Cupcake decorating

By Bec

So you have seen us making cakes, now its time to see our cupcake decorating!  We had some friends around and decided to make a sweet mess!  I made up 6 different colours of icing and we got lots of lollies and made lots of exciting cupcakes!  I'm going to leave you with a series of pictures to see how much fun it was!

Just a note - if you don't like mess - then this activity is NOT for you!!

The Naked Chef

By Bec

Okay so he is 4, but who wouldn’t want a naked chef in their house? It’s raining outside so Hunter and I decided to make some cupcakes. Firstly, I have to admit, I’m a packet mix snob. We tried a packet mix once, but seriously, open pack and put contents into bowl, crack egg into bowl and mix. Put in cake in tin and voila – cake! How boring. Took a whole 5 minutes and didn’t entertain at all. And the taste, ewww it’s just like cardboard. Why waste calories on that???

So now we bake from scratch. We make a mess, but boy do we have fun.

Hunter was a little scared of the electric mixer to start with and would run into the other room until it was done, then he would come back to crack the eggs. One egg in, run to the other room whilst I mix, then back for another egg in, again run into the other room so I could mix, and then he is back to put in flour and milk and stir.  But now he is 4 he isn't scared of anything!

 I was a bit hesitant at first to let Hunter crack the eggs, so now I make him crack them into a mug so I can take out any shell if required, before he puts into the bowl. He happily puts the patty pans in the muffin tin, and then spoons mixture into the pans. Then for the best bit – licking the beaters and the bowl! Nothing beats uncooked cake batter!

Cooking with kids is a truly fantastic activity. They are never too young to begin learning this necessary life skill. And we also squeeze in a math lesson as we count, weigh, measure and time. And best of all, it’s fun!! 

My favourite cupcake recipe is:

125g butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3/4 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup milk.

Preheat oven to 160-180 degrees. Grease pans (or put patty pans in muffin trays).

Beat butter, essence and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time until combined. Stir in flour and milk in two batches. Spread mixture into prepared pans. Bake in moderate oven until cake is cooked. Stand cake in pans for about 5 minutes then turn onto wire rack to cool.

(courtesy of The Australian Women’s Weekly kids birthday cakes)

Do you have any cooking with kids stories?