Children's Party Food: Vegetable Train

Pig Train Driver and Vegetable Train

For Bridget's recent second birthday party, I was entertaining a number of toddlers and wanted to prepare some food that was fun as well as healthy and this veggie train ticked the boxes. Having scoured Pinterest for ideas, I saw trains made out of hollowed cucumbers but thought peppers would hold more and be easier for my clumsy hands.

With a little preparation, some fiddling and a fair few cocktail sticks - we had this lovely train that had a few of the kids running back into the dining room to take another look and yelling 'choo choo', I have a feeling it'll be making a regular appearance at children's parties from now on.

As it was a Peppa Pig theme party too, I even managed to secure an M&S Percy Pig on the front to look like the driver - such a fun idea and easy to replicate at home.

Vegetable Train

Here's how:

• 1 large cucumber
• 4 different coloured peppers
• 1 carrot
• 2 celery sticks
• 1 Percy Pig (optional)
• Handful cocktail sticks to assemble
• 1 wooden or plastic board or platter

Firstly prepare the cucumber - you need three sections of this as so, some sticks to place in one of the pepper 'carriages', ten sliced rounds or circles to act as wheels (you could of course use half a cherry tomato each or some sliced radishes) and then the front of your train which is a little more fiddly.

You need about 6-7cm length of cucumber including the pointy end, leave 2 cm untouched and neatly slice halfway across, long-ways off and set aside the leftover piece which will act as the train 'roof'. Now you need a further length of cucumber of about 3-4cm to act as the train drivers section - it should be a little square, and you can cut small little square 'windows in the sides if you so wish. Now use a cocktail stick first to pierce the corner of the roof, then into the corner of the train drivers bit and finally all the way through to the base, to secure. Do the same the other side. Now place a round of cucumber - or a wheel at the front on either side of the front of the train and again use 1 cocktail stick to secure - use scissors to trim down if it's too long. Set aside. If you are using a Percy Pig sweet as a 'driver' also secure him with the end of a cocktail stick.

Now you need to lay each pepper on it's side, and cut out a rectangular section, that you will then slice as the vegetable fingers or crudités and set aside. Now using the knife, cut out all the seeds inside each pepper to make a hollow 'carriage'. Trim a couple of cocktail sticks into thirds, and use to secure a cucumber round 'wheel' onto either side of each pepper carriage.

Now place the front of the train and the pepper carriages onto the board in the order you wish them to appear.

Cut the two celery sticks into equal (ish) sized pieces and lay them as 'tracks' either side of the train.

Now fill the pepper carriages with the leftover pepper cut into slices, some carrot and cucumber batons and your train is ready to go.

Serve alongside dips such as hummous, tzatziki, guacamole, tarama and salsa. Enjoy!

Some more children’s party food ideas can be found below:

Caterpillar Sandwiches

Smoked Salmon Blinis

Spiced Chicken Goujons

And for real piggy inspiration try these Peppa Pig Rice Paper Topped Cupcakes or Pig Face Cupcakes.

Children's Party Food: Peppa Pig Rice Paper Cupcakes

Bridget was two a couple of weeks ago and so we threw a little party to celebrate. Her current phase is Peppa Pig and has been since Christmas time so naturally we tried to incorporate this into the party food and these cupcakes worked well and went down well with both the children and the adults. Who doesn't love a cupcake?

These are an incredibly simple recipe that is great for parties or just baking with your children. The basis for the cupcakes is the 'all in' method from baking legend Mary Berry and the topping is a simple buttercream, some 100's and 1000's and in our case, some Peppa Pig rice paper cake toppers - but if for a party and your little one has a preference you can source all number of rice paper toppers online - Amazon and Ebay have an amazing selection!

You could omit from the 100's and 100's and just use rice paper toppers but I liked the way it made them all the more colourful and fun for a party - and as an occasional treat at birthdays, I don't think there's anything wrong with allowing your child a sugary treat.

Peppa Pig Rice Paper Cupcakes

Here's how:

• 1-2 batch Mary Berry's basic cupcake recipe (Use the all-in-one method to combine: 175g each: slightly softened butter, self-raising flour, caster sugar, 3 large eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract, ½ tsp baking powder)
• For the icing:
• 150g slightly softened butter
• 280g Icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1 tub sugar strands
• 1 pack rice paper cake toppers – Peppa Pig if you so wish

Once you've prepared the cupcakes and allowed to cool sufficiently, place the butter and icing sugar with the vanilla in a small bowl. Use a wooden spoon to mix well until thoroughly combined.

If the mixture is a little stiff, add a tiny drop of milk to loosen a little then mix again.

Now using a knife or the back of a spoon scoop up a little buttercream for each cupcake and spread over the top to cover well.

Once all are coated, scatter over the sugar strands and use the back of a clean spoon or a clean finger to just very gently pat them in, to ensure they don't roll off in transit. This doesn't sound it, but can be a tricky step - you may have to scoop up bits that fall onto the plate with your hands and re-scatter until you're happy they are evenly distributed and nice and colourful.

Finally - remove each cake topper from the outside shell and simply place into the centre of each cake and gently tap down with your finger.

Voila - the Peppa Pig Rice Paper Cakes are done - these will keep well in a sealed container for a couple of days, so are great to make in advance and save time on the day of any parties when you are likely to be rushing around like a maniac trying to get everything done. Enjoy!

Peppa Pig Cupcakes

Children's Party Food: Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Blinis

Catering for children's parties often means the parents too, and this always begs the question of whether to just cater for the children, or to throw a few other bites onto the buffet table that might satisfy a more sophisticated, older palate. 

These smoked salmon blinis always go down well and are so quick and simple to do they're an absolute no-brainer. You can of course garnish with a little dill too, but I struggled to get hold of any for Bridget's second birthday party recently. Bridget loves them too - so they're a good all-rounder for both young and old party guests.

Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese Blinis

Here's how:

• Pack of blinis
• 1 tub cream cheese
• 300g smoked salmon
• 1 lemon
• Black pepper to season

Firstly place the blinis onto a the grill rack and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes on either side, remove and leave somewhere to fully cool.

Spread each blini with a teaspoon full of cream cheese.

Put on top of each blini a generous amount of smoked salmon in a pretty looking mound.

Squeeze over the fresh lemon and add a pinch of black pepper to each. Enjoy!

Children's Party Food: Caterpillar Sandwiches

Children love food that is fun and I have made this Caterpillar of sandwiches for Bridget's 1st and 2nd birthday - this year we had a few children and they loved this and the Vegetable Train. As well as birthdays, it's such a young-person crowd pleaser, it's worth making for playdates too or even a family lunch - it makes it much more fun that a boring sandwich.

Caterpillar sandwich

The great thing with this is it is incredibly easy to do and it yields the best results if you use simply spreadable fillings that children love. Think peanut butter, jam (St Dalfour is great as it is all natural), cream cheese or other spreadable cheese like Dairylea. You can do sliced meats too easily – ham, chicken, turkey, beef or even chorizo, all go down well. And you can vary between white, brown and granary bread too – as I did with this one last year.

Caterpillar Sandwiches

By the time I made this for Bridget's birthday a couple of weeks back we were twenty minutes before guests were arriving so this one is a bit 'slap-dash' - but you get the gist - rounds of sandwiches, made with a decent cookie cutter, feet made with cubes of cucumber, a nose made by a halved cherry tomato, eyes were frozen peas simply pressed in with a tiny bit of butter, and two sprigs of chives as antennae. Enjoy!

Royal Wedding Tea Party

Royal wedding fever gripped the nation throughout April and it was decided early on that to honour the nuptials of William and Kate we would host an intimate oh-so-English tea party.

The women in my family and a couple of my close friends came together to celebrate the most exciting British event to have occurred in, at least, my lifetime.

So on the 29th April 2011 after a rather decadent breakfast of smoked salmon and strawberries and Bucks Fizz, my mum Vicky, Nanny Pat, aunty Karen and my two very good friends Larni and Stephanie and I sat in glorious anticipation of the wedding, the outfits the women would be wearing and especially the dress that Kate would be wearing. We weren't disappointed in any way, and oohed and ahhed with what seemed like the rest of the nation as William turned to Kate at the altar and said 'You're Beautiful'. There wasn't many a dry eye in my house, aside from the cold-hearted, cynical ones (no names).

After the ceremony we found we were quite hungry and so the tea party began. We naturally had the quintessential selection of dainty finger sandwiches fit for royalty as well as an array of British savoury food stuffs courtesy of my mum, Vicky. With a mass of very British sandwich fillings including beef and horseradish, ham and mustard, cucumber and cream cheese and my mum's speciality poached salmon, watercress and mayonaise - which was the undisputed flavour of the day and all the other titbits we weren't about to go hungry.

Whilst my mum sorted the savoury - I was on sweet duty. Firstly I only granted Stephanie access to the party if she brought along one of her mum Debbie's cakes. We try to get one of Debbie's cakes at any opportunity, and the only way I can describe these creations is like couture cakes - made to measure any brief. Aside from being delicious they are always beautifully presented fitting the occassion. Already this year we've had a specially designed cake for my cousin's 21st birthday and a cheeky baked cheesecake which kept our family raving for days, and literally lasted minutes in my house! For the tea party we were presented with a genteel and fittingly regal Victoria sponge cake, topped with a rich vanilla buttercream and fresh strawberries, and a strawberry jam filling. It was moist, rich, delicious and a very welcome addition to our 'spread.'

I also dug out my apron and did a little festive baking myself. First I made three batches of cupcakes, vanilla, chocolate and lemon. Sticking to a simple fairy cake recipe from childhood and adding the various flavour additions (cocoa and a little melted chocolate, lemon juice and zest, and the the contents of a vanilla pod), I then iced with a simple Mascarpone topping and have to say that sometimes, the old recipes are the best - they were light and tasty. Larni loved the vanilla ones and took some home for her family - personally I was more partial to the chocolate, but then what's new.

Finally I had been keen to try and make macaroons for a while, I always enjoy them out, and love the look of them so I made my first attempt at the little almondy treats.

I'll readilly admit that I am no confectioner or pastry chef, more a willing have-a-go cook, and have very little artistic flair so was critical of my own presentation, but luckilly the flavour and lightness were good. Also I don't own and didn't have time to source a piping bag, so I had to improvise - I did so by using freezer bags and snipping a little hole in the corner - hence why the sizes of them all completely vary!

I certainly had fun experimenting with the food colouring and was pleased with the very sweet, almondy results, the presentation may have been bad, but practise makes perfect, so I'll aim better next time.

We absolutely loved the wedding and our little tea party and it naturally ended with us all having a tipple or two. As we did on the day lets just raise our glasses once again to the beautiful couple - congratulations Will and Kate.

If you are keen to find out more about made-to-order designer cakes from the delightful Debbie or to view an online catalogue of designs please contact Stephanie Fletcher who can be found @Fletch_Master.

If you would like to attempt to make similarly mis-shapen, varying sized Macaroons see recipe below:

Macaroons
Ingredients
150g ground almonds
250g sifted icing sugar
Seeds of 2 split vanilla pods
2 large egg whites
For the butter cream:
140g softened butter, salted
280g icing sugar
1-2 tbsp milk (full fat)
2 drops vanilla essence

*Preheat the oven to 150 degrees and line a couple of trays with baking paper (greased)
* Put the almonds, icing sugar and vanilla into a bowl.
*Whisk the egg whites until firm and fold in
*Add whichever food colouring to make the desired colour - or cocoa, just 1 drop will do
*Spoon mixture into a piping bag (or improvised freezer bag with snip in corner)
* Pipe little mounds on the trays - try to pipe in equal sie and shape if possible
* Leave to cool
For the butter cream
* Beat the butter in a bowl till soft
* Add half the icing sugar and beat until smooth
* Add the rest of the sugar with the vanilla extract and milk and beat until creamy
*Sandwich macaroons together with a little butter cream