Happy New Year! Hope that 2023 brings you everything you hope and wish for after such a turbulent year last year. I was glad to see the back of 2022 to be honest. But sometimes I think different year, same s***!

I have a few things to look forward to in 2023 but I am keeping very quiet about them online. Mainly because I don’t want to tempt fate or jinx things as I don’t want our plans to go wrong.

But first things first, I’m going to update you on the 100bakeschallengeposter which I’m still working my way through in 2023. I started this on New Year’s Day 2022 with our traditional family dessert of Sticky Toffee Pudding. I intended to finish all 100 bakes by yesterday but sometimes life gets in the way! At least I completed 76 which is just over three quarters of the challenge.

1. Tiramisu
2. Jaffa Cake
3. Choc Chip Muffin
4. Swiss Roll
5. Pitta Bread
6. Battenburg
7. Macaron
8. Welsh Cakes
9. Chocolate Fudge Cake
10. Sticky Toffee Pudding
11. Christmas Cake
12. Carrot Cake
13. Chocolate Fondant
14. Baked Cheesecake
15. Pinwheel Biscuit
16. White Sandwich Loaf
17. Fortune Cookie
18. Pineapple Upside Down Cake
19. Creme Brulee
20. Madeira Cake
21. Shortbread
22. Anzac Biscuit
23. Biscotti
24. Viennese Whirl
25. Pork Pie
26. Lebkuchen
27. Jammie Biscuit
28. Iced Gem
29. Victoria Sponge
30. Key Lime Pie
31. Iced Bun
32. Cheese Scone
33. Gingerbread
34. Garibaldi biscuits
35. Pizza Dough
36. Cheese Straws
37. Brownies
38. Pecan Pie
39. Oat and Raisin Cookies
40. Scotch Pancakes
41. Blondies
42. Nougat
43. Panettone
44. Tarte Tatin
45. Bakewell Slice
46. Custard Tart
47. Truffles
48. Blueberry Muffins
49. Cinnamon Rolls
50. S’mores Traybake
51. Hot Cross Buns
52. Party Rings
53. Red Velvet Cake
54. Brandy Snaps
55. Mince Pies
56. Fruit Scones
57. Pop Tarts
58. Naan Bread
59. Fondant Cake
60. Madeleines
61. Triple Choc Cookies
62. Banana Bread
63. Quiche
64. Butterfly Buns
65. Fudge
66. Sausage Rolls
67. French Fancies
68. Dundee Cake
69. Millionaire’s Shortbread
70. Gingerbread People
71. Jam Tarts
72. Meringues
73. Syrup Sponge Cake
74. Tottenham Cake
75. Eccles Cakes
76. Lemon Meringue Pie
77. Florentines
78. Foccacia
79. Bara Brith
80. Cannoli
81. Irish Soda Bread
82. Profiteroles
83. Bread and Butter Pudding
84. Flapjacks
85. Chocolate Chip Cookies
86. Eclairs
87. Coffee and Walnut Cake
88. Angel Cake
89. Wholegrain Loaf
90. Marshmallows
91. Rocky Road
92. White Choc and Raspberry Muffins
93. Chelsea Buns
94. Treacle Tart
95. Lemon Drizzle Cake
96. Black Forest Gateau
97. Chocolate Roulade
98. Rice Krispie Cakes
99. Peanut Brittle
100. Cornish Pasty

The crossed out bakes have already been done! Sometime in the not too distant future, I might actually get around to finishing off the rest. Last year I punished myself with trying to cram too much in. This year I’m pleasing myself and working at my own pace. Well that’s the plan anyway!

I chose to make a Tiramisu for our New Year’s Day dessert today. It’s been a while since I’ve made Tiramisu. The last time I made one was when I used to go to a Patisserie and Confectionery Evening Class at York College. One night we made Tiramisu from scratch. Even the biscuit layer which I’m used to soaking coffee liqueur into ready made sponge fingers or boudoir biscuits were made from scratch as a chocolate genoise sponge! But oh my, it was heaven in a dish!

Tiramisu has always been my favourite dessert when going to an Italian restaurant. I rarely have puddings when I eat out on a night as I’m usually far too full up. So it’s a rare treat if I do- perhaps for my birthday? I first discovered it just after leaving uni and moving into a houseshare in Gravesend, Kent with three others. I tried to impress my housemates making one and rather overdid the booze soaking the sponge fingers. It was so potent! I’m surprised they managed to eat any!

Over the years I’ve made a tiramisu from time to time if we’ve had a family gathering or a party. But I thought today, it was high time to relive an old favourite.

The recipe I use comes from an old Mary Berry dessert cookbook which I was given by my Nana back in the early 1990s. It’s a classic Dorling Kindersley cookbook with excellent illustrations and step by step instructions. For reasons of copyright, I am not able to share the recipe with you on here. But if you click on the link below, there is a similar recipe on this blog post but you will have to scroll down to find it.

Mary Berry’s Tiramisu Recipe

Tiramisu usually has two or three layers of sponge fingers soaked in a coffee liqueur or Marsala wine. Our drinks cabinet is full of gin, whisky and a half drunk bottle of Curaco which my son had bought to use in some cocktails! No Marsala but I remembered a bottle of coffee Tequila we had bought during lockdown to add to a cake. I can never drink Tequila, it’s rocket fuel! So I guessed this was the only alternative!

I mixed some of the coffee liqueur with some mascarpone cheese then beat it into some whipped cream. The rest of the liqueur was mixed with some strong brewed coffee and poured on the sponge finger biscuits.

I used my clear glass stemmed trifle dish which I bought a while ago. It’s from Next and only really gets used for the Christmas trifle. It got used for our Amaretto Trifle this year but it was a shame to put it away and not get used until next Christmas.

Happy New Year!

Love Sam xx