Children love baking, especially my two, so were excited to receive the Vivid Toys Real Baking range to try out. With four kits across the range, we started experimenting with the Chocolate Pen and Cookie Kit.
The Chocolate Pen immediately appealed to my children as it seems they had seen it on TV and had really wanted it, so were very excited to try it out!
The set comprises of the main pen shaped unit which requires 2 AAA batteries (not included), 3 mould trays, 4 nozzles/caps/clamps and 12 special piping bags to fit the pen.
We were also supplied with some Divine chocolate which tastes just as it says on the pack, which we used in the chocolate pen. We broke it into chunks and put it in one of the plastic bags and then left in a mug of hot water to melt. In my anticipation to make the most of it, I noted that the instructions said to fill the bag three quarters full. Obviously they meant with the chocolate chunks, but I kept getting the kids to add more chunks to the bags as it was melting to ensure we had a good three quarters of a bag full of melted chocolate. This was a mistake and meant that we couldn’t fit the bags inside of the pen!
To reduce the amount of chocolate in the bags we piped some just straight through the nozzles on the bags and then fitted it into the pen which the children both said was much better and lots of fun. They loved using the pen, although my slight disappoint was the lack of chocolate that the pen could hold meaning the bags ran out very quickly. That said it didn’t faze the children and they loved filling their moulds with different coloured chocolate and tried to create multi coloured designs which they did all on their own. 
I think the results were brilliant. We did leave them in the fridge for half an hour or so, but when we pressed them out we were left with really shiny shaped chocolates that looked very good. It was definitely something different that the children really enjoyed and filled up their snack pots for the next few days!
We then moved on to the Cookie Kit which comes with a good sized rolling pin, a selection of cutters, a silicone baking sheet with rolling pin guide and a piping bag.
Miss M made a basic biscuit dough in a bowl which we then halved for the children to share in making their own biscuits. Mister B had a go at rolling a piece of the dough on the guided rolling sheet and managed alright as he is not used to rolling dough, but Miss M who is 8yrs old is a little more experienced prefered to roll out the dough just on the table to allow a larger working area for cutting cookies.
They spent lots of time cutting out various shapes, thoroughly enjoying their time choosing their cutters and rolling the scraps out to make even more. Some of the cutters had smaller ones of the same shape which they cut out of the middle to make some special stain glass window biscuits.
In the biscuits where they cut out the centre the children added a hard boiled sweet and we were really pleased with the results when we saw them come out of the oven. The sweet had melted and filled the inside of the biscuit giving it a true stain glass window effect.
Once the biscuits had cooled, the children were really excited to decorate them so I got the icing pens and sprinkles out and let them get on with it. When I came back to see their results I was really impressed! Don’t they look so pretty? 
With the leftovers they made biscuits in each of their initials – I think these look fabulous! 
As you can see my children had an amazing time with both the Chocolate Pen and the Cookie Set and although they are only basic sets they do inspire children and get them motivated in the kitchen. My children love baking and are already asking when they can make their next batch of biscuits!
All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.
