I know it sounds kind of strange. Sweet potato? In a cheesecake? Absolutely. Think about Sweet Potato Pie. No one is complaining about that one. It turns out that roasting sweet potatoes and adding them to cheesecake gives it a fabulous, earthy flavor. This is one of those desserts that will be the surprise hit of the crowd you’re serving it to. It’s so delicious!
How to make Roasted Sweet Potato Cheesecake:
The first step is roasting the sweet potatoes. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut in half lengthwise. Place in a baking pan, brush with melted butter and bake until the potatoes are softened. Cut into chunks and mash with a little lemon juice. You want them to be nice and smooth, so it’s okay to use a food processor if you’d like.
What the difference between sweet potatoes and yams?
In markets in the U.S., the light skinned potatoes are usually labeled as sweet potatoes and the copper skin/orange flesh potatoes are usually labeled as “yams.” Both of them are actually two different varieties of sweet potatoes. It’s confusing, isn’t it? You’ll want to use the orange flesh sweet potatoes for this recipe. Some markets refer to them as “yams!”
The crust is a mix of pecans, graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. this will give you a crust to line the bottom of the pan. If you prefer a thicker crust that goes up the sides of the cheesecake, increase all of the crust ingredients a little bit. The crust is baked for about 10 minutes. The filling is a typical cream cheese cheesecake mixture with 1 cup of the roasted mashed sweet potato mixed in. The filling is poured onto the baked crust.
The cheesecake is baked in a water bath. This means that you will double wrap the bottom of the springform pan with heavy-duty foil. The cheesecake is then placed in a roasting pan. Boiling water is poured around it. The cheesecake is baked for about 55 minutes. Give the cheesecake time to cool at room temperature, then chill in the fridge. Once well chilled, you can remove the rim.
Make the maple whipped cream, when ready to serve. Beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form. On low speed, beat in the maple syrup just until blended. Cut slices and serve with the whipped cream.
The texture of this cheesecake is super creamy, and the flavor is super rich and delicious. It’s so much more exciting than a traditional cheesecake!
It’s fun to serve this roasted sweet potato cheesecake to guests without telling them what it is. They’re going to be surprised to hear that the flavor of the cheesecake is roasted sweet potato. Once they taste it, they’re going to be hooked. It’s the kind of dessert where you’d better have copies of the recipe on hand because people will be asking for it. Enjoy!
