Cooking with children isn't all about baking cupcakes... but I'll admit that cupcakes are a fun and simple recipe with which to start. For a toddler such as Lara, mixing the cake batter and then decorating the tops of the cupcakes is great fun and a brilliant way to introduce them to cooking.
The cupcake recipe that Lara and I cooked at the weekend was inspired by a recipe in a Dr. Oetker recipe collection. Dr. Oetker sent Lara a few different types of cake decoration to try out and this recipe seemed a little out of the ordinary so we gave it a try. I think these are the moistest, fluffiest, softest, cakiest cupcakes I've ever made - a great success.
Rasberry & Rose Cupcakes
makes 12 cupcakes
INGREDIENTS
For the cakes:
115g soft margarine
115g caster sugar
115g plain flour
2 medium eggs
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
65g (about 12 teaspoons) raspberry jam
For the decoration:
100g unsalted butter
1/4 to 3/4 teaspoon essence of rose water
Sugar decorations of your choice
METHOD
Lara loved the cakes and their lively toppings but wasn't too keen on the jam-surprise inside them. This is a simple yet unusual recipe to help you start cooking with children.
The cupcake recipe that Lara and I cooked at the weekend was inspired by a recipe in a Dr. Oetker recipe collection. Dr. Oetker sent Lara a few different types of cake decoration to try out and this recipe seemed a little out of the ordinary so we gave it a try. I think these are the moistest, fluffiest, softest, cakiest cupcakes I've ever made - a great success.
Rasberry & Rose Cupcakes
makes 12 cupcakes
INGREDIENTS
For the cakes:
115g soft margarine
115g caster sugar
115g plain flour
2 medium eggs
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
65g (about 12 teaspoons) raspberry jam
For the decoration:
100g unsalted butter
1/4 to 3/4 teaspoon essence of rose water
Sugar decorations of your choice
METHOD
- Preheat the oven to 190 degrees (170 in a fan oven, 375 F or Gas Mark 5). Prepare 12 baking cases (we used silicone cases sprayed with Dr. Oetker's ingenious Cake Release Spray.
- In a great big mixing bowl, beat the margarine with the sugar until pale, creamy and light in texture. Little ones will probably need some help to get it to this stage but they can start it off
- Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl and then gradually beat them into the margarine mixture
- Sift in the flour and the baking powder and then, using a large spoon, fold the dry flour into the sloppy egg mixture. Don't worry about being too precise with your folding, toddlers and folding are not a great combination!
- Spoon a teaspoon of the mixture into each of the cake cases. Then add a teaspoon of jam onto each. Finish off by splitting the rest of the cake mixture evenly between the cake cases. Bake in the center of the oven for about 16-18 minutes until they are a golden colour and are just firm on the top. When you take them out of the oven, put them straight onto a cooling rack and they will firm up as they cool.
- Make sure the cakes are totally cool before you ice them. But the butter in a bowl and beat until soft (for some reason, Lara hated this bit!)Sift in the icing sugar to make a smooth creamy icing. Stir in a really tiny amount of rose water to give the icing a distinct floral taste (a little rose water goes a long way).
- At this point you could put the icing into an icing bag and let your littlies loose on the cupcakes. I thought Lara was a little young to master an icing bag so I let her dollop the icing onto the cakes. Our icing was made with unrefined icing sugar so it looks kinda beige... a white icing sugar would probably be a more appropriate.
- And now, for the fun part, decorate the cakes in any way you see fit using exciting decorations such as Dr. Oetker's polka dots and shimmer sugar. Beautiful
Lara loved the cakes and their lively toppings but wasn't too keen on the jam-surprise inside them. This is a simple yet unusual recipe to help you start cooking with children.
