Have you been inspired by the Great British Bake Off?
We are BIG fans of 17 year old Martha, and love that she has shown Britain that kids can bake just as well (if not better!) than adults. After leaving the show, Martha said “I wanted to show that young people can do it and you don’t need hundreds of years of experience”.
A lot of you probably have already done a bit of baking with parents or grandparents, but moving on to baking independently can be a bit daunting.
To help you get your bake on, we’ve some tips on getting started, and simple recipe ideas that will make you feel like you’ve baked a showstopper. So, move aside, mums and dads, this is all about baking for kids!
On Your Marks, Get Set… BAKE!
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Before you start to bake, get all your ingredients out and put them on the worktop. This prevents you getting halfway through the recipe and then noticing that you’ve run out of something really vital, like eggs!
Try out something really simple to begin with, like these really yummy One-Cup Pancakes, by Jamie Oliver – add a handful of berries and a scoop of ice-cream for a special treat!
You aren’t ACTUALLY on Great British Bake-Off, and Sue isn’t going to shout, ‘STOP BAKING NOW!’, so don’t try and rush to get finished quicker. Arrange a time to bake when your parents have plenty of time, and it won’t matter if you take an extra ten minutes to get the icing just right. Weekends are good for baking, and helping in the kitchen, but after school might be a bit rushed.
Don’t limit yourself to recipe books – there are millions of fantastic websites and blogs where you can find unusual recipes. Some people wouldn’t think of using YouTube to search for recipes, but there are tons of yummy ideas on there for kids. Check out our YouTube playlist here
The pictures in recipe books and on blogs are the result of hours of preparation, sometimes using a whole team, including professional food writers. Don’t feel upset if your bake doesn’t look quite as good. There are a whole host of very funny pics from disappointed bakers online – like these!
Cookie Monster Fail
Some other tips are –
– if you are nervous about using the oven, look for recipes that use the microwave instead
– always put your baking tin onto a tray when you are putting it into the oven; it makes it a lot easier
– bake on the kitchen table if the worktops are still too high for you
