It is that time of year again, summer holidays... the beginning of the sweet chorus of happy laughter from our children.

Well that may be in an ideal world but hey, you can’t blame me for dreaming. After the usual hectic morning routine of coco pops and showering, I could hear my daughter mumbling about being bored. Bearing in mind this was approximately about seven minutes after getting ready, I decided that I needed to fill the day with things to do.

Now, one thing I know my child can’t resist is a good bit of old fashioned baking - hands washed, kitchen prepped, and toddler happily waiting for me to let her get stuck in.

Below you will find my favourite recipe for baking with children; hopefully you will find this useful in your quest to keep the kids happy this summer.

Butterfly Cakes

For the Cakes:

• 250g Softened Unsalted Butter (always available in my fridge you never know when baking will become a necessity to your sanity)
• 250g Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
• 4 Eggs (I use Happy Eggs because my toddler likes the happy chicken off the telly)
• 250g Self Raising Flour
• 185ml Milk

For the Butter Icing:

• 140g Butter
• 280g Caster Sugar
• 2 tbsp Milk

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C, 350°F, gas 4. (This is the part where my toddler repeats the word hot at least 10 times)

Get your little one to place 12 muffin cases in a muffin tray.

Place the sugar and butter into a bowl and get your child to give it a good stir. (I always find that this is fun for the first couple of minutes until little arms start to ache, at which point I take over whilst my daughter happily watches, singing her stirring song). Make sure the mixture is pale and creamy then add the eggs, one at a time (I crack the egg into a cup and then let her pour it in, which saves on crunchy bits in your cakes) and beat each egg until well combined.

Fold the flour into the mixture (always messy but extra fun for a young person)

At this point your child’s cake mixture should drop off the spoon, if not, add a little milk.

Fill each case with the mixture and then back for 20-25 minutes.

Once baked place on a wire rack to cool down.

To make the butter icing, Beat the butter in a mixing bowl until soft.

Add half the icing sugar and beat until smooth. Then add the rest of the icing sugar and one tablespoon of milk and stir until nice and smooth. If you need a little extra milk add it now.

Once the cakes have cooled cut a small circle out of the middle, cut it in half to create your fairy wings. Fill the hole with butter icing and then let your child add the wings to their creation.

Now the most fun part can commence - eating them... so get stuck in!