Christmas at Costa

Even though I absolutely love Christmas and the festive time of year, I hate getting into the Christmassy spirit too early. Its still November, and I don't let myself really think about Christmas until the beginning of December, but with the recent change in temperature and the end of term fast approaching I guess there's no harm in starting to feel a bit festive now. Especially if that means I can enjoy the Christmas specials in Costa.

I love Costa. I think their coffee is really nice, the food offerings are pretty good and it has a nice feel to it. There are a couple of stores on campus and I find myself there quite a lot, either meeting friends, grabbing a coffee to keep me going through the day or on a table in the corner doing some study.

On to the Christmas menu!

First, take a look at how cute this cup is! I love the Christmas cups from Costa. There are four designs; rudolph, snowman, elf and Santa. They are all so cute and you can also buy ceramic cups with these designs on.

I have to say I was a bit gutted Costa didn't bring back the Honeycomb Hot Chocolate from last year but the Black Forest Hot Chocolate has made a return which I am thrilled about.

Costa's hot chocolate is good anyway as its pretty thick and is chocolatey but not sickly. The Black Forest Hot Chocolate on the Christmas menu also has a shot of blackberry syrup and is topped with whipped cream, chocolate curls and some cherry sauce. I love the combination of chocolate and berries, and this tastes like a liquid black forest gateau. Very indulgent but perfect for a treat on a cold day.

I've had a sample of the Orange Hot Chocolate, which for a non-orange/chocolate fan was pretty good and I'll probably try a full sized version and I've also had the Brownie Hot Chocolate.

I asked for only a bit of whipped cream, hence why the picture above looks a bit lack lustre. I'm not sure I'd have this one again because I prefer other drinks at Costa but it was yummy and I definitely enjoyed it. It has a shot of walnut syrup which made it very brownie-like and it was topped with tiny pieces of brownie.

I probably sound like I spend all my time in Costa because I've had a couple more things from the Christmas menu. (Its true, I do go there a lot - goodbye student loan). Before a two hour lecture on Monday I popped in to get a coffee and I decided to go for the Praline Cappuccino, which I was pleasantly surprised by. I like my coffee very strong, so for me I couldn't taste coffee at all, but the praline syrup was a really nice flavour, and when it was topped with a gold dusting it really brightened up my day. (Sorry I don't have a photo)

On the food front, when I had lunch with a friend a couple of weeks ago I had the bacon, brie and cranberry panini which was very festive and so good.

I'm not huge on cheese but I like a bit of brie every now and again and I'm glad there wasn't too much in this panini. I haven't had any of the cakes but I've heard the gingerbread muffin is tasty.

On the whole a lovely, festive menu that will help to get anyone in the Christmas spirit!

Mary Berry's Lemon Drizzle Cake

Since the return of one of my favourite TV programmes - The Great British Bake Off - I've had a craving to throw on my apron and dig out my cake tins. I thought I should make the most of what's left of summer by baking with one of my favourite summer flavours - lemon. And of course, to celebrate the return of GBBO I had to follow a Mary Berry recipe.

I've made this Lemon Drizzle traybake once before when I was away in university but as my oven was extremely temperamental it didn't turn out too well. I knew it would taste great though made in my kitchen at home. Its fairly quick, super easy and makes perfect Lemon Drizzle Cake.

You will need

For the cake:

225g of softened butter (leave at room temperature for at least an hour before starting)

225g of caster sugar

275g of self-raising flour

4 eggs

4 tablespoons of milk

2 level teaspoons of baking powder

Finely grated rind of 2 lemons

For the topping:

175g of granulated sugar

The juice of 2 lemons

Cake Tin:

1 square tray bake tin, greased and lined with baking paper (unless the tin is made of silicon, then no greasing or lining is required)

To begin set the oven to preheat at 160°C. Measure all the ingredients for the cake into a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric whisk until it is combined and smooth. It makes a fairly stiff batter so it is much easier to use an electric whisk than a wooden spoon. Pop the mixture into the tin, making sure the top is level and even, and place in the oven for 35-40 minutes until the cake is starting to shrink away from the sides and a skewer comes out clean.

Leave in the tin to cool for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. I find the easiest way to turn it out and prevent the top from getting indents from the wire rack is to grab a large plate with a rim as flat as possible. Place the plate over the tin and flip, carefully encouraging the cake out of the tin. The cake should be upside down on the plate. Now put the wire rack on top of the cake and flip again. Ta-dah! The cake is now the right way up to cool.

While the cake is cooling make the topping. This is a crunchy topping rather than an icing, which I think goes very nicely. It adds a nice texture alongside the moist cake. In a bowl mix together the granulated sugar with the lemon juice to form a runny paste. Spoon the topping all over the cake while still warm, making sure its perfectly even. It will drip over the sides so place the wire rack over a tray to catch the topping. Leave to cool completely before cutting into squares.

I cut it into 25 squares. Big enough for a sugar/cake/lemon craving and small enough to not feel guilty having two!

If you fancy looking at the recipe on Mary Berry's website click here.

Perfect for a rainy August afternoon, sat on the sofa with a book and a cup of tea.

Places in Norwich worth trying out

Everywhere we ate in Norwich was really nice. I don't know what it is and why there aren't more places that serve really good food in Cardiff but Norwich is obviously a place to go if you're a bit of a foodie.

Mustard

One day when we were looking for somewhere for lunch in the independent quarter we stumbled across Mustard. It was a simple little café that served sandwiches or jacket potatoes with old fashioned crockery that looked like it had been picked up at a car boot sale (in a good way). There was art for sale on the walls and there is a notebook on each table with pencils for customers to doodle or write in, and the owners will stick up their favourites in the café. It may not look particularly impressive but the café had a lovely homely feel and was perfect for a quick and tasty lunch.

I had a pot of tea and the ABC sandwich (avocado, bacon and chicken).

It was very reasonably priced and I really enjoyed my sandwich - the bacon was particularly good!

Roots

We were looking for somewhere to pop into one morning for a drink and a little bite to eat and decided to try out Roots. As it was such a sunny morning we sat out in the little courtyard, which was lovely and a great advantage Roots has compared with lots of other cafés with no outdoor seating.

They had a great selection of hot drinks and cakes. I plumped for a flat white (which was perfectly made) and a slice of orange and poppyseed cake.

It was one of the best cakes I've had in a very long time. It was pretty moist but it wasn't too gooey, and it was orangey without being overpowering. My mum had a slice of the Victoria Sandwich cake which was very nice too (I tried a bit). I think Roots are also open for lunch and dinner so if I ever venture back over to Norwich I would definitely check it out as I was so impressed with the coffee and cake I had there.

Grosvenor Fish Bar

These chips are without a doubt some of the best I have ever had. The ones photographed were sprinkled with some spicy salt. They were crispy, fluffy and very good value for money. There is nothing else to say about these chips other than if you are ever in Norwich, you NEED to go and get some of these.