Earl Grey Cheesecake (Perfectly Creamy & Simply the Best!)

❤️Why you will love this recipe

• Easy to make, with simple ingredients. 
• With a rich tea flavor, these cheesecakes make a great variation to a classic cheesecake recipe.
• Baked as small sized mini cheesecakes, these are easy to serve as compared to large full sized cheesecake and are perfect for parties.
• With lovely lavender and Earl Grey flavor, these cheesecakes make a perfect dessert for cheesecake lovers and Earl Grey tea lovers alike.
• Not only do they make great dessert, these cheesecakes make great treats to be enjoyed with afternoon tea.

Crust

• Digestive cookies (or Graham Crackers) - these make the crust for the cheesecakes.
• Granulated sugar (caster sugar) - as a sweetener for the crust.
• Butter (melted) - I use salted butter. Unsalted butter will also work fine.
• Cocoa powder - sift before using to break any lumps.

Filling

• Cream cheese (softened) - use full fat cream cheese for a rich and creamy filling. Use the block cream cheese and not the spreadable soft cheese.
• Granulated sugar (caster sugar) - fine sugar works best compared to coarse sugar as it dissolves more readily.
• All purpose flour + salt - sift these together before adding into the creamed cheese.
• Heavy cream - use cooking cream or whipping cream.
• Vanilla extract - adds a lovely flavor to the cake.
• Earl Grey tea leaves - from tea bags or loose tea leaves. Use good quality tea for best results.
• Eggs - should be large eggs (large sized).

Topping

• Whipping cream - use whipping cream with at least 35% fat.
• Lavender buds - These are optional, and if using, make sure they are food grade.

🧾Substitution and variations

• Heavy cream for the filling can be replaced with sour cream. Use exact same amount as the heavy cream.
• Instead of mini Earl Grey cheesecakes, this recipe can also be used to make single large Earl Grey cheesecake. Follow the recipe below and bake the cake in a 7 inches round springform pan. Make sure to line the pan with parchment paper. If you wish to make a larger, 9 inches Earl Grey cheesecake, double the recipe below and bake cheesecake in a larger pan (9 inches springform pan). The cakes would require a longer baking time of 60 minutes instead of 20 minutes as indicated in the recipe for mini cheesecakes.
• Earl Grey tea bags can be replaced with loose tea leaves. For every tea bag, replace with 1 teaspoon of leaves.
• The amount of tea in the recipe can be reduced for a more subtle earl Grey flavor. The reduction will not impact the texture of the cake, only that your cheesecake will not have a strong tea flavor.
• Digestive biscuits or Graham crackers can be replaced with Oreo cookies for a chocolate crust option. Use exact same quantity as indicated in the recipe and if you are using the Oreo filling as well, you can omit the sugar indicated in the recipe for the crust. Also omit the cocoa powder.
• Lavender buds can be substituted with chocolate shavings for a variation.

The first step in making the mini Earl Grey cheesecake is to prepare the tea itself. I used Earl Grey from tea bags (2 tea bags for this recipe).

1. Cut the tea bags open and pour the leaves into a food processor. Since the amount of the leaves is too little for the food processor, add a few tablespoons of the sugar (from the sugar measured for the cheesecake filling).
2. Process the Earl Grey tea leaves and the sugar until fine. At this stage, it may not be possible to grind all the tea leaves to a fine powder, and that is fine. Suffice if the processing is able to break the leaves to smaller particles.
3. Next, measure the cream into a small saucepan. Add the processed tea leaves and heat up the cream (on medium heat) until it starts bubbling around the sides. Turn off the heat.
4. Stir to mix the tea powder into the cream. Cover the pot with a lid and let the tea steep in the hot cream while you prepare the crust and the cheesecake filling.

Making the chocolate cheesecake crust

1. Melt butter over low heat and set aside to let it cool down. Crush the cookies in a food processor until fine (or place the cookies in a ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin). Transfer the fine cookie crumbs into a bowl.
2. Add the sugar and cocoa powder. And mix to combine well.
3. Pour in the melted butter and mix thoroughly.
4. The crust will appear wet and that is normal.
5. Divide the crumbs into 12 cupcake casings.
6. Press them down with the back of a spoon and compress further with the ends of a small rolling pin. Set the chocolate crust aside.

Making the filling

1. Start by measuring the cream cheese into a large bowl.
2. Beat it with an electric mixer on medium speed until it turns creamy. Constantly scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure there are no lumps of the cream cheese left out. This creaming process should take about 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Next, add the sugar, flour and salt. Continue beating until the mixture is all smooth and creamy. Constantly scrape the sides of your bowl.
4. Add both the eggs and beat again until all traces of the egg are no longer visible and the cheesecake filling is smooth and creamy. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Set aside.
5. Strain the Earl Grey tea infused cream into a cup with a fine sieve. Press out all the cream as much as you can from the strainer.
6. Pour the strained concentrated Earl Grey tea into the cream cheese mixture and beat until the tea and the cream cheese are well combined and smooth batter forms. Scrape the sides of the bowl half way through.

Baking and assembling the mini cheesecakes

1. Pour the cheesecake batter into the prepared cupcake liners with the chocolate crust. Pour until each casing is full. Bake the mini Earl Grey cheesecakes in a water bath, in a preheated oven at 160 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes. To make the water bath, simply place a bowl of water (make sure the bowl is waterproof) in the oven while baking the cheesecake. Bake the Earl Grey cheesecakes on the lowest rack (You can place the bowl of water on the floor of your oven or on a rack above the cheesecake). To check if the cheesecakes are baked, check to see that the sides are firm but the centers still wobbly. Turn off the oven and let the cheesecake rest in the oven for 10 minutes.
2. Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool to room temperature before placing them in the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours. Remove the cheesecakes from fridge and carefully peel off the casings.
3. Whip the cream until stiff. Transfer it into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe the whipped cream onto the top of each Earl Grey cheesecake.
4. Garnish with lavender buds. Keep the cheesecakes chilled.

🍽️Serving & storage

• These cheesecakes can last in the fridge for a good 4 to 5 days (without the cream topping). It is advisable to add the cream topping before serving. Always keep the cheesecakes chilled.

💡Expert tips

• Cheesecakes should be baked in slightly reduced temperatures compared to regular cakes. The main reason is to avoid the cheesecakes from cracking. Baking the cakes at a slightly reduced temperature (reduce by 10 degrees Celsius) will help avoid the cracked cheesecake issue.
• Also, take extra care to not overbake the cheesecakes. Over baked cheesecakes tend to have 2 problems. They tend to crack and the texture turns rubbery (instead of being creamy). Hence it is important to not overbake the cheesecake.

💭FAQs