Family favourites for children to bake
This week, I have some family favourites that older children can make by themselves, and little ones can help with.
As always, start with a clean kitchen and a clean cook. Get out the equipment you’ll need, and the ingredients. Read the recipe twice. Measure the ingredients carefully, because baking is a chemical reaction, more than every other sort of cooking. Have a sink full of hot soapy water ready, so you can clean up as you go.
Ask an adult to put the trays into the oven and take them out again.
A cupful measures 250ml, a tablespoonful is 15ml, and 1 teaspoonful is 5ml.
Using oil and grated vegetables produces a moist, flavourful cake
Ingredients
3/4 cup flavourless cooking oil 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3 eggs
225g can unsweetened crushed pineapple, drained (save the juice for a drink treat)
1/2 cup walnut pieces, chopped 1 1/4 cups plain flour
3/4 cup wholemeal flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots
Method
Place an oven rack in about the centre of your oven, and preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease a 20-23cm square or 25cm round cake tin and line it with paper. Sift the flours, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon together and add the nuts. Drain and measure the pineapple, grate and measure the carrot and mix with the pineapple in another bowl. Into a large bowl, measure the oil, sugars and eggs into a large mixing bowl. Beat well until the sugar is dissolved and mixture thickens slightly. Now, quickly add layers of a quarter of the flour mix, one third of the carrot mixture more flour, another layer of carrot, etc., until carrot and flour are all used and the carrot gets a light coating of flour. Mix gently by hand with a large spoon. Don’t beat the mixture — you may toughen it.
Pour into the prepared baking tin. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 40 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave in the tin for at least 10 minutes before turning out.
Ice with cream cheese frosting when cold.
Can be baked as a thinner slice in a greased and lined roasting tin for a shorter time.
Ingredients
1 cup icing sugar
90 gm cream cheese
50 m butter
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind lemon juice
Method
Beat the cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy. Beat in the lemon rind, icing sugar, and enough lemon juice to make an easy-spreading consistency.
Delicious with chopped walnuts or pistachios and chopped dried apricots sprinkled onto the frosting, and totally decadent served with whipped cream or yoghurt.
(Makes about 60 4cm cookies) Ingredients
1/2 cup butter or margarine 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 1 1/2 cups flour
Method
Place the oven racks in the centre of the oven and preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Grease baking trays.
Measure the butter by half filling a cup with water, then drop in small cubes of butter until the water comes to the brim of the cup. Drain the water away. Beat butter and sugars together until fluffy, then beat in the egg, vanilla and peanut butter. Sift in the salt, baking soda and 1 cup of the flour. Add more flour if your peanut butter has a lot of oil. Roll into small balls and flatten with a glass, a fork, or your fingers which have been dipped in flour.
Bake about 10 -12 minutes. Cool before storing in an air-tight container.