Last night I baked a few too many sweet potatoes which I put away in the fridge with every intention of reheating for tonight’s dinner.

Then tonight, after toweling off from getting caught in the rain on the way home from work, I was overcome by a pickle craving. One thing let to another, and there I was, eating a tuna sandwich (full of delicious pickles) and neglecting my leftovers.

When the last bite of sandwich had disappeared, I was bored and home alone, which led to an inevitable case of baking itch (ew!), and began taking inventory of my ingredient options. And there they were again, my lovely baked sweet potatoes, all cold and wrapped in foil. 

They made me think of the sweet potato pound cake that we used to get at our county fair each fall when I was growing up. Mmmmm that sure would have been amazing, but alas, I was down to a lone egg, a stick of butter, and a package of cream cheese. Hard times in the East Village Kitchen.

When life hands you leftover sweet potatoes, a stick of butter, an egg, and some cream cheese, well, it becomes quite plain that one must suck it up and make: these.

I love cheesecake and cake blended together, especially when the cake is super-dense and moist, like in a cheesecake swirl brownie. And I figured, well, chocolate is sweet and dense. Sweet potatoes are (obviously) sweet, and dense… and there was just one way to test my hypothesis. 

The microwave made my task incredibly simple. I sliced the sweet potatoes in half and nuked them for a minute to soften them up a bit, and to my surprise, they slid right out of their skins! It also came in handy for quickly melting the butter, which I combined with the mashed sweet potatoes and whisked with a fork.

From there on, it was as simple as making brownies, and it was fun artfully swirling the cream cheese, egg, and sugar mixture on top of the batter before popping it into the oven. They smelled so amazing as they baked, I could hardly wait for them to cool so I could try one. It was totally worth the wait, the results were heavenly! The mellow sweetness of the dense, moist, and rich sweet potato cake is offset by a light delicious pillow of creamy, tangy cheesecake in every bite. In the grand tradition of adorable bar/cookie/dessert names (the brownie, the blondie, etc.) I’m calling this creation “the sweetie”. I can’t wait to unveil them for my friends this weekend!

Cheesecake Sweeties

For sweet potato bottoms:

8 tablespoons (1 stick) melted, unsalted butter, plus a bit more for the pan

1 and 1/2 cups whisked, cooled sweet potato

1/2 cup light-brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour 

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon salt

For cheesecake swirls:

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 large egg yolk

5 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8 inch square pan with 2 inch high walls with butter. Trim two pieces of baker’s parchment so they can sit flat on the bottom the the pan and so they are long enough to hang over the sides by a few inches. Butter the paper.

Microwave your sweet potatoes. If you are using leftover baked sweet potatoes, remove them from foil, cut them in half and microwave them for 30 seconds to a minute, depending on thickness. If you are starting with raw sweet potatoes, poke holes in the skin with a fork and microwave on high for 4 to six minutes, or until they are soft and easily mashed. Discard skins and mash and whisk with a fork until they are smooth. Microwave the butter completely in the microwave (for about 30 seconds), and whisk into the mashed sweet potatoes until the mixture is smooth with very few bumps.

Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, a hand mixer or a whisk, add sugars and beat until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until they are fully integrated. Add flour and salt and mix just until the liquids have absorbed them. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, spreading it evenly.

In a separate bowl, using a whisk or hand mixer, combine cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar, and vanilla and beat until smooth and uniform. place 6-8 large dollops of the mixture on top of the batter in the pan. Use a knife to swirl the cream cheese mixture into the batter. Rap the pan flat against the counter a few times to level, then place in the preheated oven, on the middle rack. 

Bake until the cheesecake swirls are starting to turn golden, and a toothpick inserted into the batter part comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Use the parchment to pull the cake from the pan and transfer it to a cutting board and cut into 16 squares. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.