And so it’s official: school's out and kids are home, still – no respite for the wicked which we were secretly praying for. The good news is that cooking and baking has been a huge hit with them – it’s supposed to be the most popular lockdown activity, beating Joe Wicks or making slime.
If making a mess is involved, it will be a sure winner with the young ones so how about trying to bake these peculiar pull-away buttery rolls called kubaneh? Spreading butter on the dough and worktops is a key step in making them, I should warn you. They might also enjoy coiling the soft doughy mess that makes cherry buns or cinnamon swirls. You could hold the pretzel-twisting challenge.
Baking a cake is a no-brainer as an activity of choice and I suggest strawberry crumble cake which is super-easy and fun to make plus it’s seasonal. If it MUST be chocolate, give the choc whoopie pies a try.
Cooking is more difficult to engage children than baking - especially of sweet stuff - but pasta is always attractive. Carbonara bake, giant shells stuffed with beef, even aubergines could be a success in a pasta bake. If you want to tempt your little ones by vegetables and rice, get them to roll up stuffed cabbage leaves. And burgers will always be popular, especially mixed from scratch with little paws.
They can make up their own pots of summer fruit and oats for breakfasts or prep ramekins of buttermilk oatmeal to bake first thing next morning. Either much better for them than Frosties, needless to say. And carrot cake energy balls will be a healthier snack than a bag of Maltesers. There’s more inspiration in my content pages and new recipes coming every week, so subscribe to the newsletter. Stay safe and cook together!