Newspaper Article

Cooking for kids: Baking and caking: Sweet inspiration: Be it treats or snacks, nothing beats baking for Jane Brocket, especially if the children are involved

Brocket, Jane

2008

Overview

I've always baked - ever since I was able to stand on a stool and help my Nana by wielding a huge wooden spoon and licking the bowl clean - but there is nothing to beat the appreciative audience of your own offspring. There's no holding-back, no \"oh, go on then, but just the thinnest slice\", or \"I'll have half of one if someone will share with me.\" No, children eat baked goods the way they should be eaten: with gusto, relish, and calls for more. How do I choose what to make? If time is of the essence, I go for something speedy and convenient such as chewy flapjacks which take less than five minutes to put together and can be made for teatime at any point in a busy day. Or if I'm feeling indulgent, we have scones with masses of cream and jam. Sometimes I feel inspired to create something more splendid such as a comically jammy and squishy Victoria sponge cake or a ladylike, afternoon-tea-style cake such as a large, walnut-encrusted coffee and walnut cake. Or if we're all craving chocolate, I'll make a batch of decadently rich brownies. Sometimes we plump for extravagant colour, creativity and experimentation. That's when we bake fairy cakes and lavish them with neon-colour icing, jelly beans, sprinkles and sweets. Or we might branch out, take a risk, and experiment with a full-on sugar fest. This way we've made teeth-destroying toffee, vanilla fudge, ludicrously gloopy Turkish delight and, the one that never fails, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's mad-scientist marshmallow recipe which everyone adores and which encapsulates perfectly the sheer fun of shared baking (you can find it in his Family Cookbook).

• Publisher: Guardian News & Media Limited