If your kids are about to celebrate a birthday in quarantine, these Birthday Cake Kits can make the day more special and fun! The kits come with pre-measured ingredients and decorations for all kinds of cool cakes. They take all the hassle out of baking (and you never get halfway through a recipe before realizing that you don’t have any vanilla extract). Best of all, you can eliminate the perilous journey to the grocery store, where, let’s face it, they won’t have any flour left anyway. Making the cake can be a great birthday activity. (Eating the cake can be an even better birthday activity!) So check out our roundup of the best Birthday Cake Kits now delivering to NYC families. But first, read our tips for stress-free family baking with the kids:
Feeling inspired after your Birthday Cake Kit? Check out these online cooking classes and resources for the whole family!
Tips for Baking with Kids
Yes, Birthday Cake Kits are supposed to take all the stress and drama out baking. But for some, we know there’s always stress and drama involved in baking — especially in tiny New York City kitchens. That’s why we spoke to Anna Helm Baxter, Co-Founder of the DIY cake and baking kit company, Poppikit. Here are her top tips for baking with kids (and baking with parents that don’t have much more culinary experience than kids):
1. Let the kids crack the eggs. If you’re looking for ways to involve kids in the baking, then task them with cracking the eggs. (You might have to fish out one or two pieces of eggshell afterwards). Or, if you want to limit the eggshell liability, just let them stir together the ingredients.
2. Chill the cake before you decorate it. Once you’re done baking, Helm Baxter recommends you “refrigerate or freeze your cake for about 30 minutes” before you start adding frosting (and piling on the sprinkles). According to Helm Baxter, “A chilled cake is easier to decorate (and will create fewer crumbs).”
3. Don’t have a turntable? Substitute parchment paper. Putting a cake on a piece of large parchment paper means you can still rotate while you decorate! Helm Baxter says it also helps to “Frost the sides of the cake first and place one hand on top of the cake to keep it steady.”
4. Don’t scrimp on the frosting. Helm Baxter says you shouldn’t worry about “getting super smooth frosting.” Instead “load the frosting onto the cake and use swirling actions with the smooth side of a butter knife to purposefully create texture.”
5. Use a baking sheet to catch lost sprinkles. According to Helm Baxter, “Sprinkles fix everything!” And she’s so right. So let kids pile them on during the decorating stage. But make sure you’re decorating the cake over a “large rimmed baking sheet” that can catch any lost sprinkles.
6. Have fun! Whether or not your cake kits end up looking exactly like the pictures, you can still enjoy the baking process. Helm Baxter says that “baking with kids is unavoidably messy and you may not end up with a Martha Stewart-like creation.” But the important thing is that “your kids will feel a sense of pride in baking and sharing their creations.”
