Soften the cream cheese: Open the 3 packages of cream cheese and allow them to come to room temperature for an hour or so before gathering other ingredients. I sometimes use the “soften” feature on my microwave but I watch it like a hawk because if it melts, it’s not going to firm up well with other ingredients later. 

Prepare the crust: While the cream cheese is coming to room temp, add your crackers or cookies to a food processor and pulse into fine crumbs or crush them in a large zipper bag using a rolling pin. Place the crumbs into a bowl and pour over the melted butter. Mix well, then press the crumb mixture into an 8” springform pan into an even layer. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Bring the heavy cream to room temp: Measure out the cup of heavy cream and let it come to room temperature on the countertop for about 15 minutes. Set aside.

Beat with an electric mixer on medium: Add softened cream cheese to a large bowl and beat on medium with an electric mixer. Gradually add powdered sugar (1 cup)  and heavy cream (½ cup) and continue beating. Pour in lavender syrup (1 tbsp) and add a few drops of purple food coloring (start with 3 drops) to get your desired lavender color and beat on low for an additional minute or so until the color is even. Don’t overbeat or it will add too much air and not set properly.

Add filling to chilled crumb crust: Remove the pan with crumb crust from the refrigerator. Scrape out the cream cheese mixture over the prepared crust and smooth evenly to all edges of the pan. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. 

Garnish: Right before serving, decorate with piped whipped cream (or neat dollops are fine, too), and most importantly, sprinkle dry culinary lavender liberally over the cheesecake before serving for a floral finish.