Sunday Slow Bake: Everyday Chocolate Cake

Taking the time to slow down and bake a simple treat can be a powerful way to unplug, refocus and relax.

After reading Hannah Brencher’s The Unplugged Hours and thinking about our Summer 2025 theme, “Relax,” I’ve found myself seeking out concrete, practical ways I can slow down and really be present in the moment I’m actually living. 

One of the practices I’ve started is what I’m calling “The Sunday Slow Bake.” The idea is simple: set aside some time on Sunday to do something I really enjoy (cooking) and really give the whole process my full attention and focus. So often when I’m cooking, I’m checking my email or listening to a podcast or audio book, all while mentally cataloguing all the things that need to get done from folding the laundry to writing an article. 

So, I selected a recipe, gathered the ingredients and headed to my kitchen—without my phone. Since I wanted to be entirely unplugged for the whole experience, I wrote the recipe I’d chosen (Deb Perelman’s Everyday Chocolate Cake from Smitten Kitchen) on a recipe card. Then I got to baking, without a podcast or music playing in the background—just me, the ingredients and my kitchen. 

Here are some of the things I learned or noticed: 

Absolutely, always taste butter creamed with sugar. It’s one of life’s most delicious simple pleasures! 

I didn’t have buttermilk, so I used the old home cook hack of adding vinegar to my cup of milk. Because of this, when I added the milk to the batter, it tasted bitter. I wondered if I had made a huge mistake. 

Batter after adding the cocoa powder and other dry ingredients.

After adding in the cocoa powder and other ingredients, the batter became like a fluffy, whipped buttercream. 

Because I’m so used to hurrying through preparing a meal or baking a treat, I often found myself feeling the need to hurry. Numerous times I thought, “I have to get this done so I can do the next thing!”—even though there was no next thing. My evening and my agenda was free. Breaking the bind busyness has on your life can be difficult. 

A simple home-baked treat—this is a chocolate loaf cake topped with powdered sugar—can be just as delightful as the most spectacular dessert and the perfect way to end a weekend. 

What will you learn, recognize or remember when you take the time to slow down and do something you enjoy, one step at a time? Tell us in the comments!