Tag Archives: family traditions

She makes: Gluten free orange and lemon cake

Leave a comment Standard

Baking with little man is one of my favourite things to do. It is magic, messy and madness all at the same time.

My sister eats a  gluten free diet, fed up with watching her bring out her packet of gluten free brownies every time the rest of us eat a dessert, I decided to bake my own gluten free cake.

I did have my doubts especially as the recipe called for 250g of mashed potato but I decided to go with it. You can find the recipe I used here

This was a day that little man decided he only wanted to wear trousers hence the apron and the guns out!

IMG_0761

We tend to use an electric mixer as it is quicker and strangely mesmerising for a toddler.

IMG_0766IMG_0765

Butter and sugar added first. I allow a very ‘hands-on’ approach for this. Then, it’s time to take a deep breath and go for the eggs. This recipe call for 4 eggs. We had a pack of 6 which was lucky as one ended up on the table and one on the floor!

IMG_0772IMG_0776

Notice in the photo above little man’s hair has added flour. This is one of the messy moments I have come to expect along with the egg cracking!

 

The mixer provides a good distraction while prepping the rest of the ingredients.

IMG_0773

The recipe itself is very straight forward to follow, even with a toddler. He did argue with me for a while about putting mashed potato into the mixture “You don’t put mashed potato into cakes mummy!”

IMG_0780

Orange and Lemon rind and juice added to flavour the cake. The mixture ends up being very mousse like even after the mashed potato is added.

IMG_0790

I did have concerns at this point that the mixture was far too wet and would not resemble a cake once baked!

IMG_3165

I was pleasantly surprised once the cooking time was over. I did find when I checked it looked really soggy in the oven right up until the 45 minutes was done and then it suddenly seemed to come together right at the end.

IMG_0793

The end result which was enjoyed by everyone including those of us who are used to more traditional cake with added gluten! The mashed potato does help to bind the cake and give it more of a firm structure so it avoids the sometimes crumbly nature of other gluten free cakes.

I would definitely make it again, it had a really good flavour to it enhanced by adding lemon juice to the icing sugar for the icing.

Despite flour everywhere and a couple of cracked eggs to clear up I won’t be put off baking with little man. It is great to see the joy on his face as we create. He also asks lots of questions about the ingredients and processes and is learning how to bake which is a great skill for him to have as he grows up!

She makes caramel apple cake

Comments 2 Standard

Baking is one of my favourite things to do with little man. It isn’t for the faint hearted baking with a toddler but it is a massive amount of fun.

 Apparently the mixer sounds like a Hoover.
  
We are perfecting the art of cracking eggs – practice makes perfect.

  
Cooking allows for lots of sensory experience which is great for a toddler.

  
Mixing has to be his favourite job at the moment.

  
Sharp implements require supervision but we don’t shy away from introducing them.

  
It’s inevitable that some will end up being eaten before it gets to the oven!

 

It completely engages and fascinates him every time and that simple fact makes all of the mess worth it…

   
 The end result is always pretty tasty too!

  

She makes time for Sunday baking

Comments 6 Standard

On a Friday little man has dinner at his childminder’s so when we all get home we have some extra time before bedtime. I decided that we should be intentional about having a planned activity that we do together in this time as a way of kick starting the weekend. This led to Friday Night Baking becoming a mini tradition in our house.

Thing with best laid plans and all of that are that you often need to adapt and change depending on the circumstances of the moment.

Little man can be exhausted by the time we get to Friday as he has such a super week full of activities and baking just does not work with a tired 2 year old!

Saturday morning then became baking time instead as 5:30am starts mean it is perfectly plausible to find yourself making cakes or biscuits at 8:30am.

This weekend we didn’t manage Friday or Saturday for baking. This is not a problem, it doesn’t have to become an expectation or a chore to have to do it. The thing is, it is something we all enjoy and for me a measure of a good weekend. The fact that we can carve out some time to work on a project all together and with quick results is something that sparks joy for me. 

Today I made time for Sunday baking – it was one of our moments. 

  
Baking with a 2 year old has its challenges but it is also a great deal of fun.

  
Today we made Rocky Roads. We used Nigella’s recipe which can be found here Nigella’s Rocky Roads as we had no Rich Tea biscuits we used Digestives instead.  

  

 It would be foolish to think we could get through a whole recipe without something being eaten so I keep a bowl with very small amounts of treats nearby to substitute for the mixture we are making at the time

  

I use foil trays as they are lighter and easier for small hands to work with and it also means we can make a number of smaller batches.

As we made these late afternoon they are chilling in the fridge until tomorrow so no late night sugar consumption issue occur.

The more we bake together the more I see the progress little man is making with listening to and following the instructions of a recipe. His fine and gross motor skills are benefiting too. 

  
Do you have any go to recipes that are quick and simple to make? Or any tips on how to teach cooking skills? 

I will be posting more of our baking escapades here weekly so let me know of any recommendations.