Baby, I Need Your (L)Oven
The theme on Tuesday’s episode of Bake Off was Audience Choice Week, which either means all the producers went on strike in March or they’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel now that Chocolate, Ice Cream, and Teetering Ice Sculpture Week are all off the table for the year.
The first audience choice was cheesecake, which is fine until you introduce the audience’s second variable:
family.
There are few things harder than baking with someone you love. Especially if they don’t know anything are a less experienced baker than you*. Outside of the kitchen, there’s nobody cuter, more charming, funnier, or just a darn pleasure to be around.
But put them in the kitchen and somehow they’re in the way: opening cupboards, standing in front of drawers, covering the recipe book in flour, spilling milk, holding up a box of eggs and asking ‘are these the eggs?’.
If they’re an adult, you can take the eggs out of their hand, open the door, and gently invite them to leave the kitchen before you shove the wooden spoon somewhere uncomfortable.
But baking with kids?
Deep breath. Gentle voice.
Yes, sweetheart, those are the eggs. Now please stop eating baking powder out of the tin.
For those looking for something to do on those wet autumn days, here are some tips for introducing your own little Star Bakers to the kitchen.
Let’s Get Messy
There will be mess. Things will get spilled, knocked over, dropped, stirred over-enthusiastically. Cleaning as you go is great - if you’re working with adults. With kids, it’s usually better to let them get on with the fun part, then get everyone involved with cleanup while the treats are in the oven and cooling.
The Right Tools
Children are little. So are their hands. Adult-sized spoons and mixing bowls might be fine for a six-year-old (with help), but smaller children usually benefit from something a little more them-sized. From recent experience, I’d recommend getting a child-sized wooden knife for cutting up soft things like bananas - we’re big fans of these ones for little hands. Cookie cutters with handles like this are good for helpers who are still working on their hand-eye co-ordination. And you can’t go wrong with stackable plastic cutters, both during and after baking - mine likes to thread them onto the radiator pipes while I wash up.
A Matter of Taste
If your little baker is especially small, having a tasting bowl nearby is a great way of making sure they don’t eat anything they shouldn’t, while ensuring they’re still sensorily involved in baking at every stage of the process. It’s also a handy distraction from tantrums if your little one hasn’t quite got the concept of patience. Give them a dab of butter and sugar when it’s been creamed together, a little spoonful of milk to dip their fingers in, some chocolate chips or a handful of berries - just avoid giving them raw flour because it can contain salmonella if it’s not been treated properly.
Start Simple
Croissant? Fougasse? Millefeuille? These are all great if you’re actively raising your children in a boulangerie but, for something a little more chez Bristol, the French have a great starter bake: the gateau au yaourt. You use a single serve pot of yogurt as the base, and all the other ingredients are measured out with the same pot. Easy, straightforward, and (relatively) healthy, it’s a fantastic way to get little ones involved in the joie of baking.
Everybody Makes Mistakes
Sometimes bakes just don’t come out the way you planned - and that’s ok. As well as being a great lesson in resilience, a failed bake is just another reason to get back in the kitchen later in the week to get it right. And if it comes out wonky, burnt, or gets a bit stood on, nobody will know.
Just cover that bit with icing.
The Statistics
Hollywood handshakes: 1 (well, technically 2).
Potential Hollywood handshakes: 2.
Innuendos: 4.
Challenges stolen from Masterchef: 1.
Current favourites: still Mo, Tom, and Yannis.
*hey, Dan, remember when I asked you to shape and bake my baguettes and you forgot what a baguette looked like?
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