Scientists and chefs have developed a cake recipe that may boost your brain health

‘Unforgettable cake’ slices on a tray - Copyright EBU

By Roselyne Min with AP

Published on 09/01/2024 - 16:58•Updated 01/02/2024 - 01:46

Dubbed the ‘unforgettable cake’, its recipe includes ingredients that should help our brains stay healthy such as beetroot, olive oil, and cinnamon.

A pastry chef has teamed up with experts to invent a cake that may boost your brain health.

The ingredients sound like ones that could be used to make a delicious salad.

"Spinach, turmeric, pumpkin, beetroot," make up some of the ingredients, according to Christopher Thé, the pastry chef in charge of bringing the recipe to life.

The recipe for this "unforgettable cake" also includes ingredients such as olive oil, and cinnamon.

No clinical test has been done to prove the cake’s benefits for the brain.

But the team from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia says the ingredients have been linked to improved blood and oxygen flow.

They hope to highlight "the widespread issue of cognitive decline among senior Australians".

Beetroot is known, for example, to improve blood flow and protect our neural network.

Olive oil can decrease Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers, while honey is anti-inflammatory, and blueberries can enhance the oxygen flow to our vital organs.

"There's molecules in food ingredients which do have powerful and strong effects in keeping us healthy," said Johannes le Coutre, UNSW's food and health expert.

Le Coutre says that food is a crucial element when it comes to preventing and treating cognitive decline.

"The awareness is growing over the past 10, 20, 30 years with the idea and concept of functional foods, these types of things," he added.

Kaarin Anstey, director of UNSW's Ageing Futures Institute, added in a statement that ideally, people should eat a healthy diet throughout their lives.

"If a person is exhibiting signs of cognitive decline, diet alone won’t dramatically improve their brain health," Anstey said.

"The studies that linked healthier diets to reduced risk of dementia were measuring dietary patterns which probably reflect how people have been eating for many years."

Meanwhile, Thé, who is an experienced pastry chef, said getting the right balance of ingredients and flavours was a challenge.

"The first version I did tasted like a curry," said Thé.

The cake was created to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the food delivery charity Meals on Wheels which caters mainly to older generations.

For more on this story, watch the video in the media player above.

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