The recipe for memories

and a recipe for Paula's delicious tiramisu

I’ve never been a big fan of the usual New Year’s Eve hullabaloo.

That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be celebratory. Champagne of course, Pol Roger if you please. A Vacheron Mont D’Or, melty and delicious with the very best pain de campagne. Perhaps some traditional tourtiere with homemade spicy tomato preserves, or ketchup if you must (and Richard must). A precious last piece of my sister’s delicious tiramisu, at once rich and satisfying yet still light as a feather.

The feast is preceded by a double feature—this year finally back in a big screen theatre after our pandemic hibernation. We time it so that we’re home by 10 pm, ready to get into our cozies, pour the bubbly and relax.

It’s also when we push the pause button.

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

—Socrates

The end of the year seems more a time for reflection than for parties, for looking ahead, for contemplating what was and what may come.

It’s the chance to celebrate small wins and big milestones…to relive the trip of a lifetime and plan where to go next…to resolve to try a new way of thinking, doing, being. Not resolutions, mind, something that dies on the vine by the time February comes around, but intent more deeply rooted in life goals.

It puts to mind one of my favourite recipes of all. Call it the recipe for memories, something Richard wrote 15 years ago for our holiday open house. This is one I’ll be putting in rotation more in 2024.

The recipe for memories

2 pounds friends and family

1 packed cup of joy and laughter

2 tablespoons each of sharing and caring

A soupçon of music

A liberal splash of libations

A ton of food

Season generously with conversation

Stir all ingredients together at least once a year. Let bake for a lifetime. Serve with a healthy appetite.

May you have a wonderful 2024, filled with everything you love best. Cheers to the New Year!

Paula’s tiramisu

serves 10-12

Perhaps the best kind of recipe is the one that is continually refined. Tiramisu is such a recipe. Literally meaning “pick me up” or “cheer me up” in Italian, tiramisu is as easy to make as it is delicious.

With just a few ingredients, the variations can still be infinite, even if they are infinitesimally tiny. Tweaked over time, the changes may be imperceptible to the eater, but the cook knows differently. That little bit of extra liqueur; less sugar; more cheese—with each adjustment, the recipe truly becomes one’s own.

My sister Paula has been making her world famous tiramisu for what seems like forever. A holiday family gathering just wouldn’t be the same without it. Paula tells me that after countless adjustments, this is the recipe that has evolved. While she believes she’s landed on the best combination of ingredients, Paula says she still may make changes in the future.

You needn’t wait for any more tweaks. I think this is just about perfect as is.

Note: You can omit the cream cheese for a lighter result. On pan size, use a bigger pan if you have one on hand, as the recipe will yield more than enough.

Ingredients

2¼ cups espresso or strong coffee, cooled

½ cup Kahlua or other coffee flavoured liqueur

¼ cup Frangelico liqueur

1 cup whipping cream

1¼ cup icing sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1½ cups fresh ricotta

Philadelphia cream cheese (214 gr/7½ oz), room temperature (see Note).

Mascarpone cheese (475 gr/17 oz)

1 package of savioardi biscuits (Italian ladyfingers), 500g

1 tablespoon cocoa

¼ cinnamon

1. Place espresso in a bowl large enough to dip cookies. Add Kahlua and Frangelico to coffee, stir, and set aside.

2. Beat whipping cream with ½ cup icing sugar until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, beat the ricotta cheese with a hand held mixer on high until very smooth. Add the Philadelphia cream cheese and thoroughly blend together. Set aside.

4. Place the mascarpone cheese in a separate bowl and stir it with a spatula until smooth. Gradually add ¾ cup icing sugar and mix throughly to combine.  

5. Add the mascarpone to the ricotta/cream cheese mix and beat until smooth. Fold in whipping cream.

To assemble the tiramisu

1. Have a 9x13 baking dish ready (see Note). Dip ladyfingers very quickly in the coffee/liqueur mixture and line the bottom of the dish with the biscuits.

2. Using an offset spatula, spread half of cheese mixture evenly over biscuits.

3. Dip the remaining biscuits in the coffee mixture and make a second layer.

4. Spread the remaining cheese mixture over the biscuits and smooth so that surface is even.

5. Mix cocoa and cinnamon together. Using a fine strainer, sprinkle cocoa mixture over the entire surface of the tiramisu.

6. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. The tiramisu can be made a few hours ahead or the day before serving and will taste even better as the flavours meld.