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These easy cheesecake cupcakes strike the perfect balance between sweet and tangy with a lavender caramel sauce swirl and a lemony cream cheese and goat cheese filling. They make a perfect dessert, whether it’s Valentine’s Day or just an everyday afternoon that calls for a sweet treat.
This post was originally published on July, 28, 2019.
The subtle lavender flavor in these cheesecake cupcakes comes from the caramel sauce that is made with lavender-infused cream and from finely chopped lavender that is baked into the graham cracker crust. It works beautifully with the slightly tangy, lemon-flavored cream cheese and goat cheese filling.
How to make cheesecake cupcakes step by step:
For the lavender caramel sauce:
Step 1. Add 3/4 cup heavy cream and 2 tablespoons dried culinary lavender to a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat off, cover the saucepan and let the mix steep for 15 minutes.
Strain the cream through a fine mesh sieve and use a small spoon to press the last bit of the cream through the sieve. Set the cream aside.
Step 2. Grab a clean saucepan and add 1/2 cup of water to it. (It’s important that the saucepan is clean so your sugar doesn’t crystallize). Add 1 cup granulated sugar into the center of the pan and make sure that no sugar gets onto the sides of the pan.
Step 3. Turn on the heat and without any stirring of any sort, let the sugar mix boil to a deep amber color. Be careful, the mix will be extremely hot, so don’t touch the saucepan or the caramel under any circumstances.
Step 4. Standing back from the pan, slowly whisk in the lavender cream. Be careful, the mix will bubble up violently, so stand back and again don’t touch the caramel under any circumstances.
Let the caramel cool.
For the lavender graham cracker crust:
Step 5. Crush up about two and a quarter sheets of graham crackers to make 1/3 cup crushed graham crackers. Mix the crushed graham crackers with 1 teaspoon finely chopped, dried culinary lavender, 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon melted, unsalted butter. Make sure that the lavender is distributed more or less evenly.
Step 6. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. and line 8 muffin tin wells with cupcake liners. Press the graham cracker mix into the liners using either your fingers or an espresso tamper, if you have one.
Bake the crusts until they start to brown (about 5 minutes).
Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. for the cheesecake filling.
For the cheesecake cupcakes:
Step 7. In a mixing bowl, add 4 ounces cream cheese (at room temperature), 3 ounces goat cheese (at room temperature), 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest, 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. In two separate bowls, add 5 tablespoons granulated sugar and 1 egg.
Step 8. With an electric mixer, whip the cream cheese, the goat cheese, the lemon zest and juice and the vanilla together until well combined.
Whip in the sugar and then the egg and continue to whip until you have a very smooth batter.
Step 9. Pour the batter onto the crusts and fill each well about 3/4 full.
Step 10. Add about 1 teaspoon of the lavender caramel sauce onto each cupcake and swirl it in with a skewer or toothpick.
Step 11. Bake the cupcakes until they are set and no longer jiggly in the center (about 20 minutes).
Let the cupcakes cool to room temperature in the muffins pans and then chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
Frequently Asked Questions:
When are cheesecake cupcakes done?
The cheesecake cupcakes are done baking when their center no longer moves when you jiggle the muffin pan.
How to store cheesecake cupcakes:
Put the cupcakes into an airtight container and keep them in the fridge for no longer than one day.
What to do with leftover lavender caramel sauce:
You will have quite a bit of lavender caramel sauce left over from this recipe that you can store in the refrigerator. You can use it on ice cream, cake or you can stir it into your espresso drink. Just warm it up in the microwave or over a pot of simmering water to soften it before using.
More delicious mini cake recipes:
- Pumpkin Spice White Chocolate Mousse Hazelnut Mini Cakes
- Lemon Cardamom Bundt Cakes
- Mini Chocolate Bites
Cheesecake Cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the lavender caramel sauce:
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons dried culinary lavender
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
For the lavender graham cracker crust:
- 1/3 cup crushed graham crackers (you need about 2.25 sheets for that)
- 1 teaspoon dried culinary lavender, finely chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
For the cheesecake filling:
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 3 ounces goat cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 egg
Instructions:
For the lavender caramel sauce:
- Add the heavy cream and the lavender to a saucepan.
- Heat the cream until it starts to simmer, then turn the heat off, cover and let sit for 15 minutes.
- Strain the cream through a fine mesh sieve into a container that you can easily pour from, such as a liquid measuring cup. Use a spoon to press the remaining cream through the sieve. Set aside.
- Add the water to a clean saucepan.
- Slowly add the sugar in a mound into the middle of the saucepan. Be careful not to have any sugar on the sides of the pan.
- On high heat and without any stirring or touching of any sort, let the sugar/water mix come to a full boil. Be very careful, the mix will get very, very hot. Do not touch the pot or the caramel under any circumstances.
- Keep boiling the mix on high heat (still without any stirring) until it starts to turn golden brown.
- Turn the heat down to medium and continue to boil until the mix reaches a deep amber color.
- Turn the heat off.
- Standing back, slowly whisk the lavender cream into the mix, a little bit at a time. The sauce will bubble violently and is still very hot, so be careful.
- Let the sauce cool.
For the lavender graham cracker crust:
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Mix the graham crackers, the lavender and the sugar together in a bowl. Set aside.
- Melt the butter in the microwave or in a saucepan.
- Stir the butter into the graham crackers. Make sure to mix everything well so that the lavender is distributed evenly.
- Grab two muffin pans and line 8 of the cavities with cupcake liners.
- Distribute the mix among the cupcake liners and press into the bottom using an espresso tamper or your fingers.
- Set the two pans on a baking sheet and bake until the crusts start to brown, about 5 minutes. Take the pans out, let them cool and reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. for the cheesecake filling.
For the cheesecake filling:
- Add cream cheese, goat cheese, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla to a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth.
- Beat in the sugar, then the egg and continue to beat until the batter is very smooth.
- Pour the batter onto the crusts, filling each cavity about 3/4 full.
- Add about 1 teaspoon of the lavender caramel sauce onto each cupcake and swirl it in with a skewer or toothpick.
- Bake the cupcakes until set and no longer jiggly in the center (about 20 minutes).
- Let the cupcakes cool completely in the pan, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
Notes:
Nutrition
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Yum! I can see myself gorging on these :D
Huge cheesecake fan here! These look absolutely stunning especially with the caramel swirl (drooling here)! I won’t be able to stop at just one :)
Thank you so much for your kind words, Olga! (I didn’t stop at one either… :P)
I love little individual dessert bites and these cheesecake cupcakes fits right in! I am definitely trying this soon.
Wonderful to hear that, Kankana, I hope you like them as much as I do! :)
Nicole, these look wonderful with the caramel swirl! Love the hint of lavender! I could eat tons of these!
Thank you so much, Kelly! (I kinda did eat tons of them when I developed the recipe, haha!) :)