Williams Sonoma Kids Baking

Reviewer's Bookwatch, Dec, 2004 by Magdalena Ball

Williams Sonoma Kids Baking

Abigail Johnson & Dodge Williams

Edited by Chuck Williams

Photography by Jason Lowe

Illustrations by Joy Gosney

Sonoma Publishing

3250 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco, CA 94109

ISBN 1405035625, $32.95

Kids just love to cook, and it is so educational for them (plus you get something generally edible at the end of the process--a real win-win). The key to a happy cooking experience with children is the obvious one, keep it simple. The item you cook should be more or less failproof, and something which children will enjoy eating at the end of the session. The Williams Sonoma Kids Baking book is spiral bound, so it sits flat on the table, and is full of bright and provocative photographs which will encourage children of all ages to get cooking. Older children will enjoy reading through the basics section which opens the book. There is information on measuring, sifting, preparing pans, beating butter and sugar, cracking eggs, preparing fruit, and lots more. Everything is illustrated with step by step pictures.

The rest of the book is devoted to recipes, but these aren't ordinary recipes. They are designed to be very appealing to children. There are chapters on cookies, cakes & cupcakes, pies & pastries, simple breads and muffins, and yeast breads. The book reminds me of a child oriented version of Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess, and is equally homey. As with the opening section, each recipe contains a series of photographs, designed to illustrate the specific actions required by children. Each recipe is formatted the same, with a list of ingredients and tools at the front, followed by quantity information and a step by step guide, usually in 2 or 4 steps of before you start, mixing, forming and baking. There are tips for things children can do to increase the fun or take care, like decorating cookies with friends, being careful with knives, licking the frosting off the beaters, or painting the butter onto pastry with a brush.

For younger children, you can use this as a normal cookbook, but just let them take on tasks that suit their capabilities. Children as young as 2 can grease pans, mix, knead, and mash, and while they're doing it, they're learning practical maths, improving fine motor skills, and learning about nutrition and how to cook. It's the basis for a lifelong love of good food and nutrition, plus at the end of it, you get to serve a batch of things like chocolate chip cookie cake, gingerbread men (good for cooking parties too--decoration is lots of fun), carrot cake, mixed berry pie, elephant ears, or blueberry-orange mini muffins. Yum! This is a book which you'll probably use yourself in the kitchen for its quick easy recipes, and children will be using it for many years.

Magdalena Ball, Reviewer

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