A cake as a reward after a task or as an ignition to start it?

Ever since I saw an instagram post about Cake for breakfast on Monday, the wish lingered in my mind, growing stronger and stronger. Having "cake" as my OLW probably added to this dream. 

I aimed for this to happen on Monday and almost made it to come true. I made the cake on Sunday, only to read the last line of the instructions that it had to stay in the fridge for twenty four hours before eating. So at first I ate a piece of cake on Monday evening as a celebration for my twenty sixth wedding anniversary. 

With one day delay I had my dream breakfast on Tuesday. It was a special day because I stayed in my home office (my dear living room sofa) to proofread all the primary report card comments. Don't be alarmed. We are a small school and reading the reports is a treat. The reading comes with the role of the principal and gives me a chance to get an overview of all the incredible learners we have. The teachers write with such a caring voice and focus mostly on celebrating the successes and growth of the learners. The suggestions for improvement are offered with compassion. 

With an intensive task ahead the cake seemed extra appropriate. I can imagine that many people would consider it as a reward or a celebration for work well done rather than an indulgence to start with. Then again, wouldn't a positive start of a day shade the whole day brighter and lighter?

I bet some of you are already wondering what cake I made. It was a simplified and modernised version of Russian Napoleon cake. I make the original version of the cake from scratch after every five years, because both the pastry and cream making are messy and time-consuming. The result is delicious beyond dreams. The simpler version used puff pastry strips that quickly baked in the oven. The filling still required bringing the cream (with blood orange juice, vanilla and cinnamon stick) to boil, sieving it to another pot, whisking eggs and sugar in a bowl, then transferring the cream to the eggs, and returning the cream back to a pot to thicken it all and adding some butter, leaving it to cool. The whole process left a pile of pots, a bowl, a whisk, and spoon, and a sieve to wash. Assembling the cake with alternating the pastry strip layer and cream and wrapping it all in plastic, forming a roll to cool overnight, resulted in a Russian Napoleon roll cake. 

I thought I would be home alone eating the cake, but my daughter's school had a Covid case and the kids were sent home once again for another two weeks, so she was sitting in the living room having her Zoom lessons. Things didn't go exactly as I had envisioned - I ate the cake on Tuesday instead of Monday, I was t home not in a cafe, and I was in the company of my daughter not by myself. The cake for breakfast was still perfect. Perfect!

Some psychologists and nutritionalists might want to analyse what might be missing from my life that I craved a cake for breakfast, a creamy sugary bomb, long considered the villain of health. I am telling you there is nothing wrong with me. The only thing missing from my life was a slice of cake in the morning.

I eat my fair share of oatmeal porridge with blueberries, and scrambled eggs with avocado slices, and spinach smoothies with chia seeds, all these to take care of my body. The cake - the cake was for the soul. The cake in the morning made sure I had a sweet line for my gratitude list, a smile on my face, and plenty of energy to tackle the numerous pages of comments. 

I didn't finish reading all the comments on Tuesday evening, some were left for Wednesday afternoon. I wish I had made a bigger cake to have some for celebration also. 

When I chose "cake" as my OLW, I though of it as a symbol for motivation and celebration to keep me going. I now think that a bite of the creamy delight might be better than an image on a vision board.