Sweet Potato Cheesecake!!

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  Woohoo, Thanksgiving weekend! Indulge, watch marathons, pass out, repeat until Sunday night! Lemme just bark for a minute about the "cheesecake" I baked last Weds. None of that springboard pan business, either. I don't have time for that. It was very simple--gather the ingredients, blend, pour in pre-made crust, bake. Bada-bing, bada-boom. The result was three of the most delicious, creamy, sweet potato-ey and cinnamony desserts I've ever had. Step aside, pie nation--Kesha Jordan's recipe is contending for a spot on the table!

  Gotta be honest--I've been searching for this recipe for weeks. I found the perfect one, but it called for all kinds of tooth-rotting craziness that I wasn't interested in throwing all over my baked goods. Nuts and caramels and all kinds of maple syrups--and I'm sitting there like...whoa, not trying to raise everyone's blood sugar in this house. I just want something nice and spice-related for the holidays. The less complicated, the better. After dropping my original recipe, I found Kesha's a week before Weds.

  Throwing all the ingredients together, I noticed there was nothing about cinnamon or nutmeg. Gasp. How could you make a Thanksgiving dessert without cinnamon or nutmeg? For my own added pleasure, I added
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. Just for a kick. Very special. My creation wasn't a hitch-free operation, however. I froze the cream cheese like a bloomin' moron, which not only altered its creamy cheesy properties, it flat out fell apart (crumbled) and was a little watery once I frantically defrosted two days prior to baking. Ah, but the fun isn't over! I had to cut up the sweet potatoes. Let's just put it this way--the Ninja Blender was being a poop face with the bigger pieces. Then, when baking time came around, I dang near dropped one of the crusts.

  Baking was kinda...off. The recipe says "55 minutes at 375 Degrees". Somewhere in my foolish head, I thought it said fifteen minutes. When I checked on it with about five minutes left from that fifteen, the still-raw cheeesecakes had me baffled. After a double check, I started scrambling to make up for the time I messed up. During the process, the crusts got really brown. The filling was fine. It hardened beautifully and started turning light brown. The sweet scent of cinnamon filled the air, but the hint of burning crust made me nervous. With 28 minutes left, I took the pies from the oven.

  I felt horrible, thinking I botched three cheesecakes. I nibbled on the top of the dark brown crusts, feeling like a baking failure. Burnt to the core, I thought. Materials wasted. We were going to have to scoop out the filling and just eat that. Defeated, I went to bed. Early Thurs. morning, my dad's girlfriend asked if she could have a slice. I was mortified! I kept harping all week long about the ease of the recipe, which would be a huge change from our usual purchase of a sweet potato pie. I reluctantly said yes. She goes "MMMM! THIS IS GOOD!"

Wait....what?!

  Turns out, the crust on the bottom wasn't burnt at all. The top part was the only section that made it look like things had gone wrong. It was still somewhat edible. I had a slice for myself, and it was pure heaven. The sweet potatoes were perfectly in harmony with the cinnamon, the perfect crust was sweet and crunchy, and it was an overall success of sweetness and slightly creamy delight. I was SO happy! The first cheesecake lasted for about three days. The fam is already on the second. If the third survives, maybe I'll freeze it for the holidays.

(It won't survive. ;-) )

  I learned that not only should you watch a dessert such as this, but it's probably a good idea to alter time and temp. We have a somewhat new oven. So, when 375 is on the dial, believe me--things get hot. Next time, I'll ether adjust the time, or watch the ol' pies veeeery carefully.