Roasted Sweet Potato Cheesecake With Maple Cream

Description

This cheesecake won first prize in sunset magazines best dessert recipe contest. The winner wowed the judges and earned its creator kari bowers of bellevue, washington a $50,000 kitchen makeover.

Ingredients

• Sweet Potatoes
• Butter
• Lemon Juice
• Cream Cheese
• Granulated Sugar
• Brown Sugar
• Eggs
• Whipping Cream
• Sour Cream
• Maple Syrup
• Ground Cinnamon
• Ground Nutmeg
• Ground Ginger
• Pecans
• Fine Graham Cracker Crumbs
• Sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Peel sweet potatoes and cut in half lengthwise
3. Place in a 9- by 13-inch baking pan and brush with melted butter
4. Bake until potatoes are soft when pressed, 45 to 55 minutes
5. Meanwhile, prepare crust
6. Bake in same oven with potatoes until lightly browned all over, 10 to 12 minutes
7. Scrape any charred spots off potatoes, then cut potatoes into chunks
8. Whirl in a food processor or mash in a bowl with lemon juice until smooth
9. Reserve 1 cup
10. Save any extra for another use
11. Reduce oven temperature to 325
12. In a bowl, with a mixer on high speed, beat cream cheese until fluffy
13. Gradually beat in granulated and brown sugars, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally, until mixture is well blended and smooth
14. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until blended
15. Add reserved sweet potato mixture, the whipping cream, sour cream, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger
16. Mix on low speed until well blended
17. Wrap bottom of cheesecake pan with heavy-duty foil, pressing it up the sides
18. Pour batter over crust
19. Put cheesecake pan in a 12- by 15-inch roasting pan at least 2 inches deep
20. Set pans in oven and pour enough boiling water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of cheesecake pan
21. Bake until cake barely jiggles in the center when gently shaken, about 55 minutes
22. Remove pans from oven
23. Lift cheesecake pan from roasting pan and let cool completely on a rack, about 1 hour, then chill until cold, at least 1 1 / 2 hours, or up to 3 days
24. Up to 6 hours before serving, cut around inside of pan rim to release cake
25. Remove rim
26. With a pastry bag, pipe dollops of maple cream onto cake
27. Or serve maple cream separately, to spoon onto each wedge
28. Pecan crust: whirl 1 / 4 cup coarsely chopped pecans in a blender until finely ground
29. You should have 1 / 4 cup
30. In a bowl, mix pecans, 1 1 / 4 cups fine graham cracker crumbs, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 5 tablespoons melted butter
31. Pour into a 9-inch cheesecake pan with removable rim
32. Press mixture evenly over bottom of pan
33. Maple cream: in a bowl, with a mixer on high speed, beat 3 / 4 cup whipping cream until stiff peaks form
34. On low speed, beat in 1 / 4 cup maple syrup just until blended
35. You can make this cheesecake up to 3 days ahead
36. Cover and chill
37. Garnish with cream up to 6 hours before serving
38. Cover and chill until serving