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Baking with a Little Bear

If you’re looking for something awesome to do with your kids: try baking.

For those of you not in the know, baking is like buying a cake, but you end up much more mess, washing up, and stuff for the dogs to lick off the floor. Happily, it also comes with plenty of joy and satisfaction, too.

My mum recently gave me a recipe she’s made called Happy Honey Cake that eschews high amounts of refined sugar – and it’s one that proved very popular with my little bear. Not so long ago, I made it with my wife and son, and the whole thing gave me an idea for a picture book – with three little characters called Ahhh, Geee and Beee! One is a heroic parental figure who has to stay on top of things, and the other two are just little cheeky tykes that make the process much more fun (and messy) than it needs to be.

No, I don’t know where I get my ideas from, either.

Hopefully when my story is worked up properly I’ll have a lovely story for you guys to read.

In the meantime, try our awesome recipe…

HAPPY HONEY CAKE

Ingredients

  • 400g dried fruit (e.g. cherries, sultanas, currants, raisins etc.)
  • half a chewed tissue*
  • ½ lemon rind
  • 250ml water
  • 200g demerara sugar
  • 300g self-raising flour
  • 250g butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 100g honey
  • ½ tsp bicarb of soda
  • 1 tbsp icing sugar

*not essential

Method

Preheat your oven to 180°C.

  1. Spend half an eternity trying to wrangle your 18-month-old into an apron. (Ignore the temptation to go ‘Nah. He’ll be fine.’ – that’s how you end up with stained clothes and an irate wifey.)
  2. Cut the butter into small cubes and add with the fruit, sugar, water & honey.
  3. Watch your son as he tries to throw his tissue in the pan for absolutely no discernible reason whatsoever.
  4. Fish out the tissue and pretend it didn’t happen. Put the tissue in the bin.
  5. Heat through until all the butter has melted. Stir thoroughly and then leave to cool. This should take around 10 minutes.
  6. Beat the eggs, then add to the pan, along with the flour and bicarb of soda.
  7. Feed your child a spoonful of honey when you’re wife isn’t looking. It helps you to become his favourite.
  8. Ask where the hell he got another tissue from.
  9. Add grease proof paper to the bottom and edges of a 28cm tray before adding the mixture. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes – or until you can put a knife in, and it comes out clean.
  10. 10.Don’t let your 18 month-old sneeze on it.
  11. 11.If you failed to do step 11 successfully, at least get them to lie about it.
  12. 12.Allow the cake to  cool before Sprinkling the icing sugar on top.
  13. 13.Cut into squares and enjoy.

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