Mix the batter and sprinkle some fun with your little ones.

Baking is an integral part of cooking.

Spending time with your children in the kitchen is not just great fun but the perfect opportunity for them to learn about cooking. The smell of baking, the excitement of seeing cakes as they come out of the oven and the joy of eating them will help inspire a healthy interest in food.

Allow plenty of time.

Let them get involved as much as possible. Choosing recipes and helping with the shopping can be as much fun as the actual cooking and eating. Remember that scraping the bowl and licking the spoon is the chef’s prerogative, not to mention the best bit!

Keep it simple.

Choose a recipe that is suitable for the age and attention span of your child. Use quick and easy recipes for young children, saving the more creative and complicated ones for the older children to experiment with.

It’s going to get messy!

It’s a fact, smaller hands won’t be as accurate when it comes to weighing, cracking eggs and spooning cake mixture, but so what if your kitchen descends into chaos under a cloud of flour? It’s all part of the fun.

Need inspiration?

The internet is full of fun baking ideas but cook books are a great resource with inspiring pictures. Kids will love flicking through the pages and choosing what to make.  Look at cookbooks designed especially for them.

Get creative.

When it comes to decorating cakes, colorful icing, sprinkles and sweets spark the imagination. Themes are fun to follow too: characters, pirates, butterflies and all things pretty work well. But remember, perfection is not the aim; having fun and making something delicious that your children will want to eat is.

Why not try the Hummingbird chocolate cupcakes recipe with chocolate frosting?

Recipe from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, by Tarek Malouf.  This recipe has been tried and tested. NB. A longer cooking time may be required and if you want to reduce the sugar intake, make half the quantity of chocolate frosting.