*This post was created in collaboration with Chefclub Network for the launch of their KIDDOZ kickstarter. All images and opinions are my own.

From a very young age I’ve been obsessed with all things food. I was lucky enough to grow up with a mom who dabbled in cake decorating (especially Barbie cakes), and a dad who loved to make bread from scratch (and even shaped it into bears from time to time 🙂 ). It was also the height of Food Network chefs, and my little brother and sister and I would spend hours watching our favorites create gorgeous meals using just a few simple ingredients. We loved it so much we even had our own cooking challenges between the 3 of us (that would often end with hilarious results). I’m so thankful that my parents gave us the freedom to experiment in the kitchen. The confidence I gained from that time allowed me to constantly push myself to try different types of recipes and eventually led to the job I have today.

It is from this experience that I am so passionate about teaching kids to cook by making their time in the kitchen both fun and approachable, so when Chefclub reached out to me about KIDDOZ I was 100% on board! KIDDOZ is an interactive cooking kit for kids that includes colorful and cute measuring cups and a cookbook full of playful recipes. These are the kinds of recipes I would totally think up myself – like animal shaped pizzas, caulisheep and butterfly cakes. The measuring cups are even used to help build the recipes, and the characters on them are the inspiration behind many of the easy food decorations. Using KIDDOZ kids are given the confidence to become their own chefs, with only a little help needed from parents, and healthy ingredients like fruits and vegetables become the stars of the dishes.

To celebrate the launch of the KIDDOZ kickstarter (which goes live today), I decided to make a raw cheesecake featuring 2 of my favorite characters. The mother hen and chicks are the tablespoon and teaspoon measurements in the set so I thought it would be perfect to pair them. I started with a gluten free coconut walnut crust, then added a coconut vanilla filling and froze until set (cake recipe coming soon!). Once the cake was ready I decorated it with cashew buttercream, marzipan and a little more chocolate. Since Halloween is right around the corner I couldn’t pass up the chance to include a few spooky cute details :). You can see the behind the scenes of how I decorated the cake in my Instagram stories, and click on this link to check out the KIDDOZ kickstarter. KIDDOZ is a great tool for kids of all ages to learn how to cook, and with the holidays coming up it would make a wonderful gift for all the little chefs in your life. Please let me know if you pick up a KIDDOZ set. I would love to hear about your experience with it.