Google AI Takes On 'Great British Bake Off' Champion in Epic Dessert Showdown

Baking: The Intersection of Science and Art

Baking is a delightful blend of science and art, and to explore which aspect reigns supreme, Google Cloud AI is hosting an exciting dessert face-off featuring a Great British Bake Off champion.

In this challenge, Sara Robinson, an amateur baker and Google Cloud developer advocate, utilized a machine learning model that analyzed hundreds of baking recipes, including those for traybakes, cookies, and scones. This model helped her create a unique recipe by generating ingredient lists and precise measurements. From her experimentation, she developed a hybrid dessert featuring a machine learning-generated cake batter topped with cookie dough.

Robinson's creation, the Maltesers AI Cakes, incorporates Maltesers—malt chocolate candies akin to Whoppers. This collaboration arose from Mars, the brand behind Maltesers, seeking to innovate through AI in dessert-making. Competing against Robinson is Peter Sawkins, the 2020 Great British Bake Off champion, who crafted his own Maltesers cake for a promotional campaign.

Both bakers introduced unconventional ingredients to enhance the balance of sweetness. Robinson infused her cake with a Marmite buttercream frosting after discovering that "Is Marmite sweet or savory?" was a trending search related to sweet and salty flavors. Conversely, Sawkins incorporated soy sauce into one of his mother’s recipes, adding a surprising twist.

You can download both recipes on Mars' Bake Against The Machine website and try your hand at creating these unique desserts at home. While AI holds tremendous potential in various fields, mastering the art of dessert-making may require it to reconsider certain flavor choices—Marmite, perhaps, is best left out.

Dive into the world of innovative baking and see if the AI-inspired recipe can stand up to traditional techniques!