Cookery Doodle Doo organise children’s cookery and baking classes and parties across the UK, and we are lucky enough to have one of the franchisees here in Cheltenham. We are now on our 2nd term, and we LOVE them!

We started the classes because my little girl, Isla, loves to cook, but when we are at home I felt I was always trying to get her to cook the way I wanted to, was worried that she would put too many ingredients in and was reluctant to let her crack an egg, use a knife etc. However, with Fiona running the class I quickly learned to relax and just let Isla go with it, and every week she creates something great.

One of the things I love about the class is that the recipes are really varied. They don’t just cook/bake sweet treats; there are healthy savoury dishes too. Some of our favourites have been homemade bread with the yummiest humus I have ever tasted and one super scrummy apple and raisin crumble.

Fiona makes the classes really informative and at each stage whilst cooking she will get them to guess the ingredients, where it comes from, does it grow/is it made and it also allows them to taste a great range of foods.

Whilst the food is cooking, the children get to eat a snack provided by Fiona, this will usually include a food that they have used, for example if they have used a food from the corn family, she may get them to try sweetcorn or tortillas. Or if they use apples in a recipe, Fiona will provide different types of apples and get them to think about which one is the sweetest, or which one is sour or talk about the colours.

Isla loves food and will always try everything we put in front of her but these classes have opened up even more choices for her, some of which we wouldn’t have thought to give her – coconut, goats milk, celery.

After snack time there will always be a crafty activity, again this will usually be something that is closely linked to the food they are making. This week they made a spiced apple crumble so they decorated pictures of apple trees using tissue paper. After crafts Fiona will read them a story, and then its time to try their makes.

You can book on to one off classes or termly, these take place on a Monday and Thursday. There is also a weekend pudding club, which is available to ages 4 and over.

Of all the classes we attend, I can say with certainty that this is the best value for money. We can be there for anywhere up to an hour and a half, get to cook/bake, eat a snack, make a craft and have a story, all for £8.50! (Slightly reduced if booking on for a term)

The classes are run from Fiona’s beautiful home and are relaxed and really enjoyable. Parents can be as involved as they want to be, but I find that the children love the independence of been able to cook freely, and as all the equipment is child size it really makes it easy for them to manage. And what’s more you get to leave the mess behind!

For more information visit Cookery Doodle Do Cheltenham

Happy Baking!

Frankie x