A cakie is a hybrid between a cookie and a cake.

Google Cloud and Mars Wrigley UK found out whether taste can be digitized by using AI to develop the first-ever Maltesers AI Cake.

Maltesers are a popular British candy made by Mars. They have a malted milk center with a delicious chocolate coating. Top Google Cloud engineer Sara Robinson decided to bake something that included Marmite, the sweet-or-savory brown spread so popular in the UK, and Maltesers. (Google)

Her inspiration? Google Search Trends. A top search around “sweet and salty” was “Is Marmite sweet or savory?”

Jumping into the Maltesers + AI kitchen collaboration With Mars, Robinson devised a strategy: use machine learning to create the base recipe for this dessert, and then find tasty ways to incorporate both Maltesers and Marmite.

The AI in the cakie

Robinson wrote a new machine learning model that learned from hundreds of recipes for cakes, cookies, scones, and the like. Once it had a handle on all the ingredients that make up these confections, Robinson reversed course and asked the model to spit out recipes.

She then actually tested these recipes in her kitchen to find out one that was ideal. It was only a simple matter thereafter to inveigle three surprise Maltesers in the middle of the cake and add a cookie layer on top. The cookies became the base when you flipped the cake out, post-baking.

The final touch: A Marmite-infused buttercream topping!

Amateurs: Rise and bake

“AI is a powerful tool and I love thinking about fun, new applications of it. In this case, maybe it will even inspire other amateur bakers out there to build their own creations,” said Robinson.

“I set out to build a model using Google Cloud AI that could provide the basis for a new recipe featuring Maltesers. Baking is an art as well as a science – it requires finding a delicate balance of ingredients, sprinkled with a bit of magic. AI is the foundation, and human creativity combined with technology made this project shine.”

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Image Credit: Google Cloud