We really did have a busy summer, so much so that I’d promised my 5 year old that we would make cakes. He asked and asked and asked, because our days were so full and they were already going to bed quiet late. But one evening he got his wish (and ended up in bed at 9pm!) and we made fairy cakes. It really is simple and we used to make them so often that he knew the recipe without being told and how to do it.
Ingredients:
6 oz self raising flour
5 medium eggs
3 oz caster sugar
6 0z butter
1 pack of mixed fruit
It really is good educationally as it teaches him so much – such as weighing and measuring, times, as well as the practical element of cooking. Of course the decorate also allows him to be creative.
The Method is simple in that you put everything, apart from the mixed fruit, into a big bowl and mix it all together. When it is all blended in then add the mixed fruit and whisk again. My son loves being treated “grown-up” enough to use the handle held mixer (under supervision). It fills him with confidence too as he knows how to make cakes – even down to what ingredients he needs.
The mix is then spooned equally into cake cases and put in the oven. We had added green food colouring to try and make these ghoulish, with Halloween in the not so distant future, but it didn’t work out. I’m not sure if it had anything to do with the fruit absorbing the colour, or that we just simply didn’t put enough food colouring it – but they didn’t change colour. So we tried again with a blue mix (my son tipped in almost a whole bottle) and no fruit – but they hardly changed colour.
I took the cakes from the oven (wearing oven gloves) and allowed them to cool down.
The next day we iced the cakes with white icing. Then we left them to dry. I’d bought some icing pens (for a change) to allow him to draw on the cakes.
But then something fantastic happened, in that ALL my boys wanted to get involved! It was so lovely to see that they all wanted to put their piece of art on the cakes. Even the youngest sat, and did it nicely (no eating cakes, no needing to touch everything, no needing to get out of his seat!)
Of course they were free to create what they wanted – but originally my 5 year old and me had discussed practising Ghost cakes.
Daddy was around, so of course out came the hearts – an idea for Valentine’s perhaps!
and my youngest is just recognising his name, and so we wrote it on a cake for him
The best part for me though, is the fact that the teenager wanted to get involved, so naturally he made Minecraft cakes:
I’d like to explain further about them but I just know the game has something to do with squares – I think.
And that this is a Creeper.
The boys love the game though – and they loved the cakes.
This is not a sponsored post.