The magic of this activity – making your own cupcakes – is the joy of freedom of choice for your crew. You’re in a supportive role: the chauffeur, tour guide, wallet, and sous chef. (And odds are you’ll likely make for the majority share of the janitorial crew.) All you need here is a convenient grocery store, an available kitchen and a few bucks.
Upon entering the grocery store, your task is to escort the crew of chefs to the aisle of baking mixes. At an oddly convenient, kid-level height there will be a shelf with boxed delights: Funfetti. Angels. Devils. Fudged. Chocolate in triplicate. And who should occupy the space next door but tubs of frosted goodness: Funfetti’s frosted counterpart. Chocolate in every shade. “Fruited” varieties. Your role is to endorse the selections…however odd they may appear. You provide the funds and step back while the transaction is made.
Once back in your kitchen, you’ll guide the process, but the mixing, pouring and frosting sampling aren’t yours to dominate. (Perhaps you ought to crack the required egg or two…or perhaps you should just grab some cleaning supplies and let ‘em at it.) The one aspect you will handle is the baking, but once that’s done, you’re out. The final, perhaps most important, preparation task awaits: the slathering of frosting. Your chefs are back on-point to close out the activity with a most liberal application.
dadcraft Pro-Tip: Give in to the checkout line candy impulse buy. Does a heavily frosted, overly sweetened boxed cupcake mix need additional treats? Certainly not. Would you blow minds by allowing a candied garnish for the frosting? Undoubtedly.
###
The kitchen need not be your favorite room in the house in order for it to be a place of fun and dadcraft. Witness pizza-making, pancake artistry, on-the-stove popcorn, foraging in general.
Picture by Sheelah Brennan; Used via Unsplash license.