Great recipes for children

Great recipes for little ones should be flavourful, fun to prepare, enjoyable to eat, and help make family mealtimes a happy occasion for everyone. Fortunately, each of Red Carnation Hotels’ properties is committed to ensuring that guests of all ages have the best possible experience, and this includes the thoughtfully designed children’s menus at each hotel. From the very regal Prince and Princess Afternoon Tea at The Rubens at the Palace to kids menus that offer child-friendly versions of some of Red Carnation’s classic dishes, young visitors will certainly be well fed during their stay. Here, we share three great recipes for children from a selection of our hotels that will go down just as well at home.

The Rubens’ Jammy Dodger Biscuit

A much-loved part of the Rubens’ Prince and Princess Royal Afternoon Tea, these biscuits – known as The Queen’s ‘Jammy Dodger’ Biscuit at the hotel – are a delicious treat that can be made at home. Perfect to make with little helpers, these childhood favourites require only a handful of ingredients and are seriously tasty.

Ingredients:

Makes 30 biscuits

• 500kg butter, soft
• 150g icing sugar
• 550g plain flour
• Pinch of salt

Method:

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add the rest of ingredients 1/3 at a time until combined.
3. Roll out the pastry to 3mm thick, using fondant spacers where possible to help with this.
4. Cut out circles 5cm diameter, and then punch a hole into half of the biscuits with a 2.3cm diameter ring for the jam centre.
5. Bake at 160c for 10-15 minutes, fan on 3. Dust with icing sugar on the “doughnut” biscuit, and place on top of the other biscuit. Fill the centre with strawberry jam.

The Lodge at Ashford Castle’s 3-Goats Spring Roll

Fun to assemble, these goats cheese, walnut and spinach spring rolls are a great recipe for kids because they’re packed with good ingredients, but children are unlikely to notice thanks to their crispy texture and moreish dipping sauce accompaniment.

Ingredients:

Makes 30 portions

• 1 large onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1kg spinach
• 200g walnuts
• 50g coriander
• 800g goats cheese (soft)
• 30 sheets spring roll pastry

For the dip:

• 300g plums
• 100g brown sugar
• 1 red onion
• 1 red chilli
• 50g fresh ginger

Method:

1. Sweat the onions and garlic together in a large pot.
2. Add all the spinach and cook down until wilted. In the meantime, de-stone the plums and start sweating the red onion in a separate pan.
3. Add all the plums, sugar and spices and cook gently for an hour. Blend the dip and leave to cool before serving.
4. Once all the spinach is cooked strain as much of the excess liquid from it as possible.
5. In a blender chop the walnuts into small pieces.
6. Combine the chopped coriander, walnuts, spinach and goats cheese together (the mix should not be too wet) and keep in the fridge until needed.
7. Take a sheet of spring roll pastry place it in front of you like a diamond rather than square.
8. Place a jumbo sausage shaped piece of the mix about 2/3 down the sheet, closest to you. Close both wings of the diamond to form the length of your spring roll, then bring the bottom point over to close the base of the spring roll. It should be tight and have the shape of a roll.
9. From there, roll the spring roll tight to the end and close the point with egg wash. You can cook it in a fryer or freeze them for later (you can cook them from frozen or defrosted).

Ashford Estate's Wood Sorrel Slush Puppy

A fun and educational activity for all the family to enjoy whilst staying on the Ashford Estate, foraging is also a source of inspiration and ingredients for Jonathan Keane, Head Chef at The Lodge at Ashford Castle. This great recipe for kids uses wood sorrel, easily found on the estate and widely available in woodlands and hedgerows throughout the UK. Its flavour is most similar to a sour green apple, so it works well in sweet dishes such as this.

Ingredients:

Makes 8

• 1-litre water
• 200g honey
• 500g wood sorrel
• Icing sugar

Method:

1. Boil the water and honey together in order to make a syrup.
2. Let the mixture cool completely in the fridge.
3. Add the sorrel and blitz finely in a food processor before freezing in a large bowl.
4. Every two hours, remove from the freezer and break the ice mixture with a fork, creating a slush puppy effect.
5. Repeat this every four hours four times, until completely loose and slushy.
6. Serve in a glass or a bowl with a straw. Garnish with wood sorrel leaves and icing sugar.

Younger guests will be treated to delicious and enticing children’s menus at all of Red Carnation Hotels’ properties.