Forget cereal - why the next big breakfast trend is set to be chocolate cake

Chocolate cake could be next year's biggest breakfast food trend and can even help you lose weight. Photo / 123rf

We've always been told that chocolate and cake are bad for us.

But now a top food expert has called this belief into question - after saying that eating chocolate cake for breakfast could be next year's biggest food trend.

And if this doesn't already sound too good to be true, eating cake in the mornings could even help us lose weight.

But before you stop juicing your kale, peeling your avocados and soaking your overnight oats, be warned: not all chocolate cakes make the cut (sadly), the Daily Mail reports.

Food trend expert Liz Moskow, from Denver, told Food Business News that new studies point to the health benefits of cocoa - which could put chocolate and "amuse-bouche" chocolate cakes onto breakfast and brunch menus in restaurants.

She said: "There was a study that recently came out from Syracuse University re-touting the benefits of dark chocolate, specifically on cognitive function - abstract reasoning, memory, focus.

"The thought was eating chocolate prepares you more for your workday, so what better day part to incorporate dark chocolate into your meal than breakfast?"

It comes after another study from Tel Aviv University, which found that eating a dessert at breakfast supports weight loss.

Even better, the researchers recommended eating chocolate cake specifically because our metabolisms are most active in the mornings.

Moskow said: "Combining those two studies and the likeability of having dessert for breakfast, we predict that breakfast might start seeing brunch amuse-bouche chocolate cakes or brunch and breakfast restaurants incorporating a robust dessert menu."

Unfortunately, like with most things, there is one small catch.

Any health benefits of eating chocolate for breakfast are undermined if your morning meal contains a lot of sugar and fat.

That means no black forest gateaux and five layer cakes with lashings of buttercream, unfortunately.

But a low-sugar cake, such as a low-sugar dark chocolate cake, could still be an option.

Dietitian and British Dietetic Association spokeswoman Alison Hornby said the two studies focus on natural cocoa extracts, rather than chocolate bars and sugar-laden cakes.

But she did tell NHS choices that chocolate can be "part of a healthy diet" - just so long as we don't eat it too often.