#123 Tiramisu Roll Cake

Hey Friends,

Firstly, I do hope you are all ok. For the festive fans out there, I hope that you had a wonderful, restful food, fun and love filled Christmas. If, on the other hand, you are someone who finds this time of year particularly tough, then I hope you stumbled through it as peacefully as possible, and I’m sending the biggest of hugs.

Either way, can we all agree that this Twixmas period utterly MASHES one’s brain? Cells literally melt out of my head, I think. Besides losing any residual sense I possess, I’m also perpetually flummoxed by what date/day/time, it is - we could be on another time zone, in another country as far as I’m concerned - and the thought of ‘reactivating’ for the new year seems unfathomable… but let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet, eh? We’ll park that worry for another few days.

Anyway, I’m going to keep today’s newsletter short and sweet, because a) you probably have more fun things to be doing right now… and b) I feel selfish saying this, but I’m DESPERATELY trying to give my head a bit of a rest.

HOWEVER, I desperately wanted to pop in one final time for 2024 to say HI, and more importantly, a heartfelt THANK YOU.

Thank you for reading another year’s worth of weekly moans from me, for laughing with me, crying with me, and sympathising with my stresses, for humouring me whilst I dive into various bake-related holes, and for accepting my endless renditions of chocolate cake and squishably soft bread rolls (there’s defo scope for more of these btw). Thank you for being there for me, for giving me strength at times when I’ve needed it most, and thank you for accepting me, just as I am. To connect with people in this way both on a personal level and on a topic that I’m totally obsessed with, is such a privilege, and I’m interminably grateful to each and every one of you for making it possible❤️

I’m already looking forward to getting my bake on for another year back in my kitchen grotto… but until then, Happy New Year!

Lots of Love,

Steph X X X

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The Gift of Comfort Chronicles

Just before we dive into this week’s bake…

This feels a bit self-indulgent, but if you know someone who might fancy joining us over here on TCC as we step into 2025 and I continue to share the ups and downs of my little journey through life as well as my intense passion for baking and all that it encompasses, then why not gift them a subscription to The Comfort Chronicles 💛

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Tiramisu Roll Cake

OK… about this bake… variations on Tiramisu seem to be EVERYWHERE this year, so much so that I started to question whether I should bother sharing yet another rendition with you, but a few weeks ago I set my heart on it being the final hurrah for 2024 - I desperately wanted to end with something special, something that I love, and that I hope you will love too.

So, I’m here to provide you with just one more take on Tiramisu (a perfect NYE bake????)… and I know I’m biased, but it is pretty fabulous!

When it comes to Tiramisu themed bakes, I genuinely don’t think you can go far wrong. The sweet marriage of sponge/biscuit, coffee, a touch of booze, and a little bitter chocolate is always a hit.

This particular version is a perfect halfway house between a ‘cake’ and pudding. First we have a light, fluffy, vanilla flavoured genoise sponge that, once cooled, is brushed with a super-strong coffee soak spiked with a shot of Marsala and spread with a thick layer of luscious, gently whipped mascarpone cream. It’s subsequently rolled into a neat spiral for that ‘Swiss roll’ style finish, brushed with a little more of the coffee-soak, and the remaining whipped mascarpone is spread over the top. The assembled sponge is left to ‘marinate’ in the fridge for a few hours (overnight even better), then just before serving, it receives a liberal dusting with cocoa powder and ta-da… it’s time to party!

The other great thing about this kind of bake is that you can prepare it in advance (in fact, you must for the best flavour), so it keeps your celebration time relatively stress-free.

OK, enough from me, go bake, and once again, have a very HAPPY NEW YEAR*! 🥂🎉

This style of decoration is so simple yet effective, I think?

The lighting is clearly different in these two shots but the first was taken after a couple of hours in the fridge, whereas the second was after a good 24 hour refrigeration - you can see in the latter pic that everything has sort of fused together a bit more, GOOD! 👌