We do not, as a rule cook cakes, and desserts. Main meals are a doddle. My kids help regularly with stirring a risotto, or breading the chicken – but stirring a cake, or cutting out cookies….
Well, that happens in other houses.
Once, I managed to even mess up making shortbread – it melted.
This review opportunity seemed too good to miss as it was a Kids Only Cookbook which meant that even I was likely to be able to manage the recipes without causing a major cooking “situation.”
More importantly though, the kids wanted to make a chocolate cake as it was Dad’s birthday!
They searched the book, and discovered the Awesome Chocolate Cake..and a plan was made.
What is it?
A colourful cook book written to get kids hands on in the kitchen. From main meals, to desserts, and most things in between. It has great pictures for each step of the recipe, coupled with simple instructions on how to use the book and a three star rating system for each recipe. Three star = hard. One star = easy. Simples. The book introduces the right cookery words for the kids – aimed at 7+, but my son is six and found it fine. There are even little alerts dotted about the book to show you when you need to get an adult more closely involved. To be honest, though…I was on hand with my six and seven year old all the time…except when it came to the decorating of course.
What did the kids think?
They loved it. The recipes are easy to follow – my daughter read everything that we had to do herself and by and large was able to follow the instructions with little input. My son needed a bit more help, but his attention span, is well – limited ;-)
Here is a bit of advice from daughter and son on the cake…and most importantly, why they decided not to use the electric whisk to beat the cake, but to opt for the more labour intensive hand whisking…
[pullquote]We wanted to make it as handmade as possible[/pullquote]
What did mummy think?
A great way to encourage kids in the kitchen – with simple to follow recipes, helpful photos and tips along the way. You aren’t going to be able to leave them to it until they are a good bit older than mine, but its a start :-)
Overall – 8/10
What do you think? Did it work?
We were sent this book for the purposes of review. All opinions are our own.
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine! Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time. KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10. It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania. Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on. Get in touch TODAY!