Children love the chance to get messy and be creative. They also love the feeling that they are helping their parents too. That’s why involving children in cooking is a beautiful social event.
Cooking can also help children learn new vocabulary and some basic maths when they are measuring ingredients, as well as building the foundation for healthy eating. Here we’ve found five summer desserts to make with your children.
Rice Krispie Cakes
Put a bowl over a pan of simmering water and melt five chopped Mars bars. Remove the bowl from the heat, add 100g of Rice Krispies and fold until they’re coated in the mixture.Spoon into a greased 20cm square tin and leave to cook. Chill in the fridge overnight and cut into squares before serving.
Eton Mess
Cut 450g of strawberries into bite-size pieces and whip 570ml of double cream or Greek yoghurt until it forms soft peaks. Fold the berries into the whipped cream. Put six meringues into a plastic bag and bash them into small pieces. Add to the strawberries and cream and chill in the fridge before serving.
Fresh Fruit Cheesecake
Put a packet of Digestive or Rich Tea biscuits into a blender and pulse to form crumbs. Then add 120g of melted butter and pulse. Press this mixture into a medium-sized pie dish and refrigerate. Then mix 450g of cream cheese with 140g of sugar before adding 150g of double cream. Beat until it forms stiff peaks. Add the juice of two lemons and spread this mixture over the biscuit base. Put back in the fridge for at least four hours. Add slices of fruit such as strawberries, clementines, kiwi or blueberries before serving.
Cherry Cheesecake Ice-cream
In a mixer, beat 250g of double cream until it forms stiff peaks. Then fold in a can of condensed or evaporated milk plus 1tsp of vanilla extract and four digestive or shortbread biscuits. Put into a large container and freeze for at least eight hours.
You can find thousands of other online food recipes through a Google search or at a website such as http://food-tales.com/online-food-recipes/.
Nutella Cake
Beat 400g of Nutella with four large eggs. Fold in 115g of all-purpose flour until there are no lumps. Put in a greased 8-inch dish and bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 350ºF until set.