Ube Pumpkin Cheesecake

Purple ube and pumpkin swirl together in this fluffy, creamy cheesecake with a salty sweet graham cracker crust.

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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick spray.
Whisk together the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and salt. Add the melted butter and stir until thoroughly combined.
Pat the mixture into the springform pan and up the sides. I like to use a wood tamper.
Bake for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool.

Whip the cream cheese in a medium bowl with beaters or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 3-4 minutes, until fluffy and no lumps remain.
Add eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, sour cream and maple syrup. Beat until fully incorporated.
Split the cheesecake batter evenly between two medium bowls. I like to use my kitchen scale for this.

In one of the batter bowls, add the pureed purple sweet potato, ube flavoring and purple food coloring, if desired.
Beat until thoroughly combined. Add more flavoring and food coloring, as needed. Set aside.

Lower the oven temperature to 325°F.
Using piping bags or spoons, place blobs of the batter randomly in the mostly cooled graham cracker crust, layering the different batters until you have used about ¾ of each batter. Reserve the remaining batters.
Drag a butter knife through the cheesecake a few times to create the swirl.
To create the feathered top design, use the remaining batters to create thick, alternating lines on top of the swirled batter underneath. Drag the cleaned butter knife or a toothpick through the lines of batter up and down.

Create a bain-marie, or water bath, to prevent cracks in the cheesecake.
There are two ways to do this. The easiest is by placing the cheesecake inside of a larger pan and placing that into an even larger pan. Fill the largest pan with boiling water at least half way up, but not so much that you risk water getting into the springform pan. I placed my cheesecake into a 10-inch round cake pan and placed that into a 12-inch round cake pan and then filled the 12-inch pan with boiling water.
If you do not have pans that will work for this you can simply cut large pieces of foil to cover the bottom of the springform pan to ensure no water will get inside of the springform pan when placed into a larger dish filled with boiling water.
Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour. The cheesecake is ready when it barely jiggles when gently shaken.

To further prevent cracks, let the cheesecake gradually cool. Leave the cheesecake in the oven and turn the oven off. I like to leave it there for about 15 minutes. Then, crack the oven door and let it sit for another 15-30 minutes.
Then remove the cheesecake and let cool on the counter until almost completely cool. Finally, transfer to the refrigerator to let cool completely for at least 8 hours or overnight. Garnish with whipped cream before serving, if desired.