INTRO: People who are new to Fasting often pose the questions: “Can I really eat ‘anything I want’ on a Slow Day?” and “What should I eat on Slow Days?” To answer those questions, I have decided to add some blog posts to show some of the foods we eat on what the world calls NFDs [non-fast days] but which, in our house, we call ‘Slow Days.’ This feature will appear sporadically.
Now for the answers. Can you really eat ANYTHING you want on a Slow Day? Not really. If you eat too many calories every Slow Day, you will not lose weight. There are many questions asked on the FastDiet Forum https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/ which attest to that. Once in a while you can splurge, as long as it isn’t everyday. For what to eat on Slow Days, Dr. Mosley recommends a Mediterranean Diet. As for how we eat, an example follows.
When I was a child, the birthday cake that my mother always made for us was an angel food cake: white and towering, sweet, and fluffy, decorated with Royal Frosting. It was my ‘gold standard’ for birthday cake, even if it was made from a boxed mix. When Dear Husband took over the job of providing birthday cakes, he wanted to cook his dream cake: yellow layers with chocolate icing. For years the Darling Sons and Dear Husband made a series of layer cakes. Dear Husband had never made a sponge cake and was a bit spooked by the prospect. At last, I said, “I’d like this cake for my birthday — a hot water sponge cake from Fannie Farmer’s Cookbook.” He said, “OK, but with a chocolate ganache icing.” So we set to work to make it happen.
Hot Water Sponge Cake for a 9” springform pan. From Fannie Farmer Cookbook.
Heat oven to 350F. Have an ungreased 9” springform pan. | |
1 cup pastry/cake flour 1¼ tsp baking powder few grains salt | Sift together and set aside. |
2 egg whites | Beat into soft peaks |
¼ c sugar | Beat gradually into the egg whites and set aside. |
2 egg yolks ¼ c hot water ½ tsp vanilla | Whisk the yolks. Add the water and vanilla, and beat until thick. The heat will cook the yolks a bit. |
½ c sugar | Beat into the eggs. |
Now you have three bowls containing different components of the cake.
Pour the yolks over the whites and fold until blended. | |
Fold in the flour until blended. | |
Gently scrape batter into the unbuttered pan. Bake 20-30 mins. Cool cake in pan. |
For whatever reason, the first time we prepared it, the cake turned out with a sunken center. Time to turn lemons into lemonade — or in this case, lemon curd. Determined to fill in that divot, I spooned some lemon curd [from a jar] into the center, pretending that it was part of the original plan.
Baked, cooled cake | Remove the wrap-around part of the pan from the cake, but leave the cake on the metal plate that is underneath it. Place on a rack over a larger plate. |
Lemon curd | If there is a low spot in the center of the cake, spoon in enough curd to fill it completely. If there is no low spot, top the cake with a thin, even layer of curd. |
Then we made a Chocolate-Cream Ganache Glaze from the Cake Bible by Rose Levy Biranbaum.
3 oz bittersweet chocolate | Break or chop or process into very small pieces. Put into a heat-proof bowl. |
1 c. heavy cream | Put into a saucepan and heat until starting to boil. |
Pour ¾ c of cream over the chocolate, cover, and let sit 5 mins. Chocolate should melt. If it doesn’t or ganache is too thick, add more hot cream, tablespoon by tablespoon, and stir. |
Pour the glaze over the center of the cake, guiding it a bit so that it covers the top and runs down the sides. Smooth any rough spots with a knife and place on a serving plate.

After he sampled it, Dear Husband said, “I want this for my birthday too!” So we repeated it a month later. It is now our traditional favorite birthday cake. I hope you will like it too.