Chocolate cake to combat cabin fever

Sophie woke with a cold on Tuesday morning. It was one of those mornings when finding a positive reason to get out of bed wasn’t easy. Howling southerlies ripped through the beams of the house. Like most Kiwi houses, we have a metal roof which makes the sound of rain and hail feel primitively close. Loud and threatening, not easily ignored.

There was nothing else for it but to plan a rug up, bake and create day.

Dan took the car and dropped Charlotte at school, before heading off to work.

Sophie, Alice and I faced facts – we were at home for the day and baking was definitely the first priority to lift our spirits. Chocolate cake was just the tonic we needed. So, we opened up our trusty Edmonds Cookery Book for a simple recipe and got busy…

Alice slept through much of the preparation, waking up to watch Sophie licking the bowl whilst waiting for the cake to cook…

It turned out pretty scrumptious – though a little dipped in the middle. Thankfully, Sophie is a quick thinker and simply said, ‘Just turn the cake over Mummy and it will look fine!’.

The rest of the day was a blur of fort building, bowling in the lounge, bubbles in the garden in between showers (with Sophie still in p-jays!) and Sophie hammering random pieces of wood together in the garage.

I was relieved to see Frances bring Charlotte through the door at 3pm and take Sophie off to her ballet class. I really needed a change of scene, but didn’t want to take Alice out in the horrid weather. Charlotte quietly got on with her homework, with me retrieving various books.

Curtains were drawn by 5pm. Candles lit and heaters on. Early night.