Cake, Family, and Friends...

Hey there, so I thought I'd kick off my blogging adventures with two of my favourite things in the world: cake and chocolate!

Here in St Andrews we have many strange and odd traditions. This past November I participated in a giant shaving foam free-for all in St Salvator's Quad during Raisin Weekend. Last Thursday I pulled and allnighter than ran screaming into the freezing North Sea with several hundred red eyed, exhilarated, and happy to be alive students. But there is also the Academic family, and that's what this post is about.

Each first year student is adopted by an Academic mother and father, who are third or fourth year students. In a way, it's an informal mentorship, bridging the gaps between years and binding the university spirit together. Literally in St Andrews, you can find a relationship with anyone. Aren't you my third cousin on my dad's side? Academically, speaking of course.

Most babies are adopted during Freshers week, usually under the influence of alcohol. But I was very fortuate and met my mother through Taekwon-do. I also count myself lucky in my mum's other choice of daughter, as my sister, Olivia, is one of the kindest and sweetest people in the world.

But how does this relate to chocolate and cake you might ask? Well, that's simple. You simply cannot have a family gathering without some sort of pudding. Or perhaps it should be you can't have a pudding without a family gathering. :) But bottom line is I love to bake and used this as an excuse to bust out my rusty cake baking skills, non-existent chocolate moulding skills, and have a jolly good time!

I used a Victoria sandwhich for the cake, having half normal and half chocolate. The frosting is adapted from Nigella's chocolate frosting for her old fashioned chocolate cake, and the roses are based off a tutorial found on Baking Obsession's website. Enjoy!