Praline-sweet Potato Cheesecake

Total Time: 55 mins Cook Time: 55 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 16
• cooking spray
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup pecans, chopped
• 2 tps. butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 (15 ounce) cans sweet potatoes in syrup, drained
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 (8 ounce) package reduced-fat cream cheese
• 1 (8 ounce) package fat free cream cheese
• 1 (8 ounce) container nonfat sour cream
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg whites

Recipe

• 1 for the praline: coat a 1-inch sheet of auminum foil with cooking spray. place 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons water, corn syrup, and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla in a small heavy saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until sugar dissolves, stirring as needed to dissolve sugar evenly, about 5 minutes. continue cooking 5 minutes or until golden. remove from heat; carefully stir in pecans, 2 tablespoons butter, and salt. immediately pour onto prepared foil, spreading to a thin layer. cool completely. break praline into small pieces. place in a food processor, and process until ground.
• 2 for the crust: combine cracker crumbs, 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, melted butter and 1 tbps. water in a bowl. toss with a fork. press crumbs in to bottom and up sides of a 9-inch springform pan coated iwth cooking spray. bake at 350f for 10 minutes. cool on a wire rack. reduce oven temperature ot 325°f.
• 3 for the filling: place sweet potatoes in food processor; process until smooth. remove from processor. combine brown sugar, cheeses, and sour cream in processor; process until smooth. add puréed potatoes, flour, and the remaining ingredients, and process until smooth. add one-half of ground praline mixture; plulse 3 times or until blended. pour filling into crust. bake 325f fo 55 minutes. turn off oven. (do not remove cheesecake from oven). let cheesecake stand in oven for 1 hour. remove from oven; cool on a wire rack. cover and chill 3 hours or overnight. sprinkle top with remaining ground praline mixture before serving.