INGREDIENTS:

Crust –

• 2 tbsp Wildflower Bee Pollen Granules (available at Safeway, Walmart & Fred Meyer)
• 2 cups paleo flour ( I used King Arthur’s brand. Bobs Red Mill brand is also comparable – both should be available at King Soopers/Kroger, Safeway, Walmart & Amazon)
• 7 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)
• 2 tsp swerve or monk fruit sweetener
• 3 large egg yolks
• 4-6 tbsp ice water

Cheese Cake Filling –

• 1 & 1/4 Cup Swerve
• 32 oz Mascarpone ( or full fat cream cheese)
• 1 cup ricotta smooth
• 1 tbsp vanilla paste (or vanilla extract)
• 1 tbsp lavender buds chopped finely
• 1 tbsp earl grey tea
• 4 large eggs
• Zest of half a lemon
• 3 tbsp bee pollen

Lemon Lavender Gelée Topping and Decoration –

• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
• 3 blueberry lavender tea bags (I utilized The Republic of Tea brand)
• 2 cups of boiling water
• 2 tbsp swerve or monk fruit sweetener
• 2 tbsp cold lemon juice
• 1 tsp bee pollen
• 1 tbsp lavender petals

DIRECTIONS:

Keto Crust-

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees °F

2. Add paleo flour, salt, swerve, butter & egg yolks to food processor or mixer (with dough hooks). Mix until dough is the size of small peas.

3. Add ice water a tbsp at a time to crust mixture until dough forms one large ball. (I used all 6 tbsp) The dough will be a little more moist than your typical pie crust dough.

4. Grease up your 10″ springform pan.

5. Add bee pollen to crust dough and fold in until evenly distributed. (The bee pollen helps the crust taste a little like a graham cracker crust)

6. Press dough firmly onto bottom of the springform pan until it is even. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove and let it cool on a cooling rack. Reduce oven heat to 325 degrees °F

7. Once the pan is cooled down to room temperature, wrap the outside of the pan with 2 layers of tin foil focusing on the bottom first and running it up the side of the pan. (This will insulate the cheesecake to prevent cracking while cooking.)

8. Fill a large roasting pan with water. Place on bottom rack of oven. Place another over rack directly above pan so that you can place cheesecake above the water.

Cheesecake Filling –

1. Using a mixer or hand held beater cream your mascarpone on medium speed until light and fluffy.

2. Add Swerve and beat on high for 3 minutes. (Scrape down bowl as needed while mixing.)

3. Add vanilla paste, ricotta, lavender, lemon zest, and earl grey tea. Beat until it’s incorporated on medium high speed. Make sure to scrape down sides as you mix – 2 minutes.

4. Add your eggs one at a time while beating on a low speed just as long as it takes to be incorporated. WARNING: If you overbeat; your cake will be more dense and less light & fluffy.

5. Fold in bee pollen. (This is a great keto substitute for honey)

6. Pour into springform pan that is already cooled down.

7. Place on oven rack that was placed directly over water filled pan. Bake for 1 hour and 50 minutes. The pie will be a little jiggly in the center. The edges should be firm about an inch and 1/2 out from edge.

8. Turn off oven, pry oven door open letting the cheesecake cool inside for an hour. Use a knife to separate the edges of cheesecake from the pan to ensure cheesecake doesn’t crack while cooling. Chill in refrigerator for a total of 6+ hours or overnight.

Lemon Lavender Gelée Topping and Decoration

Sidenote: You can add gelee topping 3 hours after it has been chilling in the refrigerator or after it is completely set. It must be completely cool and not warm for the gelee to set on the top of the cheesecake and not run down the sides.

I learned the hard way to have patience. I added the gelee too soon; however the outcome was positive. The cheesecake was a little warm when I added the gelee mixture the first time and it ended up running down the sides of the springform pan. When everything was set it created a beautiful gelee layer down the outside of the cake and between the crust and cheesecake. I ended up having to make more gelee and add to top using the steps below. “We don’t make mistakes, we just have happy accidents!” – Bob Ross

1. Add 2 cups of boiling water to measuring cup. Add 3 bags of tea and brew as directed from the instructions on the back of the tea. Once brewed pour 1/2 a cup of brewed tea to another bowl or cup and place in the freezer to cool.

2. Add swerve to the 1 & 1/2 cup of hot brewed tea.

3. Once the 1/2 cup of tea is cold (not frozen), take out of the freezer. Stir in cold lemon juice. Sprinkle 1 envelope of unflavored gelatin over cold tea and let stand for 1 minute.

4. In a pot bring the 1 & 1/2 cup of tea to a boil. Add bloomed gelatin & tea to pot. Turn off heat and stir until dissolved. (5 minutes)

5. Pour back into measuring cup and let sit until it cools to room temperature.

6. I put 3″ wax paper strips a 1/2 inch down between chilled cheesecake and pan to ensure gelee liquid won’t run down the side and will stay on top.

7. Pour enough gelee just to coat the top of the cheesecake lightly. Set the rest of the gelee liquid on a counter where it can stay room temperature. Let the cake & gelee set for 30 minutes inside the fridge. (This will create a nice barrier/layer for when you pour the remaining gelee liquid onto the top of cheesecake.)

8. Once 1st layer is set, remove wax paper strips and pour remaining gelee on top. It should be set within an hour and half.

9. Once set and before serving decorate the top of the cheesecake with fresh lavender petals and bee pollen. Serve.

ENJOY!!

I fried a couple of sprigs of lavender and covered the sprigs with a reduced simple syrup I created with swerve and monk fruit sweetener. It created a nice crystallized effect.

Wow, it’s been almost 6 years since my last post. Covid19 has left me unemployed and with a little extra time. Hopefully this means I can dedicate more time to my passion of creating HAUTE CUISINE COUTURE DISHES and sharing it here for you.