The summer holidays are here and you're soon going to be inundated with complaints of 'I'm bored!' A bored child turns into a cranky child and we all know how that goes. So why not introduce them to the joys of cooking?
Working with colourful, aromatic ingredients and then being allowed to gobble up the final result can be a wonderful pass-time for children. And who knows, it might be the first step to chef-stardom!
So here are some child-friendly recipes that your kids can try without worrying about nicking their fingers or setting the kitchen on fire (but of course, do supervise them at least intermittently):
Chocolate Biscuit Sandwich
For the chocolate sauce, cook sugar, cocoa, cornflour, vanilla essence and milk in a saucepan until it thickens. Set aside to cool. Take a digestive biscuit and dip it in milk. Place on a plate and cover with chocolate sauce. Keep repeating until you have a stack of biscuits and chocolate.
Freeze the stack for 30 minutes. Take chocolate and butter in a saucepan and melt it on low heat. Pour this over the biscuit sandwich and spread on the sides as well. Chill this for 30 mins.
The Ultimate Banana Sundae
Peel and slice a banana length-wise. Line them around the edges of a bowl. Scoop chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream in between the bananas. Spread strawberry jam over the strawberry ice cream. Drizzle chocolate fudge over the chocolate ice cream.
Put whipping cream over all three ice creams. Sprinkle the dish with marshmallows and peanuts. Drizzle chocolate fudge over the banana split. Top each of the ice cream heaps with cherries.
Eggless Chocolate Mug Cake
Mix 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup oil, 1 cup milk and 1 tsp lemon juice in a bowl. Pour the batter into two mugs and microwave on high for 3-4 minutes. Top the cakes with whipped cream.
White Chocolate Oreo Balls
Crush Oreo cookies and mix with cream cheese frosting. Make balls and freeze for 15-20 minutes. Melt white chocolate. Dip the balls in the chocolate and freeze again. Sprinkle crushed Oreo cookies on top.
Fruit Salad with Custard
For the custard, boil milk. Add 3-4 tbsp of the milk to 2 tbsp of custard powder. Mix well. Pour this into the rest of the milk and add sugar. Mix and boil on a low flame until it thickens. Transfer to a bowl and let it cool.
Chop green grapes, red grapes, banana, pomegranate seeds, mango and apple and add to the custard. Also add cardamom powder and mix gently. Chill for 2 hours. Serve with whipped cream or ice-cream if desired.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Put the chocolate in a deep microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds and mix well. Keep aside. Place a sheet of aluminium foil on a surface or a tray. Keep aside.
Put one Marie biscuit in the chocolate sauce and with the help of 2 forks cover the entire Marie biscuit with chocolate and place it on an aluminium foil. Repeat step 3 to make 11 more chocolaty biscuits.
Decorate the chocolaty biscuits by sprinkling almond slivers/ chocolate vermicelli / edible coloured balls / edible coloured stars / edible silver balls or use your own innovation to decorate them. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Overnight Chocolate Bars
Melt 400 gm butter and mix with 200 gm honey. Add in 100 gm cocoa powder, 400 gm muesli mixture, 200 gm cranberries and 400 gm digestive biscuits. Pour into cake tins lined with butter paper and drizzle melted white chocolate on top. Freeze overnight and cut into bars the next day.
So start stocking your kitchen and scout for itsy-bitsy aprons for the little ones! If your kids do try one of these recipes, be sure to send us the snaps on food@pingnetwork.in or tweet them to us!