Review: My Little Sous Chef, £22

Review written by Toddle About VIP Club member, Katie Pavey. When I first received these cook books I had the initial flick through and was really impressed at the layout and format.  I think they are very engaging and I know my 5 year old daughter was really excited to start cooking. The adult and children's book are clever with the corresponding page numbers and I think the ‘little sous chef’ is very apt title and Daisy has enjoyed calling herself that. The books aren’t for the novice cook/baker which isn’t a problem for me but I was initially struck however with a bit of disappointment over the choice of recipes.  This is in fairness, possibly a more personal opinion but I don’t think I’m alone with a child who, left to their own devices, would choose either Pizza, sausages or something beige 3 times a day and I felt the recipes in this were perhaps a little random and I can’t say there is any main dish I would make for dinner apart from the home-made burgers.  The recipes are more angled towards vegetarians/vegans with very few meat dishes.

There are 30 dishes in total and I would say maybe only 5 took her interest and 1 of those is fruit skewers, which is a selection of 5 fruits on a stick that she eats daily minus the stick anyway.  We did make the sausage rolls and I will say they are delicious, so delicious in fact I’ve made them again since.  We also made the biscuits which again are delicious but being a bit of a keen baker I found the recipe an unusual one for a children’s cook book, as it wants you to chill the dough for a few hours before baking, which results in a lot of ‘when can we eat them’ questions. Apart from the recipe choices, my only comment would be the font used in the children's book is not great for an early reader, the font in the adult book was easier for her to read but there is obviously pictures in the kids book so this is a minor thing. Overall I think they are a fun idea, and I’m pleased that we enjoyed being in the kitchen together but I’m not sure I would pay the RRP for them, unless perhaps they teamed up with Ellas Kitchen, that could make for an excellent match! Purchase from My Little Sous Chef