Marilyn's Photos - Feb 28 2026 - Back to the Books - Cookbooks, that is

 

Internet recipes have fallen from their ascent to the Heavens.  It used to be such easy research.  But that’s changed now with the revelation article in the Globe and Mail.  The Globe and Mail today reports on AI-generated recipes have taken over the majority of retrievals on the Internet.  They say Pinterest has no apologies and isn’t going to fulfill their commitment to indicate when things are AI-generated.  I can confirm this for garden images - they are now primarily AI-generated and never indicate it. What makes this a “fall from grace” is that the recipes result in what is being called “AI Food Slop” - the results are not good to eat. This is a worrisome moment.  Here’s an example of a Cranberry-Orange cupcake - not exactly the same as the Globe’s picture, but from their description - the same/similar recipe.  This picture from the recipe website is AI-generated, as was the Globe’s picture.  What is special about the recipe that is a red alert? Raw cranberries in the cake. And those look like sugar-coated raw cranberries on the cupcake. Have you tasted a raw cranberry?  If you have, you will immediately recoil.   The one website that kept coming up on this cupcake topic and with this recipe was cakemehometonight.  If this pastry chef is calls for raw cranberries in cake, what are we to make of other recipes?  And then look at the reviews in the comments - they appear to be generated as well. One path is to look for published cookbooks with  journalist reviews.  I don’t see any for this site.  Instead, AI says: “based on the provided search results, the content from Cake Me Homemade Tonight appears to be well-regarded for its indulgent, specific recipes rather than broader, critical reviews by major journalist.”  OK, I would be inclined to label that AI review slop.

Here’s a cake I trust - this picture from  a few years ago at Pearl Morissette ,the number 1 restaurant in Canada and just 10 minutes away in Jordan.  The red is not cranberries.  Are you ready?  Beets!

We can go to AI and ask for the recipe.  Now let’s see what AI does with that: Beet Red Velvet Cake Yield: 2 layers or 24 cupcakes Prep time: 30 minutes (plus beet roasting) Bake time: 20–25 minutes Ingredients Beet Puree: 3 medium beets (roasted, peeled, and pureed). Wet Ingredients: 3/4 cup buttermilk, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2 tsp white vinegar, 1 tbsp lemon juice. Dry Ingredients: 2 cups cake flour (sifted), 3 tbsp Dutch-process cocoa powder, 1 1/8 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt. Creaming: 3/4 cup unsalted butter (room temperature), 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, 3 large eggs. More follows… but no need, it is askew already with putting chocolate in there. I expect we may be back to the basics of hard-copy cookbooks and a little library for us to consult.   I recommend Julia Child’s books - they are encyclopedic. So I think I’ll go down to the basement library and reminisce amongst her recipes.