Good Food Blog

Half baked

Posted at 1:06PM, 20 April 2009 by Carol Wilson - Food writer

I thought children's cooking had reached a low point with the plethora of cake mixes aimed at young children. Brightly coloured boxes featuring popular children's characters such as Postman Pat, Thomas the Tank Engine and Barbie take up whole sections of supermarket aisles. All you need to do is just add an egg, stir and spoon into the paper cases provided and decorate with the luridly coloured decorations, which are also included. Apart from the cocktail of artificial colourings and flavourings, the finished cakes don't taste anywhere nearly as good as home made cakes made from scratch -and of course are far more expensive.

But earlier this week in a well known food store I came across two new ideas - a slab of chilled ready made cookie dough and a tray of paper cake cases complete with the mixed batter ready to simply put into the oven and bake. No need to even stir the mixture or spoon it into the cases. Granted you have to cut shapes out of the cookie dough, but how hard is that? These new products are sold on the basis that it's a caring way to share the joy of baking and the enjoyment of eating your child's freshly baked goodies - oh -and of spending quality time with your children - which must amount to all of ten minutes.

Open quotationSurely the aim of encouraging children to bake is lost if they are just going to be presented with a lump of ready made cookie dough?Close quotation

Surely the aim of encouraging children to bake is lost if they are just going to be presented with a lump of ready made cookie dough? Part of the pleasure of cooking, particularly for children, is the assembling and measuring out of ingredients, learning the techniques of creaming, stirring, whisking (and having a sneaky taste of the raw mixture) and rolling out dough and cutting it into shapes. Afterwards there's the fun of decorating their cakes or biscuits. How difficult is it to mix icing sugar with water to make glacé icing or with butter for buttercream? A growing number of children simply don't know what fresh raw ingredients look like, nor where they come from.

Let's teach children some basic skills and the true enjoyment of baking from scratch. Once they've mastered the basics, they can go on to improvise by adding spices, chocolate, cheese or whatever to the basic recipe. By all means let's encourage our children to cook, but let's awaken their curiosity in 'real' food and demonstrate that cooking is fun.

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Comments

  • Binder photo robert
    20 April 2009, 11:06PM

    robert

    Open QuoteWhat's the point of cake cases filled with mixture ready to bake? Why not just buy some ready made cakes if you can't be bothered to make them?

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  • Binder photo Nicola
    21 April 2009, 12:45PM

    Nicola

    Open QuoteHa- thats so pointless! And it's so easy to make a cake from scratch, I just dont understand why you'd bother. I'm hoping to start a cookery class for children (and their parents) later this year...I'll definitely be teaching them how to make a cake from scratch :-)

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  • Binder photo Frantic Flapjack
    21 April 2009, 1:17PM

    Frantic Flapjack

    Open QuoteI've always baked with my children since they were young and on each birthday they would choose a weird and wonderful cake and we would have great fun making it. Good luck with the classes Nicola.

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  • Binder photo lianne
    21 April 2009, 3:30PM

    lianne

    Open QuoteI have fond memories of baking with my mum. I do recall being very small and pester power would make my mum cave in and buy me some cartoon character emblassoned ready made kit. but these were never nearly as much fun and tasted rubbish. I fully intend to bake from scratch if i ever have children. They will have to! It seems to be all i do lately!

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  • Binder photo Dirkies food
    22 April 2009, 6:36PM

    Dirkies food

    Open QuoteI always bake from scratch. Also with my children and with the kids I had in my daycare. I do not like all these semi fabricated products and think they are inferior in taste, quality and enjoyment than the "real thing". However I do appreciate that they give parents who otherwise would never allow a child into the kitchen an opportunity to share this experience with them. Is it the optimal solution? NO! But it can be a stepping stone to something better. I will applaud any parent trying to spend time with their kids even if the product they are creating is dodgy.

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  • Binder photo June Davies
    22 April 2009, 9:19PM

    June Davies

    Open QuoteHow are we suppose to "teach" children to cook if the products are just bought off the shelves. Simple baking with kids is the easiest thing to do and they get great pleasure in what they make.

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  • Binder photo dandifiedviolence
    22 April 2009, 9:37PM

    dandifiedviolence

    Open QuoteI agree with everyone, what a ridiculous concept! What indeed is the point of buying cake batter? You might as well just let the supermarket bake it too! Cooking with children also results in them being unfussy, adventerous eaters. Kids are far more likely to eat their veg if they've cooked it themselves. My mum has a full-time, high-powered job, and five of us kids (aged 3 to 19) and has involved each of us in the cooking process over the years. The result: children that eat vegetables and love exploring new foods. When I have kids I'll definitely immerse them in cooking, whether it's simply watching and listening when small or hapharzadly stirring a pot of something as toddlers, to making entire meals. Yay for cooking! (It's fun, too.)

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  • Binder photo SYLVIA2036
    23 April 2009, 11:12AM

    SYLVIA2036

    Open QuoteSorry to be pedantic but I wish we would stop using Americanisms. It's biscuit dough - British eat biscuits - Americans eat cookies! However, it really is a stupid idea.

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  • Binder photo Lola
    23 April 2009, 1:10PM

    Lola

    Open QuoteA totally rediculous idea! Baking with your children is a great time to have fun. It helps with a number of key skills while having a finished product in about half an hour. My children have spent many a rainy afternoon making cakes etc. However, my children are now in their late teens and I have a full time job - therefore I have been guilty of buying a well known chocolate fudge cake mix on the odd occasion!!

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  • Binder photo smitty
    23 April 2009, 3:44PM

    smitty

    Open QuoteAmericanisms seem to be creeping into food products - especially kids' food. Donuts for doughnuts, frosting instead of icing and of course cookies and cookie cutters

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  • Binder photo dandifiedviolence
    23 April 2009, 5:51PM

    dandifiedviolence

    Open QuoteI agree that we seem to be using americanisms more and more lately, but cookies aren't like our biscuits. They're a totally different product, texture-wise especially, and so calling them cookies is ok. Calling a hobnob or a gingernut a cookie isn't though ;D

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  • Binder photo rameen
    23 April 2009, 6:00PM

    rameen

    Open Quotehi, if you're not bothered to go through the whole process, then there's nothing wrong with ready-made?

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  • Binder photo Ali S
    24 April 2009, 7:35PM

    Ali S

    Open QuoteMy little boy is 3, and can spot a bowl that needs licking out from the other room with the door shut! He's even allowed to help with 'important' cakes as he can turn the mixer on for me. I think cake mixes take as long to put together as the real thing, so why not cook properly? Traybakes are great as you just throw all the ingredients in the mixer and turn it on.

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  • Binder photo Elaine
    28 April 2009, 11:47AM

    Elaine

    Open QuoteMy daughter is two and we can be guaranteed that at some point in every day she will say "make cakes mummy". We have so many photos of her covered in cake mixture as she licks the bowl! At least I know exactly what she is eating when we make our own - I distrust anything "ready made" as it's just full of stabilizers and preservatives. I think it's just that some adults are afraid of cooking from scratch and that's got to be something to do with the way we were taught to cook at school?

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  • Binder photo Viv1945
    1 May 2009, 6:43AM

    Viv1945

    Open QuoteI cooked with all of my three children and they ALL can cook in later life. I also used to cook with my Beaver Colony and Cub Pack and it was one of the most popular evenings of the term. Take your cooking home. No way! it was eaten hot from the oven or pan and they LOVED it.

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  • Binder photo susans file
    30 May 2009, 9:41PM

    susans file

    Open QuoteI love cooking ,bakingand exspermenting i am diabetic and enjoy adapting recipes for baking.

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  • Binder photo LiesbethM
    31 December 2012, 10:18AM

    LiesbethM

    Open QuoteLike many others I don't understand the appeal ready made dough seems to have for some people. I admit I cheat sometimes, because I use ready made pastry when baking a pie or a pizza, but mostly that's just because I know they taste good. At least the ones we have in Belgium are. Besides if I make it myself, it'll be horrible. I've tried like a million times, and I still can't get it right. But cake? There's nothing easier, than baking a cake. I knew how to bake a cake, before I could boil an egg or potatoes!

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