Sweet potato cheesecake is smooth, creamy cross between sweet potato pie and your favorite cheesecake. The buttery gingersnap crust makes it irresistible.
Tightly wrap a 9 inch springform pan in heavy duty foil. This step prevents leaks when using a water bath. I also take the extra step by placing the foil wrapped spring form pan inside an oven bag while baking, but this is optional (see recipe notes below for more info on this process). Lightly spray the springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
Lightly spray pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, stir together crushed gingersnap cookies and melted butter until thoroughly combined.
Press the crumbs into the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of the prepared springform pan.
Bake gingersnap crust in preheated oven for 8 minutes. Remove pan from oven and cool completely. Increase oven temperature to 400°F.
Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and pierce each sweet potato several times with the tines of a fork. Bake until tender, about 50 minutes. Cool sweet potatoes completely.
Once sweet potatoes are cool, peel and puree them. I used a food processor, but you can also use a blender.
Return oven to 350°F.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with your paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and mix until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add in pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, heavy cream and sweet potato puree and mix until smooth.
Pour batter into prepared crust. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until it is halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan.
Bake 55-60 minutes, the edges will appear to be set, but the center will still have some jiggle to it. At this point, turn off the oven, but leave the door cracked and allow the cheesecake to rest in the cooling oven for one hour.
After one hour has passed, carefully remove the cheesecake from the water bath and place on a cooling rack to cool completely. Once the cheesecake is completely cooled, place it into the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
Before serving, top with whipped cream, chopped pecans and salted caramel sauce.
Notes
Don’t be intimidated by the water bath process. I have a post that walks you through baking a cheesecake in a water bath. You can skip the foil and oven bag for the water bath by placing your 9-inch springform pan into a 10-inch cake pan. Set this entire thing into the roasting pan, then add the boiling water into the roasting pan, outside of the 10-inch pan. This will still let the water bath do its job without the danger of any leaks.