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

5 from 4 votes

This Earl Grey cheesecake recipe makes the creamiest bergamot flavored baked mini cheesecakes with decadent chocolate crust and cream topping!

Prep Time30

Cook Time20

Chilling Time4

Total Time4 50

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: mini cheesecakes

Calories: 286.3kcal

Place cupcake liners in a muffin tray.
Crush the digestive cookies to a fine crumb. Add sugar and cocoa powder. Mix well. Pour in the melted butter and mix until the crumbs are well moistened.
Divide the crumbs into the prepared cupcake casings. Press down firmly with the back of a small spoon or the ends of the small rolling pin. Set aside.

Pour the cream into a small pot. Heat it up on medium heat until the sides start to bubble.
Place the Earl Grey tea leaves into a food processor. Add approximately 2 to 3 tablespoons of sugar (from the cheesecake filling measurement) and process the leaves and the sugar until fine.
Add the processed sugar-tea leaves into the hot cream and stir well. Turn off the heat and let the tea steep in the hot cream. Set aside.

To make the filling, add cream cheese to a medium-sized bowl and beat until creamy for 30 to 60 seconds. Beat longer if the cheese is not creamy. Scrape the sides of the bowl half way through the creaming process.
Mix the flour and salt and sift them together. Add the sugar and mix well before adding into the creamed cheese. Beat until the flour is well incorporated.
Add the eggs and beat again, scraping the bowl after every 20 seconds.
Next, strain the Earl Grey tea infused cream into a cup. Add the strained tea into the cream cheese mixture, followed by vanilla extract. Beat until well combined.
Divide the filling into the prepared crust until almost full.
Bake the mini cheesecakes in the lowest rack in the oven with a water bath for 20 minutes.
Once baked, let them rest in the oven for about 10 minutes before removing onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Chill the cheesecakes for at least 4 hours before serving. Add the topping and garnish right before serving the cakes.
To make the topping, whip the cream until peaks form. Transfer into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.
Pipe a large whipped cream star on top of each cheesecake and garnish with the lavender buds.
Serve immediately. Keep leftovers refrigerated.

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.