Cooking With Kids : Inside Out Cakes

Halfway through a very hectic day, when I still had a long to-do list to get through, Pierre asked if we could make cakes. I could have said no, but I didn't want to curb his enthusiasm in the kitchen, so I went for a compromise - a Surprise Inside Cakes Kit, that I had picked up in a local discount store a while ago, which tied in with the Inside Out film. 

I hadn't really looked at the box but it turned out that this was for a mini cupcake version of pinata cake, with hidden mini Smarties inside. I sometimes make butterfly cakes, scooping out the inside of cupcakes, filling them with butter icing then using the cut out cake as wings, but I'd never thought of doing the same with hidden sweets. It was a simple but very effective idea that I'll definitely be using again, but making the cakes from scratch next time.

This being a pre-measured cake kit, I basically left Pierre to get on with it while I bustled around the kitchen.

This resulted in some pretty small cupcakes because he didn't put much in each cupcake case - to be fair, he used the whole lot of batter in the enclosed number of cases, so it wasn't his fault !

Luckily they were mini Smarties though so we could still fit a few inside each cake.

After popping the cake tops back on, I just covered them with a bit of hastily spooned on butter icing. With more time, I'd have made them look prettier with a piping bag but Pierre didn't mind.

I have to say, for something that took fifteen minutes to make, I was impressed. It's a great idea that I will certainly be experimenting with next time I make cupcakes from scratch.

Adding to the #KitchenClearout linky because this used a baking kit that had been lurking at the back of the cupboard for a while !