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Christmas Traditions, Old and New

Christmas has become a quiet day for me over the years.

My own daughter, Darcy, is in California with her husband. My stepchildren are all over the country and their children are, too. My stepson and his wife, whom I adore, are divorced and my daughter-in-law will spend her day with her parents, who are quite old and don’t drive the nearly two hours to get to Newburyport.

I won’t be alone, though. Noank friends, who are not very religious and don’t have children, have invited me with their relatives to their house for Christmas Eve dinner. This year their new tradition is go to give a book as a Secret Santa. This is may be my favorite Christmas Eve: good conversation, excellent food, good wine, and a book to read when I get home.

I will take a few bottles of wine. I used to buy three cases—two red and one white—for the year; now it is two white and one red, and it lasts for a couple of years! I will take also take dessert. Christmas is like its cousin the month before, Thanksgiving, and is not a day for dieting so I will make a tiramisu cheesecake. It is beyond delicious, purely hedonistic and will leave lots of extra for Judy and Dick.

Lee White of Old Lyme has been a food editor and restaurant reviewer for more than 25 years. You can email her at leeawhite@aol.com.

Tiramisu Cheesecake

Adapted from a recipe given to me by Aimee Pezzello from New London

Yield: 10 to 12 servings

Ingredients

Crust:

2 tablespoons butter, melted

½ teaspoon instant espresso powder

(or regular ground espresso)

1 cup vanilla wafer crumbs

Filling:

3 8-ounce packages cream cheese (or light or

Neufchatel cheese) at room temperature

8 ounces mascarpone cheese

1 2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

pinch of salt

4 large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons instant espresso powder

(or regular ground espresso)

1 tablespoon hot water

2 tablespoons brandy or Cognac

1 square (one-ounce) semisweet chocolate,

grated

For the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch spring form pan. Stir butter and espresso powder in small bowl until combined. Stir in crumbs until crumbs are evenly moistened. Pat evenly over bottom of prepared pan. Bake 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Keep oven on. Tightly cover outside bottom and sides of spring form pan with heavy-duty foil.

For the filling: Meanwhile, beat cream cheese and mascarpone in large mixer bowl at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 minutes. Gradually beat in sugar, scraping down sides of bowl with rubber spatula, until completely smooth, 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and beat in vanilla and salt. Add eggs one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Pour 4 cups of filling over crust in prepared pan and place pan in larger roasting pan. This will avoid the problem of extra filling messing up the oven.

Dissolve espresso powder into hot water. Fold into remaining filling with brandy and grated chocolate. Pour over filling in prepared pan. Place roasting pan into the oven and bake for around 1 ¼ hours. Turn oven off and let cheesecake coast in the oven with the door ajar by at least 4 to 6 inches. Remove on a wire rack and let cool.

Serve cool or refrigerate for a day or two, bringing up to room temperature before serving.