This Bake-a-Brick silicone cake mould has me chuckling away at my desk; I have a friend with a birthday coming up in three months time and it would make the perfect comedy birthday gift for.  I think kids would love it to - a brick cake, how BONKERS!

• Click HERE to take a look at the Bake-a-Brick silicone cake mould

So my friend - she loves to potter about in the kitchen and bake cakes, cookies and other scrummy things. The thing IS, despite her best intentions and best effort, she's fairly rubbish when it comes to most things culinary.

Seriously, you can see fear flash across people's faces when she announces she'll be cooking when they're going to hers for dinner or offers to make cakes for an event - still, at least she keeps trying to improve and refuses to give up <----- although please let that happen soon hahaha!

Some of her past creations are still the subject of great hilarity and provide an endless source of teasing - I'll be sending this Bake-a-Brick silicone cake mould to her in the post so don't worry,  I'm not in danger of having it hurled at me upon opening!

I think it's awesome and it even has the word 'London' stamped into the inside brick bit (you know the bit I mean - the V that you slop the cement into) for that extra bit of brick authenticity.

The full price for this Bake-a-Brick silicone cake mould is £8.99, but you can pick one up from Play for £3.49 at the moment.

Thanks to Syzable at HUKD

The Gruffalo Baking set is on sale at Play.com for £9.99 instead of £15.95, saving you £5.96 and as usual, offered with free delivery.

• Bake and play with the Gruffalo Baking Set

I really enjoy baking with my two year old, so I’m always tempted to buy when I see really cute baking sets on offer. I’ve only recently actually watched the Gruffalo, and have yet to read the book, but it is such a sweet story, I’ve fallen for it immediately.

This Gruffalo Baking Set consists of a rolling pin, a wooden spoon and two plastic woodland shaped cutters (an acorn, and an oak leaf, I think!), and a recipe card with a recipe for ‘Woodland Cookies’ but my eyes aren’t good enough to make out what those actually are.

There’s also an apron which is apparently easy to wipe clean, and a fab Gruffalo drawstring bag for it all to go in when not in use – although I see the bag being quickly incorporated into other uses myself!

I think this is a lovely set, and would make a really sweet gift or surprise for cooking with kids in the kitchen.

Thanks to wishihadadonkey @ HUKD

No you're not seeing things, I really am posting a deal for this Kids' Christmas baking set in February with 299 days still to go before 25 December!

The thing is, and this is the only defence I have, it's a LOVELY little set and you can pick one up for £5, instead of its usual £25, then stash it away - the trick with doing that, of course, is to remember a) that you have it and b) where you put it.

• Click HERE to take a look at the Kids' Christmas baking set

I've had as close a look as I can to see whether there's anything included in the set that is going to have a pre-December 2012 expiry date,  the only candidates are the two tiny packs of red and white icing and they're not going to be difficult, or break the bank, to replace.

The other bits and pieces included in the Kids' Christmas baking set are:

• A white mixing bowl, decorated with a cartoon snowman face
• A red mixing spoon, decorated with a cartoon reindeer face
• A tree mould
• A candy cane cookie cutter and
• A wipe-clean recipe card

I'm really rather taken with this Kids' Christmas baking set - my youngest son loves baking with his dad so, you know, I might just buy this for them and set a diary alarm on my phone so I don't forget to give it to them in 10 months time!

Thanks to wishihadadonkey at HUKD

This week I have mostly been making Whoopie! Unfortunately that sentence isn't quite as exciting as it sounds. Although it isn't un-exciting either. What I've been doing is making whoopie pies. Specifically Betty Crocker Whoopie Pies (£2.15 from Tesco Direct).

You have been able to buy ready made Whoopie Pies before, or so I'm told. I've never actually heard of them myself. This is a new addition to the Betty Crocker line, with a mix that you make yourself.

The selling point is that it is a fun activity for you to do as a family. Well, both my son and I love cooking, but our baking is done from scratch. It would take a bit to sell me on using cake mix. Here's how I got on.

Click here to read more...

Home Bargains are selling this Salter 'Kids in the Kitchen' baking set for just £4.99 - they claim the rrp is £24.99

• Click HERE to go over to Home Bargains

I say they 'claim' the rrp is £24.99 because there was something about this Salter 'Kids in the Kitchen' baking set that rang a few bells, then it dawned on me - I wrote a review about it last year!

So I scooted off back through the archives - you can read it in full HERE - and discovered that back then the price was £14.99, well I can't imagine it's gone up by £10 since then; either way - whatever the proper retail price is, you're not paying it at Home Bargains.

The Salter Kids in the Kitchen baking set includes the following:

• Large double handed sieve
• 2.5ltr mixing bowl with level markings
• Rolling pin
• 3 cookie cutters

I remember Lynley saying that whilst she was a bit disappointed with the items in the set, and I quote, "As the parent, I was very disappointed with the contents; there seemed to be more air in the box than items, and it didn't contain anything that you probably haven't already got in your kitchen anyway," her son absolutely LOVED everything and was chuffed that he had his own bowl and cooking things.

If you're going to be cooking up a Christmas storm in your kitchen (oooh that reminds me, I must give the Christmas cake more brandy today) and you have youngsters crying out to help, then this Salter 'Kids in the Kitchen' baking set might come in handy.

Happy baking with kids!

I have a love-hate relationship with cakes - I LOVE baking them, I LOVE eating them but HATE that it doesn't take long for my unforgiving clothes to start getting tight.

So a huge sigh of relief (from me at least, I can't speak for the rest of the PlayPennies office) accompanied the various Lakeland Homebakes parcel that we sent to PlayPennies mum, Tanya, to test on our behalf.

Now, I know this might sound a little unkind but we sent the Lakeland Homebakes to Tanya, specifically, because she's no Nigella Lawson; if she can create cupcake magic with Lakeland then anyone can!

This Cooksmart Kids Chef 7 piece set is in the sale at Wilkinson. It has been marked down from £5 to £2. You can order it online, and delivery is free if you can collect instore. Otherwise delivery costs £4.95.

• Click HERE for your Cooksmart Kids Chef set at Wilkinson

In the set you get an apron, rolling pin, wooden spoon and a heart, butterfly and girl shaped pasty cutter. Which comes to six pieces by my counting, so I'm not sure what they've missed out. There is something else in the photo, and I'm not sure what it is. Perhaps it folds into a hat? Still at £2, it is still a great bargain.

I wish they'd one that wasn't pink for my son. He absolutely loves cooking, and baking. His favourite activity on a weekend is to make a cake. Although he tends to eat a lot more of the mix than goes in the baking tin sometimes. And he does get carried away wanting to throw all the ingredients in at once.

He does love using the hand mixer though. And our kitchen always looks like a bomb has hit it afterwards, which is really a part of the fun. It is easy enough to clean up.

According to the website, the chef set is suitable for ages 3-7 years.

There's lots of reasons to make the birthday cake yourself. For one thing, you know what's in there. And you can make it to the size you need. If you want a cake that's different to the kind you find in supermarkets, and you don't want to pay through the nose for a cake from a bakery, then making it yourself is the only way to go.

It's also a good option if you're on a really tight budget. There doesn't need to be anything fancy about a cake really. The birthday boy or girl just wants the joy of being the one to blow out the candles, and the children at the party just want a slice of cake they to eat. So if you like baking, why not do it yourself?

Here's some great ideas to help you along the way. And please do let us know what you do yourself. What great cake ideas have you come  up with in your parenting experience?

Coolest cake ideas

For ideas you can't do much better than this website run by two sisters, Coolest Birthday Cakes. The site has a fabulous tagline, describing itself as "thousands of homemade birthday cakes even amateurs can make."

The premise is a simple one. People submit photos of the cakes they've made, and the two sisters vet the submissions. The photos that are accepted are put up on the site. Along with the photo, there's also a description of the cake and its creation from the person who made it. To help you if you want to recreate any of the cakes you see here.

Annabel Karmel ideas

Did you buy into Annabel Karmel's cookery books for tots too? I did. I have to say that for a certain type of parent, ie me, who needs to know how to make mashed potato her cookery books an absolute lifesaver.

Personally, I think most of the recipes she has in there are absolutely revolting for adults let alone trying to get toddlers to eat them. But that said, there are a couple of recipes of hers that are now firm favourites in our house. And I've wowed many a person who's stopped by for dinner with the butternut squash risotto (mmmm buttery!).

These two Annabel Karmel birthday cake recipes are available online thanks to the archives of The Sun newspaper, of all places.

The first one is the No Bake Cake, pictured above. A cake you don't have to bake sounds like a favourite to me although this one looks like it might take a bit of time to put together! The other cake, the Princess and the Pea Cake, is a beautiful looking yet devilishly simple creation. I think even I could have a go at that.

Nigella Lawson's easy option

That famous domestic goddess and cook, Nigella Lawson, also has a super easy cake for hassled mums and dads to make. Nigella Lawson's easy birthday buttermilk cake is featured on The Guardian's website. Where, and this is the bit I really like, journalist Justine Pattison has a short video clip showing you how to make it.

It is part of the websites Cooking with Kids section. Making this cake could be a fun project to do with the kids. Perhaps a great idea for getting them to make the birthday cake for mum or dad.

Angry Birds cake

How's that for a simple but cool idea? If you haven't heard of Angry Birds then you need to have a chat with your offspring. My five year old doesn't have any sort of games console in the house, yet he talks about them all the time and draws pictures of them. These strange little creatures are the product of game called, as you might have guessed, Angry Birds.

If like me though you're not exactly artistic and have never attempted to do anything at all with icing except scrape it on a cake with a knife, then something like this might go horribly wrong.

If that happens don't let it get you down. It even happens to the professionals. So much so there is in fact a website dedicated solely to their mistakes. Cake Wrecks for "when professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong".

Number Five

Or indeed number 6 or number 8. You could adapt this idea from the blog of Elsie van Rooyen to a variety of different numbers. It is fiendishly simple though. She took a ring cake and a couple of loaf cakes, and fashioned them into the shape of the number. |She's then used icing and shapes like liquorice straps to create a road and car theme. A very sweet cake and perfect for a five year old's birthday.

And now for something completely different!

On my travels around the internet I found this idea for a cake, which is totally off the wall. And yet I find myself thinking, I want one of these! Possible this is better as a Halloween cake than a birthday cake, and definitely not one for the kids unless they're teenagers. In which case, the boys will probably find this the height of cool.

It is, wait for it, the Killer Rats Cake. And I'm not putting the picture up here. You'll have to go to the website for a look. Go on, you know you can't resist...

I remember drowning in well intentioned advice when I announced my pregnancy. And yet with all that information thrown at me, there were as it turns out several crucial items that no-one ever told me I'd need to have in my cupboard, or that I should do, or that would come in handy.

Mostly you find this happens as your darling child reaches nursery school age, and upwards. Maybe it is because by then the advice has tailed off. Or maybe it is because you've got more sure of yourself, and assertive, and the various elderly distant relatives, complete strangers at the clinic, and bossy motherly types at the playgroups move on to easier-to-manipulate prey. Or that could just be me being a tad cynical.

So what sort of things should we have been told? Here's what I (and other PlayPennies parents) learnt the hard way!

1. Buy Cases For Cupcakes

This is really the top of my list. It is crucial. Your life will be so much easier if you just start stocking up on cases for cupcakes now, even if you're just at the 12 week mark! OK I'm exaggerating, a little. As your child starts playgroups, nursery school, primary school there will be summer fairs, cake sales, birthday parties - more than you really want to know about right now!

Cupcakes are a hit with all kids, take about 15 mins to throw together, and are impossible to get wrong. And they don't need any special ingredients - you're likely to have all the stuff you need in the cupboard already. Which is good because you'll probably only remember you need them about hour before you have to leave.

That reminds me. Next time you're in the baking aisle pick up some vanilla essence. Just throw it in the cupboard. One day you will need it.

How easy are cupcakes? Try this. Get 125g of butter, half a cup of sugar (use a teacup to measure) and a teaspoon of vanilla in a bowl. Stick your hands in and mash it all together until it is throughly mixed and going a bit fluffy.

Mix in two eggs, one at a time. Get one cup of plain flour and a teaspoon of baking powder, or a cup of self raising flour, and just tip it in. Don't fret about sifting if you haven't got a sieve. Mix it all together then mix in a quarter cup of milk.

Spoon a teaspoon into each case - this will fill the case up about half way when cooked, leaving space for you to put on the icing below the edge of the case, making it easier to stack the cakes in an ice-cream container for taking to the school cake sale.

2. Make Icing

If you've never done this, it can seem a big daunting! But, icing is way easier than you think. Your corner shop may even have icing sugar - it is easy stuff to get hold of. Take two cups of icing sugar (I don't bother to sift it if I am in an rush, the kids don't really care) and rub in a teaspoon of butter with your fingers. Add in a quarter teaspoon of vanilla (see tip above), then a little bit of cold water at a time. Start with two dessert spoons of cold water. Mix it up for a bit - it will get more icing like as the sugar reacts with the water. If it is too stiff to put on the cakes easily then just add a few dribbles of water at a time. You don't really need too much.

Then top with sprinkles. That's all the kids really care about! Pink icing is always a winner, even for boys. Some cochineal food colouring in the cupboard will come in handy - you only need a couple  of drops honestly, so a tiny bottle will last you until the kids have gone to university.

3. Stock Up On Glue

Both for yourself and for the kids. Buy fabric glue - it is a quick fix that will save your life one day. Get some superglue and model glue - for that precious toy that breaks.

And, most crucial of all, glue for crafts. You've got no idea that you'll need this until one day the whole craft thing kicks in big time. And not just one type of glue either. You will need to have at least one Pritt Stick, a big container of PVA glue, and if the budget will stretch to it, invest in a can of Spray Mount. Mum Sadie swears by this stuff "not for the kids to use but for you to make those quick last minute costumes/school projects/picture frames."

4. Bulk Buy Batteries

Experienced mum Patricia says the one essential is "AA batteries. Hundred of them". I remember when my two stepkids reached those golden ages of 6 to 12, when ALL their toys needed batteries (and until you have had kids you've got no idea how wide a variety of batteries there are) we finally gave in and invested in the biggest rechargable battery sets we could find.

Of course there are toys that will thwart you because for various technical reasons they can't use rechargable types of batteries. And it will do your head in trying to keep a track of the rechargeable ones, make sure they're put back in their slots when not needed (and not down the back of the sofa), and are kept topped up. And eventually, one day, you'll find that the set you bought six months ago is now half empty and yet you don't seem to have a battery in the house. But other than that, they are a good investment.

5. Get At Least One Torch

In the free and easy life you had as a couple or singleton before the happy bundle arrived, you had probably forgotten that torches even existed. They were relegated to some dusty recess of your mind along with Scout/Guide camps, and sleepovers.

Buy one now. Or two. Mum to two Ellie says "get at least one torch that can be operated by a child, and comes with a certificate (hey they don't know you made it) to show that monsters find it scary."

As a parent you will need a torch for finding things in recesses like the back of the sofa, and in that gap under the skirting board that you'd never actually noticed was there before. There are a lot of gaps in your house. You may not know it yet, but as your kids get older you will find every single one of them.

What did we miss?

Well that's just a quick poll of a few of us at PlayPennies. But what about you? Got any advice for us?

Promotional packets of Green's cake mixes are currently offering FREE kids tickets to top family attractions across the country, including LEGOLAND, Chessington World of Adventures and Warwick Castle. You can save up to £28 per child on great family days out.

• Click here to take a closer look at Green's

From April to September 2010, pick up a pack of selected Green’s cake mixes from just £1.49 giving free child entry (*with a full paying adult) to LEGOLAND Windsor, the new LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Manchester, Chessington World of Adventures, Warwick Castle or your nearest Sea Life Centre.

For your voucher just pick up a pack of fun kids baking mixes such as Tom and Jerry, Dora the Explorer, Thomas the Tank Engine and Dennis the Menace. Plus, for the adults Green’s have also included some of their family favourites in the offer so you can indulge in the Velvety Cheesecake, Lemon Meringue Crunch or Butterfly Tops to satisfy your sweet tooth and your wallet! From just £1.49 each packet will include a free child coupon saving you up to £28 per child on favourite family attractions.

Head to Morrisons, Co-op, Asda, Somerfield, Tesco, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s while stocks last and let the baking bonanza begin!

And if that’s not enough, all Green’s kids cake mixes come with an action-packed activity sheet to entertain and collect, plus jam decorating tubes to really add the icing on the cake.

For more Baking News log onto www.greenscakes.co.uk and join Green’s free cake club today. The website is jam-packed with games to entertain and educate the little ones, top tips on party planning and all the latest deals!

If you have a set of scales in your kitchen or bathroom, chances are they're made by Salter; the UK brand leader in scales, and a leading retailer of all things kitchen-y.

Now I don't know about you but I tend to get pretty attached to my kitchen gadgets, to the point that I currently use an old broken Salter kitchen scale that my toddler accidentally broke in a baking-related tantrum. I just can't bring myself to part with it because despite the breakage and the complications involved in using it as a result, I know that it works, is accurate, and helps me turn out perfect pineapple upside down cake on a regular basis.

So I'm going to admit that when I was asked to try out a new kitchen scale, I was dubious, and all the more so when I realised the scale I was being sent was an electronic one, given that my old-fashioned scale works perfectly well. I saw no reason to switch to electronic scales.

The new Salter Electronic Jug Scale (£20) doesn't look  as good as my current set of kitchenscales and switching from  mechanical scales to electronic ones does take a bit of adjusting to. I admit that it's infinitely easier to use the electronic scales but at first I missed the good old-fashioned chaos of spooning tiny amount of flour into the bowl and then having to spoon them out again in a bid to get the measurement exactly right.

But after using the electronic scale a couple of times, I was a convert. The hug bowl feels ever so slightly on the cheap side - I would have preferred the look and feel of a silver bowl or at least something a bit more luxurious than white plastic. But it does have a cleverly designed pouring lip  which makes it brilliantly easy to pour cake make straight into tins, making the whole baking experience easier and much less easy. My children could pour our cupcake mix straight into tiny paper cases  by themselves which they loved - they get frustrated when trying to do it with a bowl and teaspoon and it invariably ends up everywhere but in the tin.

My favourite feature about the scale is the Add and Weigh™ function make which allows you to reset the scale to 0 every time you've weighed out an item, so you can effectively weigh out all your baking ingredients into one bowl. And its 5kg Aquatronic™ facility means that you can change the digital display to weigh both wet and dry ingredients. So whereas my mechanical scale would require me to weight each ingredient separately, and then store each one in a different bowl to allow me to use the scale again, I can weigh absolutely everything at the same time with the Electronic Jug Scale, and when I'm finished I can pour the ingredients directly into my baking tin. That's impressive and has radically changed how easy it is to bake, especially with children in tow. The only drawback is that the bowl could perhaps be larger. Depending on what you're baking, you might find it isn't big enough to mix all the ingredients in properly but even so, switching to a mixing bowl isn't a big deal considering all the washing up you save by not having to weigh the ingredients out separately.

Our other trusty reviewer, Salima,  test-drove a Salter Mix ‘n’ Measure Baking Electronic Scale (£44.99) with a spacious 10 litre mixing bowl. Designed to make kitchen time clutter free, the Aquatronic™ scales also boast the Add and Weigh™ facility and comes with a 15 year guarantee.

Here's what she had to say:

"The RRP for this scale is just under £45 but a quick google and you can find it for £30. I'm a keen baker so the scale got some good use over the Easter break. Salter have added some fantastic features to this product that really do make a cook's life easier. You can measure both solids and liquids (ml/fl oz) on the scale, so no more measuring jugs to wash up! On top of that you can measure one ingredient then reset the weight to zero and measure another ingredient directly into the same bowl. Pancake making is now a complete breeze - one bowl and none of the head bobbing that's required to keep checking the weight on mechanical scales. On the basis of these features alone, I love this product! When you bake as much as I do, they really do make life SO much easier."

However Salima was less than impressed with the design of the Mix 'n' Measure Electronic Scale;

"The scale comes with a metal bowl that's very wide on top and then quite narrow at the bottom. This makes it awkward to combine ingredients properly and very awkward to use an electric whisk in it. The scale's surface is shaped to fit the bowl exactly, which means it's got a small, round, dip to accommodate the small base of the bowl. That doesn't allow for the variety of bowls that i have in my kitchen. Yes i can make them fit but then i'm back to head-bobbing as i check that the bowl isn't wobbling on the base."

For that reason, Salima doesn't recommend purchasing this particular scale but offers this advice:

"My advice to anyone considering this scale is, steer clear, and do instead what I plan to: have a look at the many other Salter scales on offer and find yourself one with all these great features minus the bowl-shaped dip."

This looks like a better option for Salima.

I would happily recommend the Electronic Jug Scale and predict that I'm going to become quite attached to it. I might even get round to getting rid of the broken one I've used for years!

For more information on Salter’s entire range of kitchen products see www.salterhousewares.com or contact Salter on +44 1732 360 783.