Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line a 9-inch spring form pan with foil tightly to avoid leakage during water bath. Lightly spray pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and pierce each sweet potato several times with the tines of a fork. Bake until tender, about 50 minutes at 400 degrees.
Remove sweet potatoes from oven and cool completely. Decrease oven temperature to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, mix crushed gingersnap cookies and melted butter until thoroughly combined.
Press the crumbs into the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of the prepared springform pan.
Bake gingersnap crust in preheated oven for 8 minutes. Remove pan from oven and cool completely.
Once sweet potatoes are cool, peel and puree them using a food processor or blender.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with your paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and mix until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add in pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, heavy cream and sweet potato puree and mix until smooth.
Pour batter into prepared crust. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until it is halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. Bake 55-60 minutes, the edges will appear to be set, but the center will still have some jiggle to it. Turn off the oven, leave the door cracked and allow the cheesecake to rest in the cooling oven for one hour.
After one hour, carefully remove the cheesecake from the water bath and place on a cooling rack to cool completely. Once the cheesecake is completely cooled, place it into the refrigerator to chill for at least 8 hours.
Before serving, top with desired topping (whipped cream, caramel, pecans, etc.).
