Sweet Potato Cheesecake

Published Nov 26, 2019 · Updated May 12, 2020 by Miranda

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This Sweet Potato Cheesecake is full of creamy sweet potatoes and warm spices. It's baked on a pecan graham cracker crust and garnished with a homemade marshmallow topping that's been toasted to perfection. This is the best Thanksgiving dessert to serve up to your family! Get plenty more cheesecake recipes over here.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and you'll probably need a delicious dessert for your table. This sweet potato cheesecake with the pecan graham cracker crust and marshmallow topping is exactly what you'll need. It will be a hit! The cheesecake is extremely creamy. The texture is seriously the most amazing cheesecake texture I've ever had, it's that good! The taste reminds me of the flavors in my sweet potato bars.

How to cut this Sweet Potato Cheesecake Recipe

When you're cutting the cheesecake, heat a sharp knife up in hot water for about 1 minute. Fill a tall container with the hottest water possible and just let the knife sit in it. Dry the knife off and make a slice into the sweet potato cheesecake. Soak the knife again to heat it back up and swish it back and forth to get most of the cheesecake off it. Dry it off again and make a second slice.

How to Make Sweet Potato Cheesecake

To make this easy sweet potato cheesecake recipe, start by putting together the crust. Stir together the crumbs, sugar, and butter. Stir until combined and press into a prepared 9-inch springform pan. Chill the crust in the fridge while preparing the cheesecake batter.

How to microwave a sweet potato

To make the sweet potato cheesecake, first steam the sweet potatoes. I usually do this in the microwave.

Thoroughly wash the outside of the sweet potato.
Pierce it on all sides with a fork.
Wrap it in a very damp, but not dripping paper towel.
Microwave on high for 5 minutes.
Roll the sweet potato so the top is now the bottom and microwave for an additional 3 to 5 minutes depending on the size of your sweet potato. To check for doneness, give the sweet potato a poke. It should be soft and a fork should be able to easily be inserted and pulled back out.
Let the sweet potato cool and remove it from the skin.
Mash it with a fork.

Now that the sweet potato is ready, measure out 2 cups of steamed, mashed sweet potatoes for the sweet potato cheesecake.

Add the cream cheese to a large mixing bowl. Beat until creamed. Add in the granulated and brown sugar and beat until incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add in the sweet potatoes, vanilla extract, pumpkin pie spice and beat until everything is combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl again and begin adding the eggs one at a time and beating each one in before adding the next. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the sour cream. Beat again until the sour cream is just incorporated.

Pour the sweet potato cheesecake batter into the prepared pan. Add the springform pan to a slightly larger pan or wrap it in tin foil. Grab a third pan that's slightly larger than the rest and add the two pans to it. Fill just the outer pan with about an inch of water and pop the cheesecake in the preheated oven and bake until it slightly jiggles like jello. Let the cake cool overnight before adding the marshmallow topping.

Marshmallow Topping Recipe

For the marshmallow topping recipe, you'll need to whip up egg whites, cream of tartar, and granulated sugar. I used my kitchenaid stand mixer to whip it up, but it can easily be done with a hand mixer. It just takes a little extra time.

You can throw it on top and spread it around to form little ridges to toast like I did or add it to a piping bag with a 1M tip and pipe a cute design on the top to toast.

Can I make a gingersnap crust instead?

Yes! Do this by substituting the 2 cups of graham crackers with 2 cups of gingersnap cookies. You'll need to run them through the food processor with the pecans. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and 4 tablespoons of melted butter. Stir until the gingersnap cookies are coated with butter and press them into the prepared pan.

More Sweet Potato Dessert Recipes

Instant Pot Sweet Potato Cheesecake | This Instant Pot Sweet Potato Cheesecake has a buttery graham cracker crust. The cheesecake is loaded with steamed sweet potato and plenty of warm spices.
Sweet Potato Cheesecake Bars | Sweet Potato Cheesecake Bars with a yellow cake mix crust, a sweet potato cheesecake using canned sweet potatoes, and a delicious crumble topping.
Sweet Potato Bars | These bars have a gingersnap crust, thick sweet potato filling with pumpkin spice and a fudge topping and marshmallow drizzle.
Sweet Potato Sour Cream Pound Cake | This decadent pound cake has sweet potato throughout and is topped with a thick maple pecan praline sauce.

Sweet Potato Cheesecake

Author: Miranda Couse

This Sweet Potato Cheesecake is full of creamy sweet potatoes and warm spices. It's baked on a pecan graham cracker crust and garnished with a homemade marshmallow topping that's been toasted to perfection. This is the best Thanksgiving dessert to serve up to your family!

4.75 from 8 votes

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1 35

Total Time 1 55

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings slices

Calories 872 kcal

Ingredients

Crust

½ cup pecans
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ cup butter melted

Cheesecake

24 ounces cream cheese room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
¾ cup light brown sugar packed
2 cups cooked sweet potatoes mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
4 large eggs
½ cup sour cream

Topping

4 egg whites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
½ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Crust

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray the sides of a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick baking spray. Line the sides with a strip of parchment paper.
In a food processor add in the pecan and pulse until it's a fine texture. It should be the same size as the graham cracker crumbs. Don't pulse too long or leave it running, it will quickly turn into pecan butter.
In a mixing bowl, add the graham cracker crumbs, pecan crumbs, granulated sugar, and melted butter. Stir to combine. Make sure everything has a buttery coating.
Press the cracker crumb mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
Place in the fridge and let chill while preparing the cheesecake filling.

Filling

In a large bowl, add in the cream cheese. Beat on medium with a hand mixer on medium until smooth.
Add in the granulated and brown sugar and beat until incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Add in the sweet potatoes, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice. Beat until the sweet potatoes are worked into the batter.
Add in the eggs one at a time. Beat until each egg is incorporated before adding the next egg. Scrape down the sides in between each egg.
Add in the sour cream. Beat just until the sour cream is mixed in.
Just before adding the cheesecake mixture, wrap the outside of the springform pan with 2 layers of heavy-duty tin foil.
Pour the filling on top of the crust.
Place the cheesecake in the preheated oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until done. Give the cheesecake a wiggle and if it only jiggles in the center and the edges stay firm, it's ready. If it all jiggles, it needs to bake longer. Turn off the oven and crack the door. Let it cool in the oven for 1 to 2 hours until it reaches room temperature and then place in the fridge to chill overnight.

Topping

Add the egg whites and sugar into a heat-proof bowl.
In a medium saucepan, add about an inch of water. Bring the water up to a simmer and place the heat-proof on top of the saucepan. Make sure the water isn't touching the bottom of the bowl. If it is, switch to a bowl that doesn't touch the water otherwise it will cook your egg whites.
Heat the egg whites and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Whisk the mixture while it's on top of the simmering water to help dissolve the sugar.
Once the egg whites are hot and the sugar is dissolved, remove from the heat.
Add the cream of tartar and beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. The meringue should hold the shape of a peak without falling.
Add the vanilla and beat just until worked into the meringue.
Add the marshmallow meringue topping to the top of the chilled cheesecake. Spread it around to help form ridges and peaks.
Use a kitchen torch to toast up the marshmallow meringue topping.
Cut and serve!

Nutrition

Calories: 872kcalCarbohydrates: 92gProtein: 12gFat: 52gSaturated Fat: 27gCholesterol: 213mgSodium: 605mgPotassium: 410mgFiber: 2gSugar: 74gVitamin A: 6422IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 166mgIron: 2mg

(Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.)

Keyword sweet potato cheesecake

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This post was originally published on November 9, 2015.

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