Put It In A Bigger Tin

  

This afternoon we walk in the misty gardens at the National Trust's Knights Hayes Court. My husband mostly looks up to the sky and marvels at the height of the trees -  still winter skeletal. I mostly look down at the bare earth and wonder at the brightness and perfection of small flowers pushing their way to the light.

The wind is sharp and cold and the mist is turning to drizzle  - our excuse to have tea in the cafe. We share a slice of Carrot and Pumpkin Seed Cake topped with a thick layer of white frosting. It's crumbly and moist and orange flecked with carrot and apricots. To drown out the noise of two tiny crying babies I think about the birthday cake I made this morning cooling on a rack in the kitchen at home.....and the drama I had about taking it out of the oven after 5 minutes and transferring the sticky mixture to another cake tin because I had doubled the recipe but didn't put it in a bigger tin...even though all my experience and instincts said put it in a bigger tin.

I won't know till I cut it tomorrow if it's tender, moist and crumbly or raw in the middle and dry on the outside. My instinct  - and the evidence of the skewer I stuck in the middle before I took it out of the oven - says it's the former. But it seems I don't always trust my instincts.....although I usually know how to rectify culinary mistakes... a covering of white frosting often works....