As a child, one of my favourite memories was cooking and baking with my Mum at the weekends. We used to bake Victoria sandwich cakes, cheese scones and jam tarts. As I grew older this progressed to roast dinners and home made toad in the hole.
Since then my love of cooking has continued, with cupcakes and pasta dishes being regular occurrences. I think cooking with your kids not only gives you an opportunity to pass on a vital skill, but also to bond with your child.
There are dozens of recipes that are ideal for cooking with your kids, as they're straightforward to make and don't take hours. Essential if your kids have a short attention span!
This week, I bring you the easiest and yummiest recipe for cupcakes:
I've tried quite a few recipes for cupcakes, but this one from www.mumswhobake.com is my favourite.
What you'll need for 24 small cupcakes:
250g (8oz) Plain Flour
250g (8oz) Caster Sugar
250g (8oz) Soft Margarine (stork) or softened unsalted butter
3 teaspoons baking powder
3 teaspoons vanilla essence (or alternative flavouring)
4 eggs
How to make:
Pre-heat the oven to 180C (350F), Gas Mark 4.
Place all the ingredients into a mixing bowl or food processor and beat until smooth. You can also use a wooden spoon to mix the ingredients, especially if you want the kids to do the mixing.
Place cupcake cases into muffin tray. Have a look for silicone cases which are reusable and much easier to remove from the cake.
Spoon in the mixture into the cupcake cases, about 75% full
Bake in the oven at 180C (350F), Gas Mark 4 for 15-18 mins – until well risen and the cake springs back when gently pressed.
Leave to cool in the tin then place on a cooling rack.
You can then ice your cupcakes with glaze icing, buttercream icing (a simple mix of icing sugar and butter) or cream cheese icing. I prefer the buttercream icing as it's easiest to pipe onto the cupcakes and always makes me want more!
For buttercream icing you will need:
175g (6oz) softened butter
350g (12 ½ oz) Icing Sugar
3 Tbsp boiling water
Few drops of vanilla extract/strawberry flavouring/cocoa powder
Simple mix all the ingredients together, and pop into an icing bag to be piped in the desired style.
Once iced you can add toppings and decorations with your kids to the icing. Most of the major supermarkets do a great range, and it's well worth looking on eBay and mumswhobake too.