Coffee Cake with Pecan Brittle

i made this cake at home this afternoon to as a test run for making it at the cafe. i saw the recipe in a magazine and thought it would be good for the cafe, but wanted to try it first. i think i'll make it on thursday morning when i go in. it is really delicious. here's the recipe...

...recipe from the december 2006 issue of Bbc Good Food
for the cake
225g/8oz butter, softened
225g/8oz light muscavado sugar (this is sort of like light brown sugar)
4 eggs, beaten
225g/8oz self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 Tablespoons instant coffee, mixed with 2Tablespoons boiling water
85g/3oz pecans, finely chopped

for the pecan brittle
100g/4oz sugar
3 Tablespoons water
75g/3oz pecans

for the coffee filling
140g/5ozmascarpone
100g/4oz natural icing sugar
1 Tablespoon instant coffee, mixed with 1Tablespoon boiling water

for the coffee icing
140g/5oz natural icing sugar
100g/4oz butter, softened
1 Tablespoon instant coffee, mixed with 1Tablespoon boiling water

1. Heat oven to 180 C. Grease and flour 2 20cm sandwich tins. Place all the cake ingredients in a mixer and beat until well blended. Divide the cake mixture between the two tins and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

2.Next make the brittle: prepare a baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper on top. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat and shake so it cooks evenly (don't stir or the sugar may clump). Cook until it reaches a golden coulor, then take off the heat and add the pecans. Pour the mixture evenly over the prepared baking sheet and leave to cool.

3. Make the filling: simply beat all the ingredients together until smooth. Do the same with the icing. Thickly spread the filling over one of the cakes. Place the other cake on top and, using a pallete knife, smooth the icing over the top. Finally, break the pecans into 2cm irregular pieces and place on top of the cake as decoration.