This Sweet Potato Cheesecake is perfect for any occasion. A luscious and creamy Sweet Potato Cheesecake is topped with a sweet whipped cream topping and crunchy pecans!
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This year my family will be celebrating with a cookout with some amazing food, games and ending the night with fireworks. I will be making a dish from one of these amazing creatives below and you should too! There are over 70 Black Food Bloggers in this collaboration so please check them out, follow them on IG and make of their amazing recipes.
Black Food Bloggers to Follow
A Girl Called Adri | Blackened Catfish
Beautiful Eats & Things | Spiced Grilled Peaches
Black Girls Who Brunch | Brown Butter Sweet Potato Cake
Brazilian Kitchen Abroad | Brazilian Collard Greens with Bacon
Britney Breaks Bread | Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Sour Cream and Honey Sauce
Brownbelle | Watermelon Hibiscus Whiskey Smash
Butter Be Ready | Chicken and Waffles
Chef and Steward | Watermelon and Feta Salad
Chef Curl Ardee | Honey and Butter Cornbread
Chenée Today | Lemon Icebox Pie
Christy Irene | Crawfish Etoufee
Collards Are The Old Kale | Guaymas Shrimp
Confessions of a clean foodie | Mint Peach Spritzer
Cooking to a T Jamaican | Beef Patties
Dash of Jazz | Golden Pineapple Pound Cake
Dish It With Tisha | Honey Jerk Shrimp
DMR Fine Foods | Blackberry Ginger Soda
Domestic Dee | Easy Berry Fruit Salad
Dude That Cookz | Cajun White Beans
Erique Berry Co | Three Green Summer Salad
Ethically Living | Vegan Jackfruit Jamaican Patties
Food Fidelity | Nigerian Beef Suya Skewers
Food Is Love Made Edible | Smothered Okra with Chicken & Sausage
FoodLoveTog | Braised Cabbage & Johnny cakes
Forks and Straws | Cassava Corn Waffles with Shrimp Creole
Geo’s Table | Curried Potato Salad
Gristle & Gossip | Sweet Potato Honey Cornbread Cake
Heal Me Delicious | Trinidadian Callaloo
Jamieson Diaries | Crockpot Smoked Red Beans
Kenneth Temple | Red Velvet Biscuit with BBQ Brisket
Kenya Rae | Pork free baked beans
Lenox Bakery | Sweet Potato Cheesecake
Maple Points | Peas & Rice – Guyanese Style
Marisa Moore Nutrition | Fresh Peach Iced Tea
Meiko and the Dish | Strawberry Cornbread Skillet Cobbler
Murielle Banackissa | Vegan Saka Saka (Congolese Cassava Leaf & Spinach Stew)
My Fabulous Food | Black eye peas with smoked turkey
Nik Snacks | Easy BBQ Pork Ribs
On Ty’s Plate | Watermelon Limeade
Open Invitation Entertainment | Coconut Collard Greens
Orchids + Sweet Tea | The Ultimate Vegan Mac + Cheese
Our Perfect Palette | Jollof Rice
Peaches 2 Peaches | Vanilla Cake With Caramel Poached Pears
Pink Owl Kitchen | Strawberry Buttermilk Biscuits
Razzle Dazzle Life | Southern Peach Cobbler
Rosalynn Daniels | Southern Tomato Pie
Savor and Sage | Black-Eyed Pea Salad
Savory Thoughts | Jus Citron (Haitian Lemonade)
Seasoned To Taste | Cajun Shrimp Deviled Eggs
Sense & Edibility | Blackberry Cobbler
Slice & Torte | Fried Softshell Crab
Slight Kitchen Werk | Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
Sweet & Sorrel | Baked Jerk Chicken
Sweet Savant | Black Eyed Peas and Sweet Potato Salad
That Green Lyfe | Vegan Red Red Stew (Spicy Ghanaian Black-Eyed Peas) and Plantain
The Dana Renee Way | Sweet Potato Cornbread
The Hangry Woman | Jamaican Jerk Wings
The Hungry Hutch | Southern-Style Sweet Tea
The Kitchenista Diaries | Grilled Lemon Pepper Wings
The Vgn Way | Juneteenth Hibiscus Strawberry Vegan Ice Cream
This Worthey Life | Strawberry Soda
This African Cooks | Ghanaian kebabs Whole30 style
Vegan With Curves | Slow Cooker Black Eyed Pea Sweet Potato Soup
Whisk it Real Gud | Southern Sweet Potato Pie
VEGETARIAN/VEGAN LIST
Beautiful Eats & Things | Spiced Grilled Peaches
Brownbelle | Watermelon Hibiscus Whiskey Smash
Chenée Today | Lemon Icebox Pie
Dash of Jazz | Golden Pineapple Pound Cake
DMR Fine Foods | Blackberry Ginger Soda
Erique Berry Co | Three Green Summer Salad
Ethically Living | Vegan Jackfruit Jamaican Patties
FoodLoveTog | Braised Cabbage & Johnny cakes
Gristle & Gossip | Sweet Potato Honey Cornbread Cake
Maple Points | Peas & Rice – Guyanese Style
Marisa Moore Nutrition | Fresh Peach Iced Tea
Meiko and the Dish | Strawberry Cornbread Skillet Cobbler
Murielle Banackissa | Vegan Saka Saka (Congolese Cassava Leaf & Spinach Stew)
Open Invitation Entertainment | Coconut Collard Greens
Orchids + Sweet Tea | The Ultimate Vegan Mac + Cheese
Our Perfect Palette | Jollof Rice
Pink Owl Kitchen | Strawberry Buttermilk Biscuits
Savor and Sage | Black-Eyed Pea Salad
Sweet Savant | Black Eyed Peas and Sweet Potato Salad
That Green Lyfe | Vegan Red Red Stew (Spicy Ghanaian Black-Eyed Peas) and Plantain
The Dana Renee Way | Sweet Potato Cornbread
The Vgn Way | Juneteenth Hibiscus Strawberry Vegan Ice Cream
Vegan With Curves | Slow Cooker Black Eyed Pea Sweet Potato Soup
Whisk it Real Gud | Southern Sweet Potato Pie
VEGAN LIST
Beautiful Eats & Things | Spiced Grilled Peaches
Ethically Living | Vegan Jackfruit Jamaican Patties
FoodLoveTog | Braised Cabbage & Johnny cakes
Gristle & Gossip | Sweet Potato Honey Cornbread Cake
Maple Points | Peas & Rice – Guyanese Style
Marisa Moore Nutrition | Fresh Peach Iced Tea
Murielle Banackissa | Vegan Saka Saka (Congolese Cassava Leaf & Spinach Stew)
Open Invitation Entertainment | Coconut Collard Greens
Orchids + Sweet Tea | The Ultimate Vegan Mac + Cheese
Savor and Sage | Black-Eyed Pea Salad
That Green Lyfe | Vegan Red Red Stew (Spicy Ghanaian Black-Eyed Peas) and Plantain
The Vgn Way | Juneteenth Hibiscus Strawberry Vegan Ice Cream
Vegan With Curves | Slow Cooker Black Eyed Pea Sweet Potato Soup
Gluten-free, Keto, Paleo, Whole 30 LIST
A Girl Called Adri | Blackened Catfish
Chef and Steward | Watermelon and Feta Salad
Collards Are The Old Kale | Guaymas Shrimp
Confessions of a clean foodie | Mint Peach Spritzer
Heal Me Delicious | Trinidadian Callaloo
Sweet & Sorrel | Baked Jerk Chicken
The Hangry Woman | Jamaican Jerk Wings
This African Cooks | Ghanaian kebabs Whole30 style
Juneteenth is this week and I have the perfect dessert for your cookout. SWEET POTATO CHEESECAKE. So decadent, silky smooth and the best combination on two classics.
What is Juneteenth?
This year marks 155 years since June 19, 1865, the day in which federal troops descended on Galveston, TX to take over the state and to ensure that all enslaved people were freed. This was a whole 2.5 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.
In the decades that followed, Juneteenth has become a day of music, prayer and celebrations with family with some amazing food. This year we will certainly be celebrating Juneteenth, although slightly different due to the pandemic.
How are we celebrating?
We will be making some amazing foods that has deep ties to our roots. On the menu we have some Shrimp & Grits, Okra, and some Fried Chicken. And for dessert, that Sweet Potato Cheesecake I told y’all about earlier.
This version is a twist on a true southern classic is in the form of a sweet, creamy, decadent cheesecake. It’s basically like Sweet Potato Pie and Cheesecake had a baby. The perfect remix.
Are Sweet Potatoes and Yams the same?
The answer is no. Yes the are both root vegetables but are completely different. In fact, Yams look like yuca in both texture and taste. The outside of the yam is rough with a tough brown skin. Yams are also extremly hard to find unless you visit a speciality grocer.
Now on to the Sweet Potato. These are the potatoes that are typically at your local grocer ranging in color from brownish to reddish in color. They are also very slightly sweet on their own. The outside of the potato is smooth unlike the yam.
History of Sweet Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes were introduced to West Africa from Peru in the 16th Century. Let’s just say that West Africans did not immediately take to the root vegetable, calling it the “white man’s yam”. Other root vegetables were commonly used in West African cooking such as cassava, plantains and yams. Sweet potatoes were likely never used as dessert in West African cooking, but likely used to as part of stews or with fish.
The Sweet Potato became a staple among enslaved people because it was the closet they could get to a true Yam.
Within the slave cabins, dessert was usually cornbread with molasses or some fruit. They started roasting sweet potatoes over a fire and because of the natural sugars from the sweet potato, the sweet potato would develop a glossy appearance from the carmelization.
After slavery, with stoves becoming more affordable, and the ease of processed ingredients becoming easier to come by, cakes, pies and cobblers were far more common and could be found at most holiday dinners.
The Great Migration
After slavery was abolished, many decades of horror in unrest in the South forced many to flee to the north leaving behind lots of old ways of life and traditions and cuisine. However, one thing stuck the test of time, and that is the sweet potato.
The sweet potato and it’s ties to the African American culture is one that has held the test of time. From Slavery to Emancipation to Civil Rights, to the current day. Sweet Potatoes and of course the sweet potato pie are forever apart of black history.
The Recipe
So now that we’ve gone over the significance Juneteenth. Let’s talk about this dessert, you know the one your gonna be taking to the Juneteenth Cookout…… SWEET POTATO CHEESECAKE.
Let’s Get Started
First we are going to start on the crust. Melt butter in a microwavable bowl. Once the butter is melted add in the graham crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Mix until completely combined. Set this aside.
Now, preheat your oven to 325. For this recipe, I put 3/4 cup water into a pan and placed it into the oven on the bottom rack while I gathered the ingredients for the cheesecake. The purpose of the water in the oven is to create steam for a nice crack free cheesecake.
After I put the water bath in the oven, I gathered all of the ingredients for the cheesecake. Put the softened cream cheese, sugars, sweet potato and sour cream together. Make sure to scrape down your mixer to ensure everything is fully incorporated before moving on.
Next add the eggs, one at a time. Then the spices and vanilla.
Canned Sweet Potatoes
For this recipe I used canned sweet potatoes. I opted for Organic Sweet Potato Puree . If you can’t find Sweet Potato Puree, boil one sweet potato until fork tender, peel and mash.
Baking Time
Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. After the cheesecake is done, Turn the oven off and DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN. Keep the oven closed for 3- 4 hours, then remove the cheesecake and the water bath. Refrigerate the cheesecake for 4-6 hours before enjoying.
Sweet Potato Cheesecake
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust
- 2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
- 1/3 cup Sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/2 cup Butter melted
Sweet Potato Cheesecake
- 24 oz Cream Cheese (3 oz Packages) Softened
- 1/2 cup Sour Cream
- 1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
- 1/3 cup Granulated Sugar
- 4 Eggs
- 1- 15 oz Can Sweet Potatoes
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
Instructions
Graham Cracker Crust
- 1. Melt butter in a microwavable safe bowl. 2. Add the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and cinnamon to the melted butter. Mix until well combined.3. Spray a 9 inch spring-form pan with non stick spray then Pour graham mixture into a 9 inch spring-form pan. Press evenly into the bottom of the pan and up the sides. Set Aside.
Sweet Potato Cheesecake.
- 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 2. In a oven safe pan, pour in 3/4 cups of water. Place the pan onto the bottom rack of the oven. This is to create a steamy atmosphere for the cheesecake in order to have a crack free cheesecake. 3. In a stand mixer, blend softened cream cheese, sour cream, brown sugar and sugar together. Add in eggs one at a time. Scrape the sides and bottom of the mixer to ensure everything is fully incorporated.4. Next add in canned sweet potato, vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix on medium for minute. Scrape the sides and bottom of the mixer to ensure everything is fully incorporated.5. Pour batter into the prepared spring-form pan. 6. Bake for one hour and 20 minutes. Turn oven off but DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN. Leave cheesecake in the oven for 3-4 hours before removing. 7. Refrigerate for 2 hours or more before serving. Enjoy!
Lucille Selvaggio-Diaz
I cannot think of anything I would rather have than this cheesecake! While I am not usually a successful baker, I think, with your recipe, I can pull this off. I also appreciate your generosity in sharing the recipes from the other bloggers – they look equally marvelous!
Nique Payne
This is so freaking good. Everyone absolutely loved it. I added slightly more sweet potato purée than it called for (just a personal choice!) but either way it was so good. I plan to make it again for Christmas!
Felicia
Where is the recipe for the sweet whipped topping for the top??