What a four-year-old taught us about the magic of baking a chocolate cake

A report from Theguardian says Valentine’s is on the horizon, which heralds the start of chocolate cake season for the authors’ four-year-old goddaughter, who squealed with joy when told they would bake a chocolate cake and helped choose Samin Nosrat’s midnight chocolate cake.

After donning crowns and aprons, the child quickly took charge, issuing rapid instructions, cutting baking paper, drawing dragons and deciding which were good or evil; the piece observes that when baking with a child, precision gives way to play and small tasks become moments of reverence.

The authors write that they will be baking many more chocolate cakes, babkas and heart-shaped cookies in the weeks ahead, and that the experience was a reminder that baking is magic; they add that if seen carrying a tray of baked goods they may be wearing paper crowns and invite conversation about dragons.