Brain Health Cake?

What do you give a person in the final stage of Alzheimer’s everything she really needs,? I decided on baking a brain health cake for Cindy’s 66th birthday. Not having baked a cake in decades did not deter me.

I actually baked a cake as my first attempt at cooking.  One snow day while home from school I asked Mom if she could guide me.  That subsequently became my go-to snow day activity.  I favored a strawberry cake recipe back then.  Now I am all about chocolate baby!

Some might say my conversion to chocolate means I’ve come to my senses, literally.  I say that learning about the polyphenols/antioxidants in dark chocolate sealed the deal.  Yet I did not stop there with making the cake “healthy”… for a cake.  I cross referenced a few recipes and ratios to come up with my brain health cake. Here is that annotated recipe:

Mexican chocolate cake
2 cups whole wheat flour – The original Mexican chocolate recipe called for white flour. Whole wheat has more fiber, iron, calcium, protein, and B vitamins (B-1, B-3, B-5, folate).

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder – This low calorie ingredient is high in fiber, antioxidants (polyphenols), magnesium, iron, and manganese.  The original recipe called for 4 tablespoons, but other recipes called for a smaller ratio of cinnamon to cocoa powder.

¾ cup pure maple syrup – Pure maple syrup contains manganese, zinc, riboflavin and polyphenols.  This makes maple syrup the most nutritious of high sugar sweeteners.  The original recipe called for 2 cups of sugar.  However, other chocolate cake recipes only called for 1 cup, and the standard conversion of maple syrup to sugar is ¾ to 1.  I took a chance on less sweetener.

1 tsp ground cinnamon – Cinnamon contains potent antioxidants that improves insulin sensitivity, reduces blood sugar levels, lowers cholesterol, and is anti-inflammatory.  This is my go to dessert spice for brain health and what makes this particular chocolate cake “Mexican.”  Common ratios suggested 1 tsp to 8 tbsp cocoa powder. With the original recipe calling for 4 tbsp I compromised with 1 tsp cinnamon : 6 tbsp cocoa powder.

1 cup softened, unsalted butter – This may be controversial.  The original recipe called for a combination of margarine and vegetable oil, which would be better for heart health and reducing LDL cholesterol.  However, this is a brain health cake. Increasing evidence is coming out regarding the benefits of various dairy fat for brain performance.

1 ¼ cup milk – The original recipe called for 1 cup water, ½ cup sour milk.  I used a slightly less total amount of just milk to compensate for the extra liquid involved in substituting maple syrup for sugar.

2 eggs – Eggs provide all nine essential amino acids. They also contain choline, selenium, vitamins A, D, B2, B12, and antioxidants.  Despite the bad rap they used to get for cholesterol, eggs are a superfood for brain health.

1 ½ tsp baking soda – The Mexican chocolate cake recipe called for 1 tsp, but another recipe with maple syrup suggested 1 ½ as another compensation for the liquid sweetener.

1 tsp vanilla extract – This is nutritionally and calorically insignificant.

Notes:  The recipes with sugar called for baking at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, but substituting maple syrup requires a lower oven temperature for better taste.  My oven seems to bake hot, so I ended up baking at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes.  Cake was properly cooked and textured when it came out.

Cream cheese and sour cream frosting
8 oz cream cheese – Most calories in cream cheese come from fat instead of sugar and has vitamin A.

4 tbsp softened, unsalted butter – See above.

¼ cup sour cream – Again, the calories from fat instead of sugar.

1 tbsp pure maple syrup – The original recipe calls for vanilla extract.

2 cups powdered sugar – See notes below. 

Notes: I wanted to substitute healthy maple syrup for nutrient void powdered sugar, but the liquid content turns the frosting into a glaze.  What can I say?  It’s a birthday cake!  Maybe next time I go with a glaze.

Taste test:  The cake tasted great! The texture fell between a normally airy cake and a dense one.  I was fine with the texture, considering even more baking soda might affect the taste.  I did not really taste much of the cinnamon, so maintaining the original ratio by using 1 ½ tsp cinnamon to 6 tbsp cocoa powder might be better.  The home health aide reported the cake to be “balanced and not too sweet.”  She ate the whole slice.  I had no trouble feeding Cindy her birthday cake!