I enlisted a glamorous, pyjama-clad assistant to help me with my baking over the weekend! I adore cooking with Isabel. In my experience, children are infinitely more enthusiastic about eating things they’ve prepared themselves. Moreover, spending some time in the kitchen together provides numerous opportunities to learn. I’ve found that weighing out ingredients has helped Izzy get to grips with numbers and measurements and we often talk about where food comes from and how different ingredients are produced. Of course, the ability to prepare food confidently is an invaluable life skill in its own right. For now, Jesse is content just watching us make a big old mess in the kitchen, but I’m looking forward to a time when he can join in too.

More than anything, Izzy loves to bake. While I do try to keep the children’s cake intake within sensible parameters, if they are going to indulge I’d far rather it was homemade than shop bought. That way you make sure they bypass all sorts of dodgy E numbers and preservatives.

So this is what we did very early on Saturday morning. We popped our aprons on over our pyjamas and rustled up this lovely summery bake. It’s a case of ‘Nigella Strikes Again’ I’m afraid… you’ll find this on p. 74 of How To Be A Domestic Goddess. I do own other recipe books, I just happen to like this one a lot!

The muffins themselves were light, satisfyingly blistered with the delicious pink flesh of the raspberries and perfect in the sunshine with a refreshing cup of tea. They disappeared very quickly after our guests arrived just in time for elevenses!

You will need:
60g butter
200g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
150g caster sugar
1/4 tsp salt
juice and finely chopped zest of a lemon
approx 120ml milk
1 large egg
150g raspberries

12-bun muffin tin lined with paper cases

• Preheat the oven to 200c/gas mark 6
• Melt the butter and set it aside to cool.
• Stir together, in a largish bowl, the flour, baking powder, bicarb, sugar, salt and zest.
• In a measuring jug, pour in the lemon juice, then enough milk to come up to the 200ml mark (and it will curdle, but that’s fine), then beat in the egg and melted butter.
• Pour into the dry ingredients and stir briefly; the batter should scarcely be combined.
• Fold in the raspberries.
• Spoon this lumpy mixture into the muffin cases and bake for 25 minutes. When cooked, the tops will spring back to your touch. Leave in the pan for 5 minutes to cool slightly, then sit them on a rack to cool for a further 10-15 minutes.

Once we had taken the muffins out of the oven to cool I became so engrossed in the morning’s activities that I completely forgot to photograph the finished product! However, as Izzy always seems far more interested in eating the cake mixture than the cake itself it seems fitting that we end with this photo…Loveaudrey xxx

p.s I’d just like to point out that I am not a complete saint. There are times when all I want is to be alone in my kitchen, able to cook without a baby clawing at my ankles and free from the constant barrage of questions from my 5 year old. At times like this I am deeply grateful for the wonder that is Disney and our DVD player.