by Angel Rodrigues

Created on: September 06, 2008   Last Updated: October 30, 2010

Can you believe I made a cake with my then two year old? Well, I did. Cooking with a toddler can be stressful, nerve wracking and time consuming, at best. However, if you plan ahead and have the right kind of recipe in mind, then it can be fun for both of you. I promise.

The cake that I chose for this particular occasion, his Godmother's birthday, was an original recipe and I simplified it for a toddler. I laid out the ingredients in individual bowls and set them up on the counter. I pre-measured some ingredients and set them into bowls as well. I put on some fun music in the kitchen, to keep things in rhythm. Then I put a step chair up to the counter and went to work.

I poured ingredients into the measuring cup and showed him how much each measure was and asked him to touch each ingredient (with clean hands of course). He loved that. He was very excited to learn the difference between the feel of flour and butter. I even let him touch the raw eggs (wash hands very thoroughly after this and pretty much every step). His face lit up with excitement, which made it fun for both of us.

I then let him use the microwave with me to melt the chocolate and then pour it onto greased sheets, placing them in the freezer, until we were ready for them. After all the cake ingredients were in the bowl, we used the hand mixer together. He loved this. The noise was very exciting and seeing the changes in the bowl also made him ask a lot of questions.

Then we poured the batter into the greased pans and I placed them into the pre-heated oven. While that was baking, I took out the sheets of hardened chocolate. Giving my son a clean mallet (or a clean hard object would work too) I told him to pound away at the chocolate until I said stop, to make it into smaller pieces. He looked at me and said "can I mommy?" I told him I give him permission to hit the chocolate. He shrieked in excitement and pounded away. We both nibbled as he pounded. It was a nice treat, while baking.

When he was done, we took up all the pieces and placed them in a bowl. Then we took more chocolate and placed it into a bowl and put it over a double boiler. Mom took over at this point. I melted the chocolate, until it was all creamy and smooth. While I did this, I had my toddler washing strawberries in the sink. Then patting them dry with a towel. When we were both done, I showed him how to dip the strawberries and place them on the lightly sprayed cookie sheet. He did all 12 of them. Then we placed them in the refrigerator to chill.

After taking a potty break and some time to clean our mess, the cake was done and cooling. I let him frost the center and I frosted the rest. Then we threw chopped chocolate on top of the almond frosting and placed the white and milk chocolate dipped strawberries around. No birthday cake had ever been so yummy.

The lesson here, is to think about making your toddler a foodie from an early age. If your toddler (boy or girl) sees you enjoying food, both sweet and savory, both healthy and naughty, then they will develop a foodie mentality. Learning to cook and have fun in the kitchen is a gift, we all can give, no matter the recipe, only the love shared making them.

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