Coffee Victoria Sandwich - A quick kick of caffeine for those January weekends.

Good morning! Good evening! Good afternoon!
Golly, I'm shattered! What a week it's been... First week back at school (always a toughy) early mornings, healthy lunches, essays, gym, late nights. Yep! It's definitely January!
But hey-ho, it's not all doom and gloom I promise. :)
And although I'm trying to steer well clear of anything sweet, stodgy, chocolatey or just flavoursome in general (yeah... Ryvitas... they're not the same as real bread) I prooooomise I'll keep sticking stuff on here for all of you to enjoy, especially if you're not still feeling bloated from the holidays!
Last week, (last Thursday to be exact) it was my brother's 22 birthday and, of course, I was put on cake making duty!

Now, Joe's a bit of a coffee fiend (being a student I suppose it was a substitute for food most of the time) and so am I (I love a large cappuccino on a cold day) and I think it's the perfect pick-me-up for the January blues!

  

I picked this recipe out from a recipe book I got for Christmas Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book and of course, in true Mary style, it's gorgeous!

Ingredients

4 eggs, beaten

2 heaped tablespoons of instant coffee

225g soft margarine

225g caster sugar

225g self-raising flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

For Filling and Topping

50g soft margarine

175g icing sugar, sifted

1tbsp coffee essence

1tbsp milk, optional

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

Grease and line 20cm sandwich tins with greaseproof paper.

Place the eggs in the bowl and stir in the coffee until dissolved.

Add the remaining ingredients and beat well until thoroughly blended.

Divide the mixture between the sandwich tins and level out.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 25 minutes or until well risen and the tops of the cakes spring back when pressed.

Leave to cool in the tins for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

To make the butter cream...

Blend together margarine, icing sugar and coffee essence until smooth.

Add milk if necessary.

Use half the butter cream to sandwich the cakes together, spread the remaining on top.
Decorate!!!  

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Carnival Fever!

Father and daughter carnival faces!

And as the cold snap of Autumn begins to arrive on a daily basis here, there's something quite magical about the evenings. I just love walking home from my school bus stop and seeing the lights of the houses burning through the dusky air, especially if it's been a cold, sunny day. Especially when it's been one of those days where there's a frost on the ground, not a cloud in the sky, you're wearing your cosiest scarf and just starting to think about doing a bit of Christmas baking. This is my favourite time of year!
Yesterday was certainly no exception and even though it poured with rain for the majority of the day, I still couldn't wait to get home, get comfy and HEAD OUT TO CARNIVAL!
Now, if you're not from the West Country, I'll explain, as to this day I am amazed to see the bemused faces of new people I meet as I try to describe what carnival is to them.
What's carnival? WHAT'S CARNIVAL?
Where I come from, it's one of the biggest community 'get-togethers' of the year. Always on a Monday evening in early November, hundreds of people (and I mean HUNDREDS) families, babies, cousins you name it, all turn out to watch tens of beautiful floats parade through the town, with millions of golden light bulbs twinkling at you in the darkness. It's truly magnificent, watching the walkers wave at you from the road, wearing elaborate handmade costumes adorned with lights and moving parts!
For the past couple of years I've taken part in it myself, as a group of us from my dance school annually parade with a choreographed piece, which is incredible! I just loved feeling like part of something and everyone volunteers, which is even better! I know it's cliché, but 'giving back to the community' is totally the phrase that sums it all up! :)
But this year, I decided to take a break. A levels are getting heavy pretty quickly and rehearsals were coming too thick and too fast. So, this year, I took a back seat and watched it with my Mum, Dad, Nana and Granfy, just like I always used to... It was the perfect family evening. Complete with a cosy scarf.

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