Ube Cheesecake (Purple Yam Cheesecake)

The first time my friend showed me how to make a cheesecake, I was very impressed. I thought it was difficult at first and was surprized that it's actually easy to do.

My all time favorite is using the honey graham crust. You don't need to add sugar as the crackers are already sweet. I use a blender to crush the cookies. Alternatively, you can also place the cookies in a resealable bag and press a rolling pin over it. It is important to grease the springform pan so you can easily remove the cheesecake from the pan.

I tightly wrap a foil on the springform pan because it will be cooked in a water bath. This will avoid water coming in and the crust from leaking out.

A water bath (bain-marie) baking is filling a large pan with water and placing the pan at the center. This helps in preventing cracks in cheesecakes and baking it evenly.

For the filling, I use cream cheese, condensed milk instead of whipping cream, and halayang ube as the flavor. I added ube extract to add more purple color as it lightens when you mix with cream cheese and milk.