It's true. Something I planned for the summer was to let the kids get in the kitchen ON THEIR OWN a bit more. (You know I'm gunning for days of breakfast in bed :) But really, I hope that they will enjoy learning some skills and having the ability to bake for themselves, friends and family and give home baked gifts as they desire.
So, I set them up for their first solo experience with a recipe for Dump Cake (so named because you basically just dump the ingredients in, it's actually a bit more like a cobbler). There are four ingredients and it is simple enough to put together that I figured their attention span wouldn't fail before they were finished. I did have to help Hope with the can opener and then I just left the two of them alone in the kitchen. ALONE until they told me it was ready to go in the oven. Thus, I have no pictures of them working - since I wasn't there. ( I admit, at moments it was difficult for me to restrain myself from poking my head in there just to make sure things were going well and my kitchen wasn't being destroyed).
I wrote out the recipe beforehand, indicating who would get to do which parts. Hope read the recipe aloud step by step and helped Maddie along.
They did a great job. They even put the cake mix box into the recycling outside without being asked. They really do make a great team.
I baked it for them, since they are of course not old enough to use the oven by themselves. It turned out just as it should. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the finished product either (mom fail.) But it was super fun to leave them alone in there and see how proud they were to accomplish this by themselves.
It was just the right recipe for this too - not too messy, very uncomplicated, very few steps. If you are interested, you can see the recipe here. You can also really vary this to your taste by substituting peaches or blueberries for the cherries, or just using cherries and a chocolate cake mix, or I know a lot of people add chopped nuts to the top. In any case, whether you help the kiddos out or let them go it alone - it's an easy, fun recipe that kids will enjoy making (and eating).
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