For a few days this week, a fine layer of ice crystals coated literally everything in the canyon around the house. As if winter had taken a paintbrush over each surface while we slept. It was absolutely gorgeous, and a lovely reminder to lay low, turn in, stay safe + warm inside by the fire. And, it was an exceptional reason to bake a couple of cakes.
The start of the year always is a bit spacious for me, but this year it felt like everything – including me – was shot out of a cannon. There were wildfires burning in our backyard, travel, COVID, and the typical excitement that surrounds the making of plans for a year ahead. And now that the initial explosion has worn off, it feels right, to settle in, turn on the oven, put the far-flung and elaborate plans on hold, to keep my circle close, and to make sure that my closest people are well cared for. What better way to do that than to make a simple cake?
It’s worth noting that the recipe below for Apple-Currant Cake with Maple Frosting makes not one but TWO 9″ loaf cakes (or one (9″ round cake.) It’s a simple recipe, made without dairy, that’s as delicious to serve for dessert as it is to slice up for a special breakfast on a snow day, OR to pack (carefully!) for a day in the mountains. Unlike banana bread, or carrot cake or some of the other sliceable loaf cakes I’ve shared, this one is truly tender – which makes it an exceptional food for adventure but also makes it a bit tricky to pack. (I’ll talk a bit more about that down below.)
The recipe below for Apple-Currant Cake with Maple Frosting makes not one but TWO 9″ loaf cakes (or one (9″ round cake.) It’s a simple recipe, made without dairy, that’s as delicious to serve for dessert as it is to slice up for a special breakfast on a snow day, OR to pack (carefully!) for a day in the mountains. Unlike banana bread, or carrot cake or some of the other sliceable loaf cakes I’ve shared, this one is truly tender – which makes it an exceptional food for adventure but also makes it a bit tricky to pack. (I’ll talk a bit more about that down below.)
My favorite part about this cake for sure is the maple frosting that I want to drizzle on everything in sight. The second favorite part of this little loaf is that it’s truly made of simple ingredients that you probably already have on hand. In my case, the last of a bushel of apples I bought from the farmer on the last day of the market. It’s a sign that we’re working our way through the winter quite nicely.
The third, and frankly most important part of this cake is that the smells, the simple process + the act of having a sweet slice is a spark of pure joy. There are all sorts of scientific reasons that eating a cake is actually pretty damn good for your performance (if you’re asking yourself this question,) but the most critical thing to remember about anything you’re putting into your body as fuel is that it isn’t worth a thing if it isn’t laced with joy. Read on to learn why.
As I type this, the fog has rolled in again pushing my plans for delivering cakes until tomorrow. This means that the scents of maple, apple and spice can swirl around my house a little longer, like a little hug inspiring adventures – and cake snack breaks – for the weekend ahead.
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but JOY MATTERS when it comes to nourishing our bodies – for sport + for life. It matters just as much as calories and macros. More than the complicated science of intermittent fasting and WAY more than the fad diet that you have been thinking about following.
JOY – sattvic energy as it’s referred to in Ayurvedic medicine – is the quality of nature that contains balance, peace, harmony, purity, and clarity. It is one of the three subtle qualities or ‘gunas’ that exist in all of nature. The other two qualities are rajas and tamas, rajas being the quality of movement, distraction, turbulence or activity that creates an imbalance in life, while tamas being the quality of dullness, darkness, heaviness and stagnancy that creates inertia.
We all contain all three of these. We need each. And we need each to break down, assimilate and thrive from the foods that we eat.
We all know what happens in the body when we experience an excess of anxiety, sadness, stress or dis-ease – we tense up, our bodies feel tight, and we start to feel a sense of dis-ease. And that tension and “clenching” trickles all the way down to our guts, impeding our ability to digest, assimilate and ultimately benefit from the foods we eat. If you’ve ever had a body massage, you know that your life experiences translate to the body. The digestive system does not exist in a vacuum outside of this. And without the healthy functioning of the digestive system, we don’t benefit from any of the foods we eat – no matter how dialed their macronutrient profiles or “healthy” their calorie count.
Joy opens us up. It builds the kind of good energy that we want our lives and our athletic performances to be comprised of. It starts in the seeds of whatever we choose to eat, extends to the hands that prepare it, and the moment we consume it. Joy is really really important. It can’t be counted out, but it can be felt. And if you’re not feeling it, it’s probably not there. So have a second helping whenever you find it served up to you.
I read a great article this week all about the expensive, complicated gimmicks of the sports nutrition industry. It was one of my favorite pieces of nutrition writing in a long while. (Tell me you’re anti-sport food without telling me you’re anti-sport food….)
So many of the products marketed to us to make muscles, boost performance, hike up our health – don’t give much consideration to how our bodies actually process food when we’re moving. They perpetuate our deepest fears that we’re “doing it wrong,” which, by the way, actually hinders our performance instead of pumping it up.
There is nothing that an energy bar can do that a slice of cake, a cookie, or a homemade granola bar can’t do. In fact, a slice of cake may be able to do MORE.
First, it’s worth saying that the body is happiest digesting our foods when we aren’t also trying to move – to ride, ski, hike, run, etc. Digestion is a realllly important process that requires a good amount of liquid, energy and effort to complete. The body will learn to multi-task. But like all of us, it does its job best when it has undivided attention. Whatever we put into our bodies when we’re exercising needs to be simple. Simple means made of as few ingredients as possible. And, simple means made of ingredients that are easy to digest – especially on the go. In addition to powering our sport, our bodies are also trying to keep warm, keep our hearts beating, lungs expanding etc. Choosing something simple to digest that breaks down quickly makes sense because it helps our bodies to do all of its jobs easier. And cake is just the helping hand it needs.
This little cake is packed with whole-grains, complex carbohydrates that fuel quickly, and some fat and protein that will break down more slowly. These already make a fat slice of pretty great food for fuel. But really, the star feature here is the moisture level in the cake. Our bodies require some liquid to effectively break down our foods. When our sports snacks (think dried fruits, nuts, nut bars, protein bars, crispy anything) contain less than 20-26% moisture content, we have to consume more hydration to ensure effective digestion + assimilation. This little cake has that covered because it contains more than 25% moisture.
But what about the sugar in the cake? What about the frosting? Aren’t these things “BAD?”
That depends on who you ask, I suppose. If you’re the type of person that believes in “good foods,” and “bad foods,” then….maybe? I’m not one of those people. And the ancient medicinal system of Ayurveda agrees with me.
That same marketing machine that has us believing that we’ll never reach our fullest potential without a specially formulated protein shake is ALSO the machine that created bleached granulated sugar and pushed it to us during the industrial revolution because it was cheap and tantalizing. That same machine is now telling us that sugar is bad bad bad and that highly processed sweeteners like monk fruit, stevia, and erythritol are “better for us,” because they have fewer calories. Sheesh.
Our bodies need calories. Under every context – we need them to survive and thrive.
But, in every other circumstance, the foods that nourish us whole can only be determined in context. Ayurveda agrees that excess ANYTHING-even kale, hugs + sunshine – can be harmful for us. Granulated sugars are a reasonable and even an important part of a fueling strategy for bodies in motion. These simple sugars are some of the fastest uploaded by the body and play important roles in fueling and maintaining hydration. And, they allow cakes like this to take on a loaf shape, instead of being a gloopy mess.
Enjoy this cake in cuddly moments with your family and friends, enjoy it when you come home feeling depleted from your big ride or your big day. Enjoy a slice after your morning run, ride or meditation session. Do so as a sweet balance to life, in moderation, and with joy.
And if you’re curious to learn more about sugar + sport, take a peek here.
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