I decided to take on the challenge of baking with a toddler – my two year old, Erin and what a challenge that was! I must say I’m no Mary Berry but regardless of the outcome, we both had a lovely time having a go.
Erin bakes at nursery, so when I told her that we would bake together she seemed so happy and ran to put her apron on from the kitchen cupboard. She was so excited when I started to get all the ingredients and baking utensils out, whilst I was thinking how messy is my very clean kitchen going to be!
Before we got started, Erin told me to ‘wash hands mummy’ without even having to be told. Before long, her sleeves were rolled up and she was sat at the table ready to go. I decided to use the Annabel Karmel Easy Cupcakes recipe. It suggested a preparation time of 10 minutes which I thought would be long enough to keep her entertained.
Baking with a toddler – Easy cupcakes
So, what did we need to get started:
110g butter, soft
110g caster sugar
110g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2 medium eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4, then line the muffin tin with paper cases.
As you can see, Erin wanted to put the cases in the tin herself and insisted doing it on the floor. Rather than take it off her, I wanted her to feel involved so off she went – I was being led by a toddler.
Next, you need to put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until pale and fluffy.
Erin loved this part of the baking. She really tried to do the mixing but as I only had a large bowl, she did struggle a bit. She was still leading and kept looking to me for reassurance she was doing it right.
You then need to:
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl.
- Beat the eggs and vanilla and add to the bowl. Beat until it’s all mixed together.
It’s now ready to spoon into the paper cases!
Erin’s coordination and concentration was very good. She was so desperate to get them in the cases and do it all herself. I just had to guide her a little but as toddlers do, she took the spoon and wanted to do it her way!
Time to bake!
Bake for 18 – 20 minutes until they rise and are golden and firm to touch.
Now l know what you’re thinking – these are not risen! They were golden but not firm – what had we done wrong? In truth, 20 minutes to a toddler is a lifetime and Erin soon started to lose patience. So, I decided to take them out sooner just so she could study her own masterpiece! Erin was so excited to see them come out the oven. It wasn’t about the bake, it was all about her being involved, taking the lead and being with her mummy.
Leave your cakes to cool for 10 minutes by transferring them to a wire rack.
Decoration time
For decoration, we decided to put some little sweet stars and some melted chocolate on the top with some Peppa Pig icing stickers, as Erin is Peppa’s biggest fan.
She absolutely loved the whole baking exercise and kept saying ‘again mummy.’ So, even though we had no Mary Berry masterpiece, we had created lots of memories of our very first baking experience. Baking with a toddler was not that bad after all – just have patience!
Have fun baking your own masterpieces.
