Sticky Fingers

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Yesterday I got to do the thing I’ve been looking forward to doing ever since my little god-daughter Hannah was born: bake fairy cakes with her. I love the child’s play element to baking; the puff of the flour, the stirring of the mixture, the lick of the wooden spoon, and I’ve been so looking forward to the time when I could have that fun with Hannah and see it through her eyes. And of course, as you know, cooking is one of my greatest passions in life and to finally be able to start sharing that with my god-daughter is very special indeed.

Now, I’m a very messy cook – just ask Rob – and so this little two year old was my perfect partner in crime – although if I’m totally honest she was probably tidier than me. Yesterday afternoon Rob took one last look around the kitchen, with Hannah stood on a chair, me by her side, both of us smiling angelically up at him before leaving us to it and letting chaos descend.

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First up were those gourmet cakes, perfect for young food connoisseurs, none other than the chocolate rice crispy cakes. I was in charge of melting the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and then it was over to Hannah to mix in the rice crispies. The fun part was seeing how much of the mixture Hannah could get into the cases and how much she could get onto the tea towel underneath, the kitchen top, my hand, the floor. We giggled with each dollop and it wasn’t long before we were tasting the mixture, as all good cooks do, with much of it ending up smeared around Hannah’s mouth and hands.

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After a quick wipe up it was onto the fairy cakes. Sugar, flour, eggs, butter, a drop of vanilla essence and a lot of love; into the bowl they went. After a quick whiz of the mixer we were almost done, except for the final – and most important – stir with a wooden spoon by Hannah. With the cakes in the oven she was now a little tired; we had, after all, worked very hard indeed – such is the life of cake makers. But when the time came to ice the cakes and choose the toppings Hannah perked up and did a great job, with a little help from Aunty Julia and Mum.

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Finally, after all that hard work, it was time for our reward: tea and cakes. And very nice they were too. Of course, as well as being nice, they were full of sugar – especially with all that icing on them – and this became apparent very quickly. Hannah went from being somewhat sleepy to somewhat bouncy and she soon had us all up dancing and playing. She was still full of beans when it was time for her to go home and as I waved them all off I knew my cousin and his wife were going to have their hands full. Oh dear. But of course that’s one of the thing’s that’s so great about being an Aunty and a Godmother; we get to have all the fun and then get to put our feet up!

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22 Comments

  1. Sylvie
    April 13, 2009 / 8:17 am

    What lovely cakes you made! It’s so much fun baking with children, isn’t it!? Happy Easter!

  2. Mark
    April 13, 2009 / 8:44 am

    I love making cupcakes, they are so much fun! And eating them just brings a smile, that’s why they are so great 🙂 And the simpler the better, just plain sponge and a sweet icing (maybe a cherry on top) is perfection!

  3. Kadeeae
    April 13, 2009 / 10:24 am

    Creating great memories for her and hopefully a love of cooking 🙂

    They look very, very tasty!

  4. kate
    April 13, 2009 / 3:41 pm

    Baking with little ones is such fun!
    What did you use to top your cupcakes? Those decorations are cute!

  5. Nerissa
    April 13, 2009 / 6:32 pm

    love those little cupcakes. They’re adorable.
    I made something quite similar to the rice crispy treats the other night for Easter. Added chocolate malt eggs to the top.

  6. Holler
    April 13, 2009 / 8:49 pm

    It sounds like you had a brilliant day and I bet you are a star to Hannah. Nice job on the icing 🙂

  7. Springtime
    April 13, 2009 / 9:36 pm

    I love the bun with iced hippo!

    What a great way to spend the afternoon!

  8. s. stockwell
    April 16, 2009 / 12:12 am

    These are more than wonderful!! I have a grandaughter who will be very interested in this…thanks & best from santa barbara. s

  9. Janice
    April 16, 2009 / 5:58 am

    woohh! looking at it make me hungry. You have fun!

  10. Ollie
    April 17, 2009 / 8:32 am

    What a lovely nostalgia piece! They looked absolutely terrific.

  11. Bev
    April 17, 2009 / 8:43 am

    oh yum, my youngest has seen these buns and now we know what were doing for the day, apart from i told her the buns will not be as fancy lol

  12. catering equipment
    April 17, 2009 / 10:54 am

    Cupcakes… always great!

  13. Stephy
    April 17, 2009 / 8:21 pm

    What lovely cakes! I love this blog and though I’ve been a follower of food blogs in general for a long time, I just recently started my own.

    Look forward to reading more of your dishes.

  14. Kamran Siddiqi
    April 18, 2009 / 2:58 am

    I have to say, the chocolate rice crispy cakes look delicious!

  15. uk chefs forum
    April 18, 2009 / 9:01 am

    Ah these look beautiful – its great to have kids in the kitchen learning and having fun with food. Great job.

  16. rich
    April 18, 2009 / 6:53 pm

    I think some of the simplest recipes are the very best…pour melted chocolate over rice crispies, stir around a bit and spoon in to paper cases. Done.

    Absolute genius.

    I’ll bet that there are many highly skilled and excellent chefs out there whose very first cooking experience involved this exact recipe.

  17. Anya
    April 18, 2009 / 9:37 pm

    She is going to have such wonderful memories of that day I am sure!

  18. Angie
    April 23, 2009 / 3:46 am

    Those cupcakes look great.

    I’m an incredibly mess cook too. The kitchen looks like a disaster after I’m done, and I somehow manage to use every bowl, spoon, and knife in the entire kitchen – no matter what I’m making.

  19. Karen
    April 24, 2009 / 10:07 pm

    Those are the cutest cupcakes I have seen in a long time. What did you use to make the decorations on top?

  20. beach houses
    May 25, 2009 / 11:14 am

    ahhhh… this is so cute i think i have an idea now for my little angel’s birthday party

  21. Rumela
    September 24, 2009 / 7:55 am

    Lovely cupcakes I must say. You know something it is very tough to please my kids but your idea is just rocking. It looks so interesting and attractive that my younger son told me that he wants all of them.
    Cheers mate for coming up with such a delicious post.

  22. Rumela
    September 24, 2009 / 8:13 am

    I must say the modification worked a lot. It looks so attractive that I can just smell it now. This recipe is new to me. Boiling orange before cooking?? But it really sounds interesting. I am dying to try it as early as possible. I really want to thanks you for sharing such a wonderful cake recipe and the name is also interesting…Orange cake!!!! Anybody can be attracted by this name….congrats!!

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