I bake cakes with my kids to teach them about maths - and you should

Cooking is sometimes called a science, but have you ever thought of it as maths? When you break down the elements of this art form, it's hard not to see it as a numbers game. From

weighing out ingredients to converting Celsius into gas mark, we use maths almost every step of the way. Think about it - you're following a recipe, this recipe serves one but you have

to make the dish for a table of four. The process of scaling up quantities is maths. You need to measure out 500ml of milk but your jug only marks volume in pints. Converting this is maths.

You are making plain flour into self-raising with the addition of baking powder - how much you need to add is maths. And while professional chefs are expected to have this knowledge as a

foundation - these practices can be simplified and, for use in a family kitchen, can give your kids a great understanding of numbers without them really thinking about it. Cake is a great

way of learning not only through the process of making it but also when it's time to serve up. For our spontaneous creation we made a bog standard chocolate cake (because what Tuesday

evening isn't improved by chocolate and cake). We followed a recipe that gave 20 portions, so I explained that every ingredient we included needed to be halved. Two eggs became one egg,

500g of flour became 250g, a whole chocolate bar became half a chocolate bar. After a bit of working out, my eldest got into the swing of it and was soon getting the numbers on her own.

When it came to the baking, she asked 'if it's half the ingredients, does that mean it cooks in half the time?' And I must admit that was a question for Google. Thankfully, as

is the wonders of modern technology, the friendly folks of the internet seem to be in agreement that for half the size you keep the temperature the same but indeed start checking to see if

the cake is ready after half the original cooking time - the more you know! When it came to serving, this is where our fraction knowledge really came into our own. Giving my eldest arguably

the most important of cake duties - the cutting - I asked her to cut it in half which she did. From there we did quarters, then sixths and then eighths. It was great to see her fully engaged

in the secret maths lesson. Even when it came to the eating, it proved a perfect way of explaining how eating one eighth of cake and then another eighth of the cake made a quarter (and a

very satisfied tummy.) So if you're pulling your hair out with maths homework or just finding it difficult to explain number concepts to your child I encourage you to step away from the

dining room table and dust off your apron. If you find it does little to improve maths knowledge in your home - hey, at least you'll have cake.