If there’s one aspect of Thanksgiving dinner that is a conundrum for me, it’s dessert. As much as I love to cook and entertain and shake up interesting cocktails, I have an irrational fear around making pastry dough. And wouldn’t you know it? All the classic Thanksgiving desserts are pies. 

My personal preference for dessert leans toward the fruity, nutty crumble or cobbler kinds of things or lighter, citrusy things, such as key lime pie, with a crumb crust that doesn’t require rolling out a flaky dough. 

But certain flavors and textures are expected on Thanksgiving, so when I bumped into this sweet potato cheesecake recipe last year, I found it to be a perfect mashup of holiday tradition and ease of preparation. It was pretty darn delicious, too.

---

The original recipe for this cheesecake is on The Kitchn, and my version of it is similar enough that I’m happy to send you there for the details. I made very few adjustments as follows:

A zestier crumb crust

Rather than graham crackers in the base, I used Biscoff cookies— you know, the ones they give you on the airplane? They are crispy, buttery (though there’s no butter in them) and very cinnamon-y, a nice backdrop to the creamy sweet potato filling in the cheesecake. The cookies were sweet enough that I also reduced the sugar called for in the crust, and I skipped the extra cinnamon altogether.

---

Another favorite seasonal flavor

I also substituted real maple sugar in place of the regular sugar called for in the recipe, in keeping with the season and also because I happen to love the maple flavor. Everything else about the recipe was the same— roasted sweet potato, cream cheese, sour cream, vanilla and warm spices. Then free-range eggs, one at a time, and into the pre-baked crust— gently, of course, so as to not disturb the no-fuss crust.

---

Topping on the side, please

Next, I did not spread the sweetened sour cream topping over the entire cake before serving. The Kitchn version of this cheesecake was gorgeous, but we had a small gathering and I knew we would need to store the leftovers in the fridge. I made the topping— also with maple sugar— and saved it to dollop onto the individual pieces at serving time.

---

The dreaded water bath!

Finally, and this was the big one for me, I found a way around the usual “water bath” that is recommended for baking cheesecake. The process of wrapping up a springform pan with layers and layers of aluminum foil so that it can be surrounded with two to three inches of hot water in the oven is nothing but a big fat hassle. If even a small tear happens in that foil, water gets in and ruins the whole expensive thing. I wonder why, after so many years of springform pan baking, hasn’t someone developed a leak-proof version? Can we bring in the engineers who figured out the walk-in bathtub? That’s the technology we need here. 

---

So, in my frustration, I did some research on the water bath method for cheesecakes and here’s what I learned: it isn’t the hot water that keeps the cheesecake from splitting or overbaking, it’s the steam! The cheesecake needs a very humid environment for slow and gentle cooking, but the cheesecake doesn’t need to actually be in the water for the steam to work. Though I had already wrapped my pan in foil, I went rogue at the last minute with a gigantic steam pan underneath my cheesecake, and watch what happened.

---

My cheesecake was perfect! As with any cheesecake recipe, the instructions said to bake it until the filling was set but the center was “still slightly wobbly,” and I cooled it in the oven for about an hour before taking the thing out. There was no water in my cake, no drama trying to lift it from the water bath, and no cracks on top. 

All in all for me? A Thanksgiving dessert that was, dare I say, a piece of (cheese)cake.

---

Where’s the recipe?

This is where you’d usually find a click-to-print recipe on my blog, but today I’m comfortable redirecting you to the original source. My adjustments, though meaningful to me, were slight, and I found the tips and instructions on The Kitchn to be clear and helpful. If you’re feeling inspired, go get it!

Happy Thanksgiving to my friends, followers and visitors!

https://www.thekitchn.com/sweet-potato-cheesecake-recipe-23421088

---