Yesterday was my birthday, and the three “big” kids had a blast making me a birthday cake (with a little help from dad, who doesn’t bake himself) while Anna and I napped. Seven-year-old Emma picked out a marbled cake recipe from (affiliate link) The Cookbook for Kids – a fantastic cookbook from Williams & Sonoma that has Emma well on the way to becoming my personal chef!
Marbled cakes are very pretty, and a great visual baking experience for kids! Emma and Johnny swirled the two cake pans, and they were thrilled with how their designs turned out!
The two cakes were beautiful out of the oven, and perfectly light and fluffy! Unfortunately, they had forgotten to grease the cake pans, so it took some creativity (and elbow grease on Mike’s part) to free the cakes from their pans.
They frosted the cake with pudding, and lit a candle. I loved how proud they were of their creation! Anna was not so sure about having fire at the dinner table…
But once the candle was out she tried blowing it out herself!
The cake was delicious, and the kids were absolutely thrilled at having made my birthday cake (nearly) all on their own! I have a feeling that I may not be allowed to make many more birthday cakes myself!
Have you let your kids bake a cake on their own? Do you have a favorite cookbook that you recommend? For younger kids, I love Mollie Katzen’s Pretend Soup!
Note: This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
Those cakes turned out beautifully! Happy Belated Birthday to you!
Thank you! I had a lovely birthday :)
What a wonderful cake! I love that special people made it for you!
That made it taste extra-delicious :)
What beautiful photos of your family, MaryAnne! And…happy birthday to you!!! I hope you had a wonderful day.
Happy Birthday MaryAnne!
Love the idea of pudding for frosting!
Thank you, Ann! Pudding is much better than traditional frosting, in my opinion!
Happy birthday sweetie!
Thanks! <3
Happy birthday! What a lovely cake made with plenty of love. It looks delicious too!
It was delicious – very light and fluffy :)
Happy birthday! That’s so wonderful that they made you a birthday cake!
A delicious one at that!
Yum! Marbling is so much fun.
While I’d never let my 2yo bake alone, he’s always helping me make all kinds of things. Sweets being the favorite. He gets more involved in bread baking, kneading, shaping, reshaping.
I think all kids love bread dough!
Happy Birthday! My boys (5 and 8 yrs old) enjoy baking with me too. We made applesauce bread for father’s day this year. They love watching the videos on http://www.thejoyofbaking.com. Pretend Soup by Mollie Katzen, Annabel Karmel and Jessica Seinfeld’s cookbook are our go-to cookbooks.
I’ll have to introduce my kids to those videos!
Happy Birthday!!! It’s so great that your birthday is a public holiday and that you got a nap while the rest of your family made your cake! Looks deeeeeelicious!
I LOVE having a birthday that is a public holiday – especially where Mike works so many hours the rest of the year!
Happy birthday! Marble cake is my favorite! We’re into cake decorating here, so under the guidance of my husband (if it was to be a surprise) or me, I’d let J bake me a cake. The boys made me brownies this year, and I loved them.
Thanks! We’ll have to make you some marbled cake sometime, once we’re in CA!
Brownies are delicious, too!
Very impressive and happy birthday! So far we only did joint baking and considering Anna’s tendency to let her mind wander, I think it will stay this way for a few more years :)
Thanks! Emma is a very focused child – and she did have supervision. She made dinner all on her own the night before, though – carrot sticks with dip and tortilla and cheese rolls (from the same cookbook). I’m very excited to have her learning how to cook!
I think it’s a wonderful experience for children to have a go on their own. Your little ones look so pleased with their creation. Lucky Mummy, and happy birthday from us too.
Thank you! It was so fun to eat a birthday cake that they were so proud of!
Happy birthday! They haven’t baked cakes, but we’ve baked many other things.
I always enjoy your “Around the World” cooking posts!