The two main ingredients for baking with young children are patience and a sense of humour! I have been baking with my grandchildren for 10 years and we have managed to create all kinds of culinary delights from cornflake cakes to loaves of bread.
As well as been a fun activity, if a little messy at times, it’s a great way of introducing children to simple maths concepts such as the difference between weight and volume, number recognition when using the weighing scales and identifying shapes especially when using shape cutters. Decorating cupcakes might also alert you to the fact that you have an artistic genius in the family!
Learning to share via who gets to eat up whatever is left of the cake mix first is also an important life lesson!
And what about washing up afterwards?
You could, of course, use the dishwasher but more fun can be had a with a bowl of soapy water! It also has the advantage that you can add cooking implements to it as you go along. Then finally try not to be too disappointed if the finished product doesn’t actually get eaten by the young creators, there are usually enough mums and dads (and grandparents) around to hoover them up! Have fun!
Here’s a really simple recipe you could try out.
- Beat 110gms of butter with 110gms of caster sugar until light and fluffy.
- Gradually add one beaten egg alternately with 90gms of sieved self-raising flour and 20gms of cocoa powder.
- Add enough milk to make a batter consistency.
- Pour mixture either into pre-creased cake tin or cupcake liners.
- Bake at 180c for approximately 15minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Decorate with icing sugar or whatever your creative little cooks suggest – today we used marshmallows, raisins, and shop bought icing sugar eyes to create our Lakeland inspired scene!
Whisking is great fun
Not as much fun as licking the bowl though!
Nearly there, just finishing touches.
Matilda's favourite baking outfit is the Kidunk Smile top coupled with the Flamingo trousers. Kidunk's are protected with Teflon so chocolate, green icing sugar and gooey marshmallows just wipe away!