Sweet Potato Cheesecake

I made this cheesecake for a friend this past weekend.

Ive made cheesecakes before and even taken classes at the local culinary school.   But ive never added any fruit or purees etc to them.  So when i found a recipe online that called for 2lbs of sweet potatoes i was kind of skeptical.  I wondered how so much sweet potato would affect the texture of the cheesecake.

I have to say i was quite pleased with the outcome. I had never tasted one before so i wasnt sure what to expect.  S thought it tasted like sweet potato pie. My sister loved it and requested it for her birthday i/o a cake.  

For printable recipe click here

Cheesecake Pops

This months Daring Baker challenge was Cheesecake Pops chosen by Elle of Feeding My Enthusiasms and Deborah of Taste and Tell.

I have to admit that when I first found out this months challenge, I was intrigued.  Then i saw the pictures and i was super excited.  Immediately i started thinking of all the decorating possibilities, which seemed to be endless.  Plus i love cheesecake!  I couldn't wait!

I halved the recipe, I felt that this was very necessary since i live alone, am trying to start a diet and love cheesecake :).  I baked my cheesecake an 8x3 cakepan for about 50 minutes and had no problems with it setting up.  I formed the ball the next day, inserted the sticks and put the tray in the freezer.  I just have to say that 2oz seemed like alot.  The pops seemed quite huge compared to the sticks.  I had a few spoonfuls of cheesecake left over so i had to eat.  Wow, this is one of the richest, creamiest cheesecakes i have ever eaten.

  

The next day i started dipping.  I used colored candy melts along with regular chocolate to coat the pops.  Then i dipped them.  The pic you see show the following

• coconut
  
• graham cracker
  
• yellow sprinkles
  
• halloween sprinkles
  
• valentine sprinkles
  
• green sanding sugar
  
• cinnamon
  
• crushed peppermint
  
• candied ginger

I had some problems with the sticks coming loose but it mostly went ok.  Since the cheesecake was coming straight from the freezer, when i used the candy melts they would become solid before i could finish dipping them, so i had to work really quick with those.  I wish i could have gotten them more round/smoother but I still think they look great.

My only regret is that I wish i would have made the entire recipe, this way i could have tried more flavor and decoration combinations.

For printable recipe click here.