Fussy eaters can be SO stressful to deal with. One way to encourage a fussy eater to eat her meals is to get really creative with her food.
But honestly, busy mums just don’t have the time (or energy) to spend hours making food masterpieces for their picky little connoisseurs.
What if we tell you there is a way to whip together a meal that scores full marks on all fronts: nutrition, taste, creativity and in this case, absolute beauty?
Mermaid toast (left) and unicorn toast (right). Why not try making them for your picky eater?
Say hello to mermaid and unicorn toast!
If you’re an Insta-mum, then chances are you’ve probably come across a gorgeous, ocean-inspired toast in delicate hues of blue-green, or perhaps even its sister, unicorn toast.
If you’re wondering how to make these toasts to tantalize your tot’s tantrumming taste-buds, we’re here to introduce you to the creator of these beauties. We’ll tell you how to make them too.
The trend started with this gorgeous unicorn toast.
Mermaid and unicorn toast for kids: Beauty and nutrition in colour
Adeline Waugh of @vibrantandpure is the food stylist behind this trend. She explains, “Ever since I realized that adding beet juice to food would turn it into the most magnificent shade of hot pink, I was hooked. My goal is to take healthy food and make it fun and exciting, brightening it up with a few (or many) pops of color.”
She first created unicorn toast which is created by mixing real-food colourings of various shades into cream cheese, topping toast with dreamy swirls of cream-cheese colour, and then jazzing it all up with sprinkles, edible glitter and other pretty things that unicorns are made of.
This innovate food stylist wanted to do more, though.
“I simply wanted to create something new beyond unicorn toast. I’m always trying to evolve and think outside the box when it comes to food,” she said. “I suspected that the blue and green shades from chlorophyll and spirulina would blend together nicely and create a dreamy aquatic look. I decided to name it ‘mermaid toast’ to keep up the tradition of toasts named after mythical creatures.”
Mermaid toast: Isn’t it lovely?
So how do you make mermaid toast and unicorn toast?
First, get hold of some cream cheese (or even thick Greek yoghurt works, says Adeline). The colours are made with beet juice (pink), turmeric root or powder (gold and orange), chlorophyll drops (green), freeze-dried blueberry powder (purple) and spirulina powder (blue-green).
Use a tiny amount of the different colours to add your desired hues to separated cream cheese portions. For unicorn toast, you’d use all these colours.
Mermaid toast would only need blue-green and purple (and maybe a tiny bit of gold/ orange). You could also create a beautiful light green tinge simply by adding some avocado.
Then, get some toast – the healthier the better (e.g. wholegrain, flaxseed etc).
Colour separated portions of cream cheese and then, go crazy with your creations! Image from Extra Crispy.
Brush your toast with plain white cream cheese first, then, add dollops of the coloured cream cheeses. Swirl these together gently with chopsticks. Use a ‘swooping’ motion with your chopsticks to get the effect of waves for mermaid toast.
Finally, top your creations with gold flakes or sprinkles for added dreaminess. Make it even healthier with pieces of fruit of vegetables cut into star shape. Finish it off with a healthy dose of creativity and imagination for good measure!
Adeline says, “Brightly colored toast named after a mythical creature is not a serious or important matter, but with everything going on in the world, if someone can feel happy to look at a pretty piece of toast, then why not?”
We couldn’t agree more. And if it helps make food more appealing to little ones, then parents have all the more reason to make it! It’s also a fun and easy recipe for kids to help you make too.
Try them out and let us know if your little ones like these gorgeous meals! Don’t forget to send us pictures of your beautiful creations!