling for a 9 inch pan.
How long would you bake mini cheesecakes? Do I still need a waterbath? Thank you! My friend requested this for her Birthday.
Sorry for the delay here. You can use this for mini cheesecakes – but I have never done it with this specific recipe. So I can only give you some estimates.If you are doing cupcake size cheesecakes, I would cut the baking time to 15-25 minutes and then let them continue to bake with the oven off and the door cracked for 20-30 minutes. But again, these are just estimates. I would recommend looking up “how to know if your cheesecake is done” and watching them closely. Or do one as a tester. I would also recommend using a water bath. Instead of putting the cupcake tin inside a bigger dish, you can just put a roasting pan with water on the lowest rack and put your cupcake tin on the middle rack. I hope that helps!