Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker

With all the fun party talk around here, we thought it would be the perfect time to give away a total treat! We think that this "Cupcake Maker" from Girl Gourmet really takes the cake!

This cute little contraption has a serious retro vibe, and allows your budding chef to bake cupcakes (30 seconds in the microwave), frost with a perfect little swirl (thanks to the froster), and decorate with sprinkles. It is every child's dream come true!

With the Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker, kids get a fun, easy, no-hassle introduction to baking. This educational and creative toy not only teaches the very basics of cooking--such as measuring and mixing--but its cupcake decorating accessories encourage kids to experiment with their own personal touches. Not to mention, eat the fruits of their labor.

The Cupcake Maker ($29.99) comes with everything your child needs to mix, bake, and decorate the cupcakes: a tiny mixing bowl, measuring spoon, water dropper, and miniature spatula for mixing the batter and frosting; a microwaveable container for baking the cupcakes; and a cupcake frosting gadget with a shape reminiscent of a KitchenAid standing mixer. And everything your little chef needs to get started is packaged in chic, girl-pleasing, contemporary pastels. It also comes with four special cupcake mixes and frosting that are custom designed for use with this toy. The cake flavors include red velvet, chocolate, yellow, and cinnamon sugar; the frostings are chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and cream cheese flavored. These easy-to-use mixes, which contain no wheat ingredients--a definite plus for the gluten-free crowd--and require only water as an added ingredient. (Allergy alert: the mix does contain powdered eggs and powdered milk.)

This product is recommended for kids ages 8 and up, but my 5 year old daughter and I had a ton of fun giving it a whirl! You can visit the Girl Gourmet site for more info, and other interactive fun.