Home baking with the kids this summer
By Hayley Gilbert
With school summer holidays just around the corner, this month we’re getting excited for spending more time with the family and enjoying experimenting with new flavours and home bakes in the kitchen. It’s all too easy to get caught up in the work-homework-sleep cycle week to week, but once summer comes, it’s a chance to take things a bit more slowly and get back to basics.
Whether you grab some time at the weekend or have a morning or afternoon to spare, this is the perfect chance for some home baking with the kids and Rangemaster has all you need to get started.
Cooking together is a great way to carve out some proper bonding time while building up your child’s essential life skills, boosting their confidence and keeping them entertained without the use of screens. What starts off as a simple home bake can turn into a cherished memory for years to come.
Measuring ingredients for instance, naturally helps to enhance their maths with fractions and counting. Reading recipes is great for their vocabulary and you’re also teaching them valuable skills that they will carry forward into adulthood.
Cooking together is also a good way to encourage fussy eaters to try new flavours and textures while chopping, mixing and kneading helps hand-eye coordination and muscle development, especially when you forgo the electric stand mixer for a good old fashioned mixing bowl and wooden spoon instead.
AGA Cookshop is the best place to find all the baking kit you need. From traditional Mason Cash mixing bowls in a range of colours including Powder Pink to Mary Berry bakeware and AGA aprons, tea towels and oven gloves in a gorgeous Vintage Bloom print, you’ll not only be making memories but you’ll also be freshening up the kitchen at the same time.
There are plenty of different range cookers to suit your cooking and baking needs if you’re in need of an upgrade before the summer holidays begin. The Nexus collection for instance, has a cool, contemporary look ideal for modern family kitchens. With a focus on detail, usability and everyday living, it’s perfect for home baking and cooking with the kids, especially with an induction top that’s safer for young kids, as it’s the pan that heats up rather than the hob. Induction is also incredibly easy to clean after every use and is energy efficient, too.
All models in the Nexus family feature the Rangemaster multifunction oven, designed for a wide range of cooking and baking styles. A Duo mode offers enhanced control and it gives consistent results across all dishes, from crisping pastry bases to cooking multiple elements at once.
If you prefer the familiarity of gas, then the dual fuel Professional+ comes with two spacious ovens and separate grill with signature glide-out grill system. In 90cm, 100cm and 110cm widths, it’s available in Stainless Steel, Black, Cranberry or Cream.
For a fully flexible design, the 90cm model features an energy-saving panel that enables you to split the oven in two, giving you the option of a full capacity oven for feeding the family or a compact single oven for smaller dishes and baking. It also includes Pyrolytic self-cleaning, which is always a bonus!
Rangemaster has plenty of recipes to inspire you this summer, too, with Weekend Bakes, Picnic, Snacks & Sides and Desserts all to be found in its Recipes section online. And for further ideas, head to AGA Living.
Some of our favourites include Marmite and Cheese Twists, Pineapple Upside Down Cake and Cornflake Tart.
So, embrace the mess and enjoy. After all, cleaning up teaches kids responsibility and can be fun too – and get baking!
