Basque cheesecake has a burnt top on purpose. There is no crust, no water bath needed, and cracks and deflating are expected. It’s exceptionally creamy, with the burnt top lending a slight umami flavor to each bite. I wanted to make it with ube, the flavor of my youth, the taste of home.

It was a late Thanksgiving dessert, and this is a late Thanksgiving blog post.

Rewind to September. A couple of hours after I pressed “publish” on my last post, my husband Matt and I found out that my father-in-law has passed. It was devastating, to say the least. He and I had a special relationship, and we immediately clicked when we first met each other at their home in upstate New York. We shared a love for the same foods (cheese! sausages! liverwurst!) and he would often send me and Matt articles about restaurants and their best dishes. I beamed with so much pride when he would say, ?you did good? – when I published a well-written blog post, or when I sent them some homemade treats. He was the best father-in-law I could have wished for and I already miss him terribly.
Since then, I have been avoiding posting on my blog. I had so wanted him to read the last post: very lengthy, but filled with memories about summer and travel. I wanted to spend more holidays with him, and send him some of his favorite spiced crackers. I wanted to do so many more things, but we all know how life goes.

This past Thursday, for Thanksgiving, it was just me and Matt...