With the big Easter holiday looming at the end of the month (and a bit of time off, phew!) I’ve been busy making plans for Easter fun with the family. We all love to get together at some point over the four-day holiday and enjoy a meal together, as well as organising an Easter egg hunt around the garden. It’s always great fun entertaining the little ones at this time of year, as they love to run around the garden, ride on their toy tractors and spot the daffodils coming up.
Having already had a trial run of my Easter cheesecake recipe, and with lots of bags of mini eggs rattling around in the cupboard I couldn’t wait any longer. I wanted to make Easter cornflake cakes and I wanted to make them now! So I’ve actually already been making super-cute Easter cakes with the smallest members of my family this week. And it was an very enjoyable cooking session indeed, not least because I got to take a tray of cornflake cakes home with me to scoff all week long!
I love cooking with my niece and nephew. It’s lovely to watch them concentrate on an activity and it’s so sweet to see them try to stop themselves from licking the spoon. They are actually both really good at listening and taking instructions, so they helped me to get out everything we needed, they washed their hands before we started and they were very careful not to spill anything (apart from a few stray cornflakes on the wipe-clean mat!).I was really impressed that they could understand the process of making cornflake cakes and could make their own decisions about what to mix into the cakes (sultanas and mini-marshmallows, if you’re interested). Watching my nephew counting out the mini eggs to make sure every cake had the same quantity was so adorable – and he got it right every time.As we waited for the cakes to set, they even helped me to wash up the bowls we’d used and it wasn’t long until they could enjoy the cakes they’d created. They carefully chose one cake each for themselves, mummy and daddy and me before bringing them into the living room on a plate, while singing ‘happy Easter’ to the tune of happy birthday. So. Cute.After all their hard work making Easter cakes (and helping me to bake lasagne for lunch on Mother’s Day – yes, they are enthusiastic little cooks!) I think they deserve a reward over the holidays. I’d love to treat them to some fun toys to play with over Easter, as well as organise some outdoor activities to keep them entertained as we prepare Easter lunch. And in the meantime, we’re going to have a go at making rice-crispie marshmallow Easter cakes too. Watch this space! Oh, and here’s my recipe for cornflake cakes: Stir cornflakes into melted chocolate, throw in handfuls of sultanas and mini marshmallows and then give the coated cornflakes another 10 second blast in the microwave in order to make the marshmallows go all gooey! Spoon into cupcake cakes and pop some mini eggs on top. Enjoy!