I can hardly believe it myself, but – this month marks 10 years of Pancakes & Biscotti (!) or a whole decade of writing, cooking, baking, photographing, and overall blogging. My first ever post (these pancakes, naturally) feels like lightyears ago. I was 25, a brunette, and making less than EUR 1000 a month while living in a dingy apartment. Where has the time gone?!

I launched P&B for a couple of reasons, initially. I wanted a creative outlet to break up the monotony of my day job; I was experiencing my first ever heartbreak following the end of a relationship and wanted a distraction; I thought I might want a career in food writing one day, and that a blog would make for a good portfolio. I didn’t really know what would happen after that: I had little to no expectations, and certainly no timeline. All these years later I realize that what started as a tentative endeavor into a new hobby has since become one of the constant joys in my daily life, one that has led me to become a better cook, baker, writer, and photographer. Beyond teaching me the ins and outs of blogging, P&B has also taught me patience (recipe developing demands it), organization, resourcefulness, and flexibility. It has introduced me to wonderful, likeminded people, who have inspired me through their own projects and recipes. It has become a part of my identity – “I have a food blog!” is one of the first things I share when meeting someone new – and that I’ve kept it going for so long is a true point of pride for me.

On a personal level, I’ve changed a lot in the decade I’ve been blogging; I am a much different person than the one I remember being in my mid-20s. I’m a lot surer of myself, more outspoken, and quicker to stand up for myself; I know where I stand, what I like and don’t like, and what I tolerate and can’t tolerate. I feel a little bit wiser I suppose. Through all this – not to mention changing jobs, dealing with break-ups, losing beloved family members, welcoming new ones, traveling to new places – Pancakes & Biscotti has remained a constant.

Times have changed since I started blogging, too. There was already a heck of a lot of food blogs back in 2014, and now in 2024, there are too many to count. Facebook and Pinterest are platforms of the past, and nowadays, people want to consume their recipe content via brief, digestible videos on Instagram or TikTok. Gone are the days where people would sit and read a blog post with a few photos. (Does anyone have an attention span of more than 60 seconds nowadays? Does anyone read anymore?! Is anyone still reading this?!)

Indeed: a blog with actual writing, without a TikTok presence or a constant stream of video content to prop it up, isn’t so relevant in 2024. As much as I love P&B the way it is, I fear it has become archaic. I wonder if I need to evolve to keep up with the times: I have pondered scrapping the writing for videos, which I’ve experimented with it here and here (I can’t say I’m very good at them yet – the other day I thought I had filmed this whole recipe, only to discover that my phone camera had been turned off the whole time. Uff). Sometimes I think that I should pause the blog for a while to decide what else I might want to do in the time that I usually dedicate to it. Having said this, not blogging anymore would be pretty darn weird.

Time will tell (stay tuned)! In the meantime, cheers to 10 years!

I studied a lot of fancy birthday cake recipes for this post, but eventually settled on a dessert that I had been brainstorming for a while, one that reflects both my own identity, and the P&B profile I’ve created over the years: something decidedly Italian and American. Or rather: a very irreverent peanut butter tiramisù. Sorry not sorry, tiramisù purists.

The basic elements of a traditional tiramisù are all present at roll call: we have our coffee-tinged savoiardi biscuits, or ladyfingers, mascarpone cream, and a dusting of cocoa powder that is sure to stick to your teeth (worth it). The shake-up occurs when a small hill of the aforementioned peanut butter is added to the mascarpone cream – because if there is anything we Americans love, it is a good dose of PB. In another move against tradition, whipped cream rather than egg whites steps in to lighten the mixture; it stands up much better to the thickness of the peanut butter, I found.

What can I say guys? The biscuit-to-cream ratio – where the amount of crema is generous, but not overwhelmingly so – is spot-on for my tastes. The savoiardi have taken a dip, not a swim in the coffee, meaning that they are imbued with just enough fragrant, pleasantly bitter caffe’ to impart their flavor on the dessert without overpowering it. The peanut butter-mascarpone crema is blissful: its billowy and smooth and buttery, striking just the right balance between salty and sweet thanks to the PB, and it slowly softens the crisp savoiardi until they melt into the cream. The sprinkling of cioccolato in between the layers and the cocoa powder over the top provides a chocolate/peanut butter punch. A forkful of it – peanut butter cream and coffee-infused biscuit and chocolate! – is something special, a dessert truly fit to celebrate a decade of blogging.

Thanks for sticking with me all these years – curious to see what the next 10 have in store!

A couple of notes: The peanut butter flavor in this tiramisù intensifies the longer it sits; if you want a lighter flavor, you can serve it after 4 or so hours in the fridge. If you want a stronger peanut butter flavor, make it a few more hours in advance. It is also delicious in the day or two after you have made it, if there are any leftovers. I have a feeling that this tiramisù would work equally well with a good crema di pistachio or Nutella in place of the peanut butter – let me know if you try this (I will be). Feel free to add a little alcohol to the cream if you would like as well. Bonus, in case you’ve ever felt funny about it: there are no raw eggs at all in this recipe, actually; the eggs are pasteurized with the help of a double boiler. Finally, this tiramisù was inspired by the tiramisù al burro d’arachidi that I ordered at the restaurant Pane e Olio in Bracciano. Do yourself a favor and go if you’re looking for a day trip outside of Rome.

Looking for other no-bake desserts? Click here. For more tiramisù, I have this classic recipe and this strawberry one.

PEANUT BUTTER TIRAMISÙ

Serves 8.

Ingredients:
360mL (about 1 1/2 cups) strong black coffee, cold
3 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups (360 grams) mascarpone cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup (200 grams) creamy peanut butter
Heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (180mL) heavy cream, whipped to stiff peaks
25 savoiardi biscuits (ladyfingers)
2 ounces (56 grams) dark chocolate, chopped
A handful of unsalted peanuts, chopped (optional, see notes)
1-2 tablespoons cocoa powder, for dusting

11 x 8 inch rectangular pan

Directions:
1.) Bring a saucepan with a few inches of water to a gentle simmer over medium heat. In a bowl that fits comfortably over the pan without touching the water, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Place the bowl over the simmering water (thus making a double boiler) and heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture is glossy and smooth and becomes more voluminous, about 5 minutes.

2.) Remove the bowl from the heat and continue to whisk for an additional minute to start to cool it down. Add the mascarpone, peanut butter, vanilla and salt and continue to whisk until well incorporated.

3.) Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks in a medium bowl and gently fold into the peanut butter mixture using a rubbert spatula. This is your peanut butter cream.

4.) Dip half of the ladyfingers into the coffee one at a time. Work quickly — do not let them sit and soak in the coffee. Place this first layer of ladyfingers in your pan, and spoon half of the peanut butter mixture over them, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with the chopped chocolate and peanuts, if using.

5.) Repeat with the rest of the ladyfingers dipped in coffee, followed by a layer of the peanut butter mixture. Note that you will probably have a little coffee leftover. Sift cocoa powder over the top of the tiramisù.

6.) Cover your peanut butter tiramisù with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Remove from the refrigerator 10 minutes before serving. Dig in and eat with gusto.