Sweet Potato Cheesecake

I stumbled upon this cheesecake recipe not because I was looking to make a sweet potato cheesecake, but because I was looking for something else to make instead of pumpkin pie. I don't really love pumpkin pie, so in my quest for a substitute I saw a picture of a mouthwatering sweet potato cheesecake on the Homesick Texan blog and I thought aahhh that is it! I've always been a little intimidated by making cheesecake, but I have overcome my fear with this new recipe. This is now my "go to" dessert for any holiday party. I've changed the recipe slightly to come up with my own version of sweet potato cheese cake and I've made this recipe several times and it has not failed me yet.

On a side note...when I was at the farmers market buying supplies I pondered the ongoing question of sweet potato vs. yam. I've always thought that the yellowish light colored thin skin potato was a sweet potato and the darker orange thicker skin potato was a yam. Not knowing which one would make for a better cheesecake I ended up buying both. After some research I found out that they are both sweet potatoes and not yams at all. The darker skin orange variety was introduced to the US several decades ago and is sweeter and less dry than the lighter skinned one, and often referred to as yams. A true yam is a tuber from a tropical vine and not even related to the sweet potato. I'm sure many of you already know this, but I finally resolved the quandary for myself, I think.... open to comments... Now the recipe...


Sweet Potato Cheesecake Recipe:
Crust:
apprx 55 ginger snaps, crushed (I like a thick crust)
1/3 cup pecans, finely chopped
7 TB butter, melted

Cheesecake:
1 1/3 c mashed sweet potato, I used 1 large of each variety
4 8oz packages of cream cheese, room temperature
4 eggs, room temperature
1 c brown sugar
1 generous tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 TB plus 2 tsp flour
2 TB plus 2 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice

Topping:
8 oz container sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp grated fresh nutmeg
1 TB brown sugar
3 TB maple syrup

1/2 c chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325°.
Peel and cut sweet potatoes into several large pieces. Place in pot of water and bring to a boil for about 20-30 minutes or until sweet potatoes are soft. Remove, drain, mash and allow to cool. I pressed the sweet potatoes through a large strainer to get rid of the little stringy parts.

Meanwhile prepare the crust. Combine smashed ginger snaps, chopped pecans, and melted butter in a bowl. Scrape the mixture into a buttered 10" spring form pan and press evenly over bottom of pan. Cover and place in refrigerator until needed.

Make the batter
Measure out the brown sugar, spices and flour in a bowl and set aside.
Place the room temp cream cheese and eggs in a bowl and beat together until well blended and smooth. Scrape down sides of bowl and add the mashed sweet potatoes, sugar /spice / flour mixture, maple syrup and lemon juice and mix on low until well blended.

Take spring form pan out of fridge and wrap foil around the bottom and up the sides of pan. Pour batter on top of crust and place in oven for 50 minutes. (Yes, there is no water bath etc... trust me it will work)

The cake is done when sides are set and center is slightly jiggly when gently shaken. Turn oven off, leave cake inside with oven door open for about 20/25 minutes. Remove and set on rack to cool completely before covering and putting it in the refrigerator. Chill about 3 hours before serving. This is a great one to make a day ahead. It could even be made 2 days ahead but any sooner the crust will start to get soggy.

Topping
Mix together sour cream, spices, sugar, maple syrup and lemon juice cover and put back in refrigerator and save until serving time.

When serving, spread sour cream mixture over the cake. Unmold from spring form pan. Place on serving plate and sprinkle with chopped pecans. Slice and serve. Delicious.