pursuit of a pause

epelkake.

4 apples, chopped up small, skin or not up to you

½ cup sugar

1 egg

½ cup oil or melted butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1)

½ tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp ginger

¼ tsp cardamom

whisk sugar & egg together until creamy yellow & thick. whisk in oil or butter.

with spoon or spatula, fold in dry ingredients & apples.

almond topping:

¾ cup powdered sugar

2 egg whites

about 1 cup almonds

whisk egg whites & sugar until frothy, fold in almonds.

Top cake batter with almonds

Bake in greased 8" cake pan, line it with parchment if you want to.

I used two 6" cake pans because I didn’t know if I’d want the almonds. Definitely wanted the almonds.

Bake 350* about 45 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean & almonds turn a nice golden brown.

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In the relentless quest for “progress” it is easy to fall prey to the rat race, the frenzy. We live in a world that glorifies hustle and burnout is often a token of success. However, amidst the chaos, learn to find the pause.

The pursuit of the pause takes a level of permission that is uncanny. After all, aren’t we all taught that success comes from hard work & determination?

This week my thoughts have been kinetic. This inevitably leads to either a panic attack or profound innovation. Either way, the obsessive cycle this perpetrates in my conscious can be detrimental.

So, intention becomes key. Pause. Reset. Back to baseline. A pause is not the absence of action; it’s deliberate. It provides space to gain clarity. Only in stillness can we discern what aligns in order to propel forward.

We all continue to struggle with slowing down, with meditation, with pausing. It induces reflection that can create spirals if left unharnessed. However, in small doses, a pause or two is the healthiest thing one can do. Take a moment to be part of the moment. Breathe. Pause.

This exploration reminded me of Fika, a habitual pause implemented into the Swedish culture. Fika is a pause that I’ve held onto, on a pedestal, as a piece of what an ideal day would look like. Fika is something that seems elusive. As an American workaholic, Fika feels like part of a dream. A daily habit to pause for a coffee & cake. Intentionally, as a society, there is a moment to pause in their routine. It is instinctual, adopted as the norm. The importance of this ritual is not necessarily the coffee or the cake but rather a break in the bustle to pause with friends. Companionship plays a significant role with Fika. Coffee & cake always bring friends together. It is being in the moment. It is the moment.

That’s the inspiration behind this recipe, one that I’ve revisited many times & in many forms through the years. This time around I took influence from fika. This eplekake recipe, a traditional Norwegian cake that I’ve made a million times seemed to me to be a perfect base for the almond topping from Swedish Visiting Bars that has repeatedly popped up in my pursuit of Fika. I’ve had them on my list of “I should make that” for years now but in my mind almond flavored pastries typically get bypassed. I just can’t handle the almond extract, the marzipan, the overly sugary intensity of what accompanies a perfectly subtle nut. But in this adaptation, the topping did not disappoint. Though the cake stands well on its own, the added element elevated this epelkake to a new level. The almond has found its new home on the fayecheezy epelcake.

Cake for me is best when it feels worn. Of course, a perfect cake by Sylvia Weinstock captures attention & awe, the immaculate detail is perfect for a celebration. However, a cake that can’t make it to cool down because it’s torn apart, a cake that crumbles when it’s touched, a cake that needs no support is my kind of cake.

A perfect cake for a pause is eaten with butter & a spoon on a warm winter afternoon.