Things didn’t start well when we discovered we were one egg short of the recipe. “Doesn’t matter, mummy,” said my three-year-old brightly as she plunged her hands into the ground almonds. We were two ounces short of almonds – did that cancel out the missing egg? – and we had the wrong sort of chocolate. We hadn’t even begun to bake and already I was feeling stressed.

Tip one for baking with young children: check your ingredients first.

I decided to put the poor start behind us. Mixing the butter and sugar was great fun, although the end product was far from the “fluffy” texture recommended in the recipe. “Lovely thick custard,” decided my daughter.

Tip two: don’t worry if your cake diverges from the book.

We had great success with the egg whites. My daughter operated the whisk by herself and marvelled at how they gradually transformed into a thick bubble bath-like substance. My one-year-old, banging around with a wooden spoon and mixing bowl on the floor, now wanted in on the action. This is where things got tricky. He was assigned a cupboard of plastic cups and plates to “tidy” while my daughter got busy tasting the cake mix and I struggled to fit the base in to the bottom of the cake tin. Soon the kitchen was an assault course of plastic and my son had emptied the cupboard of poppy seeds and icing sugar.

Tip three: begin baking when babies are napping.

The cake went into the oven. My daughter licked the mixing bowls. My son played with a poppy seed mountain. The cake rose beautifully, and then sank, but an enthusiastic application of chocolate icing meant that no one cared.

In fact, this seems to be the secret of successful baking with children. Sue Palmer, education expert and author of Toxic Childhood, says the most important thing is to relax and enjoy the experience rather than getting hung up on doing things perfectly. “Parents have to be very patient and just appreciate spending time with the kids,” says Palmer, who says cooking is a great way to learn … Continue Reading