AI Carrot Cake

MAKING A CHATGPT RECIPE

I don't know why the idea came to mind, but over the weekend I wondered if artificial intelligence (AI) could one day feed us. That is to say, come up with recipes, load instructions into a robot or a 3D food printer of sorts 🤢🤮, and actually prepare the food. An AI chef. That would be handy actually. They'd have an infinite number of meals they could potentially make, as long as they ingredients were available.

Perhaps it was because I saw the movie "Moonfall" earlier, but no spoilers on that. See it, it's quite interesting.

That the though came to me. Why not ask ChatGPT to produce a recipe and you see if you can follow the instructions. So I did.

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Prompt:

"Write a recipe for a gluten-free carrot cake"

ChatGPT response:

Certainly! Here's a recipe for a delicious gluten-free carrot cake:

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

• 2 cups of grated carrots (about 4-5 medium-sized carrots)
• 1 1/2 cups of gluten-free all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8 oz (1 package) of cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat the Oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and line two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.

2. Prepare the Carrots: Peel and grate the carrots. Set them aside.

3. Mix the Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger, and salt. Set this dry mixture aside.

4. Prepare the Wet Ingredients: In another bowl, beat together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract until well combined.

5. Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture and stir until just combined. Avoid overmixing, as it can make the cake dense.

6. Fold in the Carrots: Gently fold the grated carrots and chopped nuts (if using) into the batter.

7. Bake: Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. The exact baking time may vary depending on your oven.

8. Cool: Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then remove them from the pans and place them on a wire rack to cool completely.

9. Prepare the Cream Cheese Frosting: In a separate mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract, and continue to beat until the frosting is light and fluffy.

10. Assemble the Cake: Once the cakes are completely cool, spread a layer of cream cheese frosting on top of one of the cakes. Place the second cake on top and frost the top and sides of the entire cake with the remaining frosting.

11. Decorate (Optional): You can decorate your cake with additional chopped nuts or grated carrots, if desired.

12. Serve: Slice and serve your delicious gluten-free carrot cake. Enjoy!

This gluten-free carrot cake is a delightful treat for those with dietary restrictions and is sure to be enjoyed by everyone.

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WOW! AI spat this out in the blink of an eye. This is supposedly unique and not extracted from any book anywhere. In theory, if I asked again, it should give me something slightly different, depending on how I phrase the prompt of course. Also, I continue to be mind-blown by how good these AI things have become.

I didn't have lot of the ingredients, especially the dairy products, so I had to go to the supermarket. I still couldn't find any chopped walnuts of pecans for whatever reason. In fact, all the nuts were gone, or perhaps not stocked that day. I decided to use the almonds I had at home. Instead of crushing them, I ground them to powder using my coffee blender :)

The other changes I made were removing the granulated (white) sugar and adding raisins instead, and substituting Demerara sugar for brown sugar.

You know what? It didn't taste so bad. I think I messed some of the timings up, or something, so the cake came out a little softer than I like. Perhaps that's what AI intended. Also, to be fair, I did change up the recipe a little. So perhaps the raisins, or lack of crushed nuts, made all the difference in the consistency.

Anyhow, it's good to know that when AI takes over, we will at least eat well 😂

Peace & Love,

Adé