This is all about spending an hour with your kids, no interuptions. Whether you have an hour a day or an hour a week to dedicate to them, this feature is here to inspire you.

My kids love cooking. They love getting messy and they love eating . It’s kind of a win win for them. For me the hour you spend making these also allows for a bit of cleaning up time because generally there is always a bit of mess involved. They don’t mind cleaning up so much after cooking as they like to stand at the sink and clean the bowls too! They made these cakes as a present to Lola on her birthday last week. What does a one year old want for their birthday? …cakes!

You will need

To make 12 muffin sized cakes: (if you want more then double it.)

Measuring scales

125g butter (softened)

125g caster sugar

125g self raising flour

2 large eggs (free range please & room temperature)

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

I add 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder too if using the machine.

2-3 tablespoons of milk

For the topping:

500g packet of royal icing (icing sugar)…you won’t necesarily need all of this!

125-250g butter

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

dash of milk

250

12 bun muffin tin with 12 muffin sized cases and a working oven!

sweets, sprinkles, candles, food dye and whatever you want to use for decoration.

Plus, spoons, mixing bowl, sieve and ideally a food processor although this can be made just as easily in a bowl ( just takes a bit longer.)

1. Turn the oven on to 200 degrees Celsius /180 fan/gas mark 6. Then weigh out all of your ingredients.

2. Put all of your ingredients into your food processor and bowl (except the milk) and mix it all up…yes it’s that easy.

(if making it by hand : Cream the butter & sugar first, then add vanilla and eggs spooning in the flour in between.)

If you cook with my kids they sometimes insist on adding random things in the mix too. Generally this kind of experimentation doesn’t seem to matter too much. As long as it’s edible. Today it was sprinkles in the mixture for magic!

And they both love the pressing of the buttons as they do the stirring if we are making it from scratch!

3. Add the milk until it’s a dropping consistency. E.g. falling off the spoon easily.

4. Get the kids to put the cases into the muffin tin.

5. Add the mixture into the cases. I usually cave in after it starts to get really messy and sometimes finish off the spooning myself while they wash their hands!

Two spoons are best, one for scooping the mixture and another for scraping it off.

6.Pop them in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. I tend to keep them in for 20 because i hate it when they aren’t cooked in the middle properly. The easiest way to test is with a kebab skewer. Put it in the centre of your cake and see if it comes out clean. If it does they are cooked!

7. While the cakes are cooking make the buttercream or icing. It can be made with water but i think buttercream is the only way forward! The best buttercream for me is basically guesswork.

Beat 125g-250g butter until really soft and then sieve in your icing sugar a bit at a time until you get a nice creamy but stiff consistency. Add a bit of milk and vanilla extract to make it easier to stir. Let the kids help you stir and sieve if they are too young to do it alone.

8. When it seems about right add a couple of drops of colouring if you want it coloured and stir again. Voila!

9. When the cakes are out of the oven, let them cool before adding the icing on top.

10. Now decorate with whatever you like – edible of course!

11. Clean up and eat your cakes!