Ingredients: |
Ingredients: Crust:
1 1/4 C Pecans
1/4 C minced Crystallized Ginger
1 T Vegetable Oil
1 C Gingersnap Cookie Crumbs (about 20 small cookies)
Filling:
15 oz container Part-skim Ricotta Cheese
16 oz nonfat Cream Cheese, at room temperature
1 C Sweet Potato Puree or canned Unsweetened Pumpkin
3 Egg whites, at room temperature
1 C Date Sugar or Brown Sugar
1/4 C Molasses
1 Egg
1 tsp ground Ginger
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground Cloves
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
1 T Sugar
pinch of Salt
Topping:
2 C nonfat Plain Yogurt
2 T Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
16-20 Pecan Halves, for garnish
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Directions: |
Directions:Preheat oven to 350º. Coat bottom and side of a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Place all crust ingredients except oil in a food processor; pulse until fine crumbs form. Add oil and process another 5 seconds. Press mixture evenly against pan bottom. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool. Filling: Place ricotta cheese in a clean dish towel. Knead to remove excess moisture until cheese holds together like dough. Place in a mixer bowl or food processor and beat until smooth. Add cream cheese, sweet potato or pumpkin, sugar, molasses, 1 whole egg, and spices; beat until well blended. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar at medium speed until soft peaks form. Slowly add 1 T. sugar and pinch of salt; continue to beat until stiff but not dry. Gently fold into sweet potato-cream cheese mixture. Place the springform pan on a baking sheet and pour in the filling. Bake in the center of the oven for 80-90- minutes, or until sides are set and knife inserted comes out clean. While cheesecake bakes, prepare topping by mixing together yogurt,sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use. When cheesecake is done, remove to a rack and cool for 15 minutes (don't turn off the oven). Pour topping over cheesecake and decorate with pecan halves. Return to oven and bake for another 5 minutes.Cool on a rack. Refrigerate uncovered, overnight. Then cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving time. Serve with pomegranate syrup drizzled over each slice, if desired ( melted cranberry sauce also works) |
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