Mascarpone Cheesecake

I turned sixty-eight on Saturday. April twelfth. The birthday continues. The woman continues. The cooking continues. The book is fourteen months from publication. The visits are daily. The chain is intact. Sixty-eight is not a milestone, it is a continuation, it is the next number after sixty-seven, and the nextness is the point, and the point is the continuing, and the continuing is the birthday, and the birthday is the brisket, and the brisket is the chain.

David and the children came. Rebecca came with Thomas. Miriam called and sang. I made my birthday brisket. I blew out the candles. Ethan gave me a book — this year, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou, which he found at the used bookstore, which is becoming his birthday tradition, the finding of a book that his grandmother loves and the giving of it, and the giving is the chain, the literary chain, the chain of readers that I built in my classroom for forty-three years and that is now being built in a used bookstore by a ten-year-old boy who chooses Maya Angelou because his grandmother told him that Maya Angelou understood cages, and understanding cages is one of the things that reading does, and the reading is the freedom.

I brought Marvin a piece of honey cake. He ate it. He did not say happy birthday. The silence is the disease. The cake is the love. The love outlasts the silence.

The brisket is always the centerpiece, but every birthday dinner needs something to close it — something cool and quiet after all that richness, something that sits on the table long after the candles are blown out and the singing is done. I’ve made this mascarpone cheesecake for several of my own birthdays now, and it has earned its place in the chain: it is calm the way Ethan’s book choices are calm, considered, unhurried, and it is sweet the way the afternoon was sweet, even with Marvin’s silence on my mind and Maya Angelou on the nightstand waiting.

Prep Time: 25 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes | Total Time: 5 hours (includes chilling) | Servings: 12

Ingredients

For the crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 12 full crackers)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the filling:
16 oz (2 packages) full-fat cream cheese, room temperature
8 oz mascarpone cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 large eggs, room temperature
Optional topping:
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Fresh berries, for serving

Instructions

Prepare the pan. Preheat oven to 325°F. Wrap the outside of a 9-inch springform pan tightly in two layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Lightly grease the inside of the pan.
Make the crust. Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter in a bowl and stir until the mixture resembles wet sand. Press firmly and evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove and let cool while you make the filling.
Mix the filling. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and mascarpone together on medium speed until completely smooth, about 2–3 minutes. Add sugar and beat until combined. Add sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and salt, mixing until just blended. Do not overbeat.
Add the eggs. Add eggs one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition just until the yolk disappears into the batter. Scrape down the bowl between each egg. Overmixing after the eggs go in causes cracking.
Water bath bake. Pour the filling over the cooled crust. Place the foil-wrapped springform pan inside a large roasting pan. Pour hot water into the roasting pan until it reaches 1 inch up the sides of the springform. Carefully transfer to the oven.
Bake. Bake at 325°F for 55–65 minutes, until the edges are set and the center still has a slight jiggle (about a 2-inch wobble). Turn off the oven, crack the door open, and let the cheesecake rest in the oven for 1 hour. This prevents cracking.
Add the topping (optional). If using the sour cream topping, stir sour cream and powdered sugar together and gently spread over the warm cheesecake surface. Return to the still-warm oven for 5 minutes.
Chill. Remove from the water bath, discard foil, and run a thin knife around the edge to loosen. Let cool to room temperature on a wire rack, then refrigerate uncovered for at least 4 hours, or overnight for best texture.
Serve. Release the springform ring, transfer to a serving plate, and top with fresh berries if desired. Slice with a sharp knife wiped clean between cuts.

Nutrition (per serving)

Mascarpone Cheesecake — The Birthday That Keeps Continuing