I believe that when teaching children to cook you can also teach them about the science of cooking. How the different components of a recipe combine and change during baking make for a great science experiment.
I also stress the importance of paying attention to the details. This is an important lesson for my twelve-year old son. He is very meticulous in the kitchen and I see him take that skill and use it in other aspects of his life. Like cleaning his room…very important. I find it easy to get him involved when it is a dessert but he also like to cook chicken, pasta and rice.
He has also become interested in trying new foods when he is involved in the cooking process.
We decided to make a pound cake this week. My family loves a simple and rich pound cake.
We weigh our ingredients to make sure they are the correct amount.
All of the ingredients are readied before we begin. Eggs are at room temperature and butter is soft. Dry ingredients are in a bowl together and wet are in a liquid measuring cup.
Ben is careful to sift the dry ingredients together.
He will then cream together butter and sugar.
Next he adds the eggs one at a time and scraps down the sides of the bowl to make sure it is all well mixed.
The batter is then mixed well.
The batter is poured into a bundt pan that is coated with butter and lightly floured.
Then Ben sets his timer and bakes his cake in a pre-heated oven. Ben checks to see if the cake is done with a cake tester stick.
Perfect Pound Cake
Ben’s Tasty Pound Cake Recipe
12 oz. butter
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1⁄2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk, at room temperature
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs, at room temperature
Heat oven to 325°. Generously grease a bundt pan with butter. Add flour; turn the pan to coat it evenly with flour, tap out any excess, and set aside.
Using a sieve set over a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
Repeat 2 more times.
In a measuring container with a pourable spout, combine milk and the lemon, and vanilla extracts.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle, cream butter at medium-low speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add sugar, 1⁄4 cup at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, and beat until satiny smooth, about 3 minutes.
Add 1 egg at a time to the butter mixture, beating for 15 seconds before adding another, and scraping down the bowl after each addition. Reduce the mixer speed to low and alternately add the flour and milk mixtures in 3 batches, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down sides of the bowl; beat just until the batter is smooth and silky but no more.
Scrape batter into prepared pan and firmly tap on a counter to allow batter to settle evenly. Bake until light golden and a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out moist but clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cake cool in pan on a rack for 30 minutes. Invert cake onto rack; let cool completely before slicing.
awesome looking cake, congrats to Ben
I will tell him you said that. He is such a good cook for a little guy!
This has to be one of the most popular cakes ever…so many ways to serve it.
Yes. Pound cake made right is great.
Ben’s pound cake looks so yummy and beautiful! Cooking and baking with your children is so much fun! My son is a young adult now and still loves to cook and we really enjoy making meals together, when he’s home! Now he’s teaching me new things in the kitchen!
I can’t wait until Ben is teaching me.
Aren’t you good to get your son started early in the kitchen! Some young lady will be most appreciative of his skills.
He loves it. He is such a scientist.
I agree, teaching kids how to bake is a great learning experience. This pound cake looks great! A real classic!
I will let Ben know you liked it.
You’re singing my song, Connie! Only one of my three adult children cooks – when they were little, my work schedule didn’t allow for much kitchen-time…I’m not making that mistake with the granddaughter. Even at 3, there are things she does to help make dinner. Last night, it was mushrooms – she takes them out of the container and counts them, then puts them on the cutting board. I chop, then she puts them in her prep bowl… She can’t wait to be allowed to do more!
Great. Keep up the good work.
I totally agree. Learning how to cook and bake is an important life skill, and one so many people are sorely lacking. Sounds like your sun has it made!
Make that *son*.
Looks like the apple is not falling far from the tree, as we say around here. In other words, Ben takes after his mom and made a very nice cake! You must be so proud.
This is called “pound” cake because the original recipe is 1 pound of flour,1 pound of butter, 1 pound of sugar, and 1 pound of eggs. Looks like you used more sugar, less eggs and butter, and added milk. I usually replace part of the eggs with egg yolks for a moist cake, but otherwise stick to the original recipe.
Looks wonderful!!
He really did a good job.
Cake is always a great way to get kids interested in the kitchen!
Cookies too….the Kale Salad…not so much.
Your pound cake looks wonderful! And I am in complete agreement — knowing the science behind the cooking is so important!
Kenley
Ben is making bacon this morning. I am also teaching him how to clean the kitchen…so important as my teenager is always cooking but never cleans up her mess. She is getting a kitchen cleaning lesson later today.
Hehe, always very important!!
You are so right about paying attention to details when it comes to cooking. this is why Corby (Yes!Chef!) is so much better at cooking than I am because he is very meticulous with details (Chemistry background). Also, I love that your son is wanting to try new foods because of his interest in cooking and your patient guidance. Great post and we love pound cake, too.
Thank you! Scientists are always great cooks.
that made me laugh.
Yay!
Great that you’re baking with your son! And I agree that measuring by weight is by far the best way to go when you bake – it’s so much more precise. I use both methods, but really need to wean myself away from the volume measurements. Great looking pound cake, and fun post. Thanks so much.
Thank yo and happy weighing!
This is so great! I have a photo of my 8 year old daughter (18 years ago) holding up a 5 feet long sheet of pasta that she’d just rolled out! But she won’t let me post the photo because she “looked goofy.” So maddening. But I love when sons cook as well. Congrtatulations!!!
Maybe you can talk her into letting you post the picture.
That’s so great; I plan on doing the same with my future kids (one day, not too soon
)
Please do…when you have those kids!
A great recipe for children to learn baking. And it reminds me I haven’t made a pound cake in a while. I also love them and your photos have inspired me. So many people only purchase pound cakes and have no idea how good they can be!
Happy Pound caking!
Oh yuuuum! I love pound cakes! Especially the ones baked in ginormous bundt pans, yay! P.S. as I am one of those children who grew up very involved in the family kitchen, I completely agree with you! Really helps build character and growth! Lovely post Connie