Butterflies

Home-baked pies, cakes and biscuits play an important part in good family cooking but for the busy mum they are often the most daunting of foods to prepare. It is nice to think that the children will grow up to remember the wonderful goodies that mum used to bake but if your culinary efforts are not always successful, there is a danger that they will grow up with the memory of your awful attempts at baking.

Here is a collection of sensible recipes from a very busy mum. Wendy Craig brough up her own children at the same time as leading an incredibly busy life as an actress, so she is well aware of the problems that cooking for a family can present. The daily meals are time consuming enough but having to make a special birthday treat or trying to turn a plain packed lunch into something tempting is often the last straw. Then there are cakes for weekends, school friends who come to tea and the annual cake for the school's bazaar; simple requests like these can create havoc on a busy day.

The chapters cover pies, pastries and flans; packed school lunches; after school tea; biscuits and cookies; birthday cakes; weekend cakes; seasonal treats; and sweets and cookies children can make. Many of the recipes which are suitable for supper offer instructions for freezing and reheating them in the microwave oven, so that the older children can cope with their own meals occasionally.

Next time you find you have some time to spare for baking, or if you have to make a special treat, then turn to the Busy Mum's Baking Book and you won't have any problems. Your cakes and pastries will be devoured like lightning and they will leave happy memories for many years to come.

First published: Friday 25th October 1985