This term the Petits Chefs are testing out some of the recipes from my cookbook and this week they were thrilled to hear that we were making something sweet (they know that cooking club is not “just baking desserts” and are so excited when it turns out we are!
I made a couple of batches of sweet tart dough at lunch time to ensure it was at the right temperature. It’s a fairly soft dough – lovely to work with – so it needs at least 30 minutes in the fridge. After a quick demo, the boys got to rolling and assembling their tartelettes à la confiture with the express task of telling me how many tartelettes they were able to produce from the dough.
There is honestly nothing kids love more than playing with dough!
(I love how this group made sure to mark out their shapes to get the most out of the dough!)
When we’re cooking, the boys know that we can be a little *less* precise about a few things. It’s one of the things I am trying to teach them – trust your instincts – what looks right? what sounds right? what smells right? Because while I want people followng my recipes, I don’t want them to feel like they are a slave to to them. I don’t want a recipe step/ a piece of equipment (“My baking dish is 1 inch larger than the one you call for – do I need to buy a new one?”) to stop people from getting (back) in the kitchen with their kids so I’m trying to show the boys a little common sense combined with good recipe reading is the way to go.
For the jam filling, however, they were under strict instructions to ONLY add the amount in the recipe. I’ve cleaned up enough jam overflow in the past couple of months to know!
We had some – err – interesting looking tarts but I also know from experience that they will bake up beautifully so we weren’t too concerned!
While the tarts were baking, the boys learned how to make the dough themselves.
Their dough came together beautifully and each of them took home a little piece to play with!
And how did their tartelettes fare?
Pretty well, I’d say!
Definitely a few learning moments in there (amount of jam, placement of the dough circles) but overall, an excellent result! Everyone was so pleased and proud of their work!
Stay tuned to see what recipes we test from In the French kitchen with kids next week!
Did they eat them hot, let them cool, take them home?
Appearance, as we all know, has nothing to do with taste. I reckon they’d have been very nice to eat.
They took them home when they were just still a little warm (the jam had set). I’m not sure how many of them made it home though 😉
What a nice idea to make those little treats with the kiddos! Brings me back memories… Plus it’s a simple and tasty recipe!
Simple, yes but with a few nuances that can make or break it!
These are so adorable. I love getting the kids involved with baking and these definitely look like fun!
So much fun!
I LOVE the fact about getting the kids interested in cooking so early. My 4 year old grandson keeps telling me “you’re a good cooker gramma” …and he LOVES when we make things together. It is so much fun, and brings back memories of me spending precious time in the kitchen with my baba.
The younger the better!!
I absolutely love the simplicity of this idea – plus how it teaches some good pastry-making skills. I’m definitely going to be making these with the little friend I cook with each week. Already bookmarked – THANKS!
Definitely simple but teaches so much at the same time!
Baking with kids is one of my favourite things to do- I am thrilled to read about your adventures with your students. Great work and wonderful memories for the kids.
I hope they will remember these classes!
Love those those Jam Tarts!
They are pretty tasty!