Baker’s Dozen
Self-Raising flour was patented in 1845. It is interesting to explore how flour is made and of course to do some baking.
A dozen is another way of saying 12. Dozen comes from the Latin word for 12, Duodocim. A baker’s dozen is 13. This is believed to date back to a mediaeval law which stated how heavy a loaf of bread should be and there was serious punishment for any baker who sold underweight bread, so bakers threw a 13th loaf into a dozen, just to be on the safe side.
Activity 1 – Making Flour
You will need:-
- some whole grains of wheat, corn or barley (a pet shop, corn merchant, or someone who keeps chickens or ducks should have some)
- a chopping board
- a rolling pin
Spread some grains on the chopping board and grind and crush them with a rolling pin or large stone to make flour. Children will need careful supervision.
You can discuss how the grains are actually seeds which will grow into corn if planted in soil. The corn is grown for its seeds to make into flour. You may have seen corn growing in farmers’ fields. Corn can be ground manually with a large stone or in larger quantities in a windmill, which has very large stones which turn and rub against each other when the wind moves the windmill’s sails. Flour is ground in modern electrically powered mills now, although there are still some windmills in operation.
Activity 2 – Model Windmill
You will need:-
- Cardboard tubes
- 2 strips of card for the sails, 24cm x 7cm each
- a split pin paper fastener or a drawing pin and blue tack
- Felt tip pens or crayons to decorate
If you’re using toilet roll inners, make a small cut at one end and push the cut end inside the other roll.
If you’re using a kitchen roll inner, this should be long enough, but your windmill can be any size you wish. Draw doors and windows on the roll and decorate to taste. Cut out the sails from the two long strips either by copying the measurements from the diagram below or by clicking on the ‘Windmill sails template’ to download and print. Decorate the sails too.
Fasten the sails to near the top of the windmill using a paper fastener or a drawing pin with blue tack over the sharp point inside the tube.
Is there a windmill near to where you live that you could have a look at? It is difficult for children to imagine how very large a windmill is until they see one in real life.
Activity 3 – Playdough Shapes
You will need:-
- 1 cup of salt
- 1.5 cups of flour
- Water to mix
You can use a different measure to a cup, as long as there is 1.5 measures of flour to 1 measure of salt. You can use a small glass or a yogurt pot etc. to make smaller quantities.
Put the salt and flour into a large bowl. Add water gradually to make a firm dough. Roll out the mixture and cut into shapes or use to make models. These can then be dried in a low temperature oven for about 1-2 hours. They can then be painted or varnished once they are cool.
Activity 4 – Paper Windmills
Windmills on a stick can be used for fun on windy days and as bird scarers to protect crops.
You will need:-
- Squares of thin card or thick paper
- Beads
- Wire or pins
- Sticks or dowelling
- A windy day!
Decorate the square of paper or card. Mark and cut out four lines from the corners of the card or paper almost to the middle, ensuring that the cuts don’t meet. Bring alternate corners to the centre. Using a wire or a pin, pierce through the four corners and the centre of the card and secure to the stick. A bead can be placed between the back of the card and the stick to allow better movement.
Take the windmills outside on a windy day or run about with them.
Activity 5 – Baking Cakes or Biscuits
Use some flour and do some baking, using a favourite recipe or one of the recipes below.
Decorated Cupcakes
You will need:-
- 100g Margarine, Spread or Butter
- 100g Sugar
- 100g Self Raising Flour
- 2 eggs
Preheat the oven to 180 deg C, Gas 5
Mix the ingredients together with a spoon or an electric mixer. You can add cocoa powder, chocolate chips, dried fruit or cherries if you like.
Spoon the ingredients equally into a greased cupcake/patty tins or into paper cases in a cupcake/patty tin and bake for 20 minutes.
If you want to decorate the cupcakes, you can use buttercream or glace icing once they’ve cooled. Alternatively, while they’re still hot, rub a piece of chocolate from a chocolate bar over the top of the cakes. The heat from the cakes will melt the chocolate. If you like, you can then sprinkle decorations into the melted chocolate before it sets.
Buttercream
- 350g Icing Sugar
- 175g Margarine, Spread or Butter
- 2-3 tablespoons Milk
Mix half the icing sugar, the butter and 2 tablespoons milk well together, then add the rest of the icing sugar and more milk if necessary. Spread on top of the cooled cupcakes. Add chocolate buttons or other decorations.
Glace Icing
- 125g Icing Sugar
- 15ml Warm Water
- A tiny drop of food colouring (optional)
Mix well together. If it’s too thick, add a little more water, if too thin, add a little more icing sugar. Spread or drizzle on top of the cooled cupcakes. This amount should be sufficient for about 10 cupcakes. If using sprinkles, put these on while the icing is still wet.
Decorated Biscuits
You will need:-
- 100g Margarine, spread or butter
- 100g Sugar
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 275g Plain Flour
Preheat Oven to 190 deg C, Gas 5. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
Mix the butter and sugar together in a bowl until combines. Add the egg, a little at a time and then add the flour. Combine the mixture to get a dough. This may be done with the hands.
Roll the dough out on a floured surface until it is 1cm/ half inch thick. Cut into shapes using biscuit cutters or an upturned glass or cup and place carefully onto the baking tray.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool for 2 minutes before transferring onto a wire cooling rack.
Once cool, decorate with glace icing made using the recipe above.