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Annabel Croft - memories are made of this
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"One of my fondest childhood memories is baking with my mum. I remember the treat of licking Lyle's Golden Syrup off the spoon and drizzling it over pancakes and porridge - as well as the worktops! Now, with my three children, we enjoy lots of fun activities so they will have special memories of their own to cherish.
Getting messy in the kitchen is just one of the great things you can enjoy with your kids. Here you'll find lots of inspirational ideas to make the most of the time you spend together as a family, whether it's cooking, learning or creating games.
Happy memory-making!" |
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Annabel Croft's family favourite recipe
"My kids love to get involved in baking, especially my youngest who's eight. One of the recipes that always brings a smile to their faces is Crunchy Topped Orange Bars. It's really easy to make, so kids of all ages can enjoy getting stuck in."
Crunchy Topped Orange Bars
Ingredient list:
For the topping: 60ml/ 4tbsp Lyle's Golden Syrup, 25g/ 1oz butter, 100g/ 4oz semi-dried apple pieces, chopped, 75g/ 3oz sultanas, 50g/ 2oz cornflakes.
For the sponge: 100g/ 4oz butter, 75g/ 3oz Tate & Lyle Caster Sugar, 30ml/ 2tbsp Lyle's Golden Syrup, 2 (medium) eggs, beaten, 100g/ 4oz self raising flour, 45ml/ 3tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice.
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What to do:
For the topping, gently heat the Lyle's Golden Syrup in a pan with the butter until melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the apple pieces, sultanas and cornflakes. Set aside.
For the sponge, cream the butter, sugar and Lyle's Golden Syrup together until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, a little at a time and then fold in the flour and orange juice. Spoon the sponge mixture into a lined and greased 20cm/ 8in square cake tin. Smooth over the top with the back of a spoon and then spread over the reserved cornflake topping. Bake in a preheated oven at 160C/ 325F/ Gas 3 for 45-50 minutes or until firm to the touch. Allow to cool in the tin, then cut into 12 bars and serve.
Safety first: an adult needs to be present when handling hot dishes or saucepans, and when using knives or a food processor. Always ensure oven gloves are at hand. |
Be creative
Kids love to play games and there's nothing more memorable than creating your own games at home as a family. Here are some simple and creative ideas for making Easter and summer activities fun for all the family.
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Paint it!
Little ones will love making their own Easter decorations. They can decorate eggs as simple or fancy as they want! To empty the egg you will need:
- Eggs
- A needle
- A bowl
Make sure you clean the egg with hot water. Using the needle, poke a small hole in the narrow end of the egg, and a slightly larger hole in the other end. Move the pin around to make sure you tear the membrane around the yolk. Holding the egg over the bowl, blow through the small hole until the egg is empty. There is no limit to what you can use to decorate eggs. Ideas include:
- Paints
- Ribbons
- Coloured tissue paper
- Sequins
- Felt tip pens
- Fabric scraps |
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Create it!
You can get so much fun out of getting your kids to make their own Easter cards for friends and family. All you need is some card, tracing paper, to cut out your own shapes, scissors, glue, ribbons, sequins and pencils and pens. Put your tracing paper over a number of shapes or characters of your choice, pencil it out and then cut round it. Fold the card in half and draw round the tracing paper shapes to create a picture. Decorate the card using your pencils, ribbons etc – and remember the key is to allow your kids to be as creative as they want.
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Easy baking and enjoyable eating
Getting your little one involved in cooking is not only great fun, it's also one of the first steps towards understanding the benefits of food. Kids have spoonfuls of energy when it comes to stirring their favourite foods or licking the bowl!
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Squeeze it!
Easy Squeeze: Squeeze one of your favourite Lyle's Squeezy Syrup flavours over mince pies or meringues. Serve with cream or ice-cream.
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Bake it!
Rocky road bars
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Makes 16 bars
Prep time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
225g/8 oz butter, unsalted, 100g/4 oz plain chocolate broken into pieces, 2 tbsp Lyle's Golden Syrup, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, 2 tbsp Tate & Lyle Caster Sugar, 100g/4 oz Maltesers®, 100g/4 oz mixed milk and white chocolate chips, 100g/4 oz mini marshmallows, 225g/8 oz ginger biscuits, broken into pieces, Icing sugar to duct.
Instructions:
1. Line a 20 cm/8in square cake tin with baking parchment.
In a small pan heat the butter, plain chocolate, Lyle's Golden Syrup, caster sugar and cocoa powder. Once melted together leave to cool for 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl place the Maltesers®, milk and white chocolate chip, mini marshmallows and ginger biscuits and bind together with the melted chocolate sauce. Pour into the lined tray and leave to set in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours. Remove from cake tin and slice into 16 snack-sized bars. Dust with icing sugar to serve. |
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Spread it!
Brighten up breakfast-time: Children love doing special things for mum and dad, and Lyle's Golden Spread makes it easy for them to prepare a delicious breakfast for the whole family to enjoy.
Pour it!
Flippin' marvellous: Get little ones really excited by giving them pancakes and some different shaped cutters so they can make their own shaped pancakes. Just add ice-cream and watch while the kids enjoy pouring on the Lyle's Golden Syrup.
Oats galore: Kids can have fun pouring Lyle's Golden Syrup over the top of porridge to make their own shapes. For something different, they can add in some raisins with Lyle's Golden Syrup Maple flavour poured over the top. |
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Spring clean it!
A spring cleaning session can be a fun, rewarding and educational activity for children of all ages.
By creating a wall chart you can make spring clean into a fun game – rewarding a good spring clean with gold stars. When they get to 5 gold stars they get a treat – and one that they've baked themselves. A great recipe idea for keeping home-baked goodies in the fridge are Lyle's Golden Syrup Rocky Road Bars. |
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Plant it!
Give your children the gift of green fingers with an afternoon of planting in the garden.
Bulbs are so simple to plant, require minimal maintenance and when they appear, children will be thrilled with what they have achieved. With a wide selection of bulbs on sale now, it is easy to achieve dazzling colours, scent and shapes from May right up until October.
Top tips:
• Plant summer bulbs after the last frost has gone – usually March
• Pick a sunny day to relax in the garden and plan your planting.
• Dig a hole about twice as deep as the bulb is tall.
• When planting, make sure the bulb is the right way up!
• Replace the soil over the planted bulb, pat down gently and water.
• Mark the spot….it's easy to forget where bulbs have been planted!
Visit your local garden centre or go online to find out about different types of flowers so your child can be involved in what to plant.
BULB FLOWER FLOWERING PERIOD
Anemone May – July
Begonia July – October
Crocosmia July – September
Dahlia July – October
Eucomis July – September
Freesia June – September
Gladiolus August – September
Lily July – August
Oxalis June – September |
Celebrations & Seasons
Seasonal celebrations and special occasions, such as birthdays, Christmas, Halloween, Easter and Pancake Day are great family times. Here's the third in our series - make sure you come back soon to pick up tips for more seasonal occasions.
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Easter!
Chicks in Chocolate Nests
(Makes 10)
Ingredients:
6 pieces of shredded Wheat
50g/2oz desiccated coconut
175g/6oz milk or plain chocolate chips
50g/2oz butter
2tbsp Lyle's Golden Syrup
1 chocolate flake, crumbled
Chicks and small chocolate eggs, to decorate
Instructions:
1. Line two baking sheets with foil.
2. Crush the shredded wheat into a bowl with your fingers and stir in the coconut. Place the chocolate chips, butter and Golden Syrup in a pan and melt over a very gentle heat. Stir into the shredded wheat and coconut until evenly mixed.
3. Spoon six mounds on to each baking sheet, shaping into rounds with a dip in the centre.
4. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours until set, then peel the nests carefully off the foil and fill with chicks and small chocolate eggs.
And sprinkle chocolate flake over chicks nests.
Note:
You can buy ready-made Easter chicks or model your own out of yellow marzipan, adding beaks, crests and eyes from small pieces of white, red and black sugar paste icing. |
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