With a little creativity, it's easy to create a healthy, balanced party food selection for a child's birthday which also includes a few sweet treats. This will be appreciated by parents and children alike.

Round sandwiches
Make up open sandwiches with ingredients such as cheese, egg slices, cherry tomatoes and cucumber. Use a pastry cutter to cut out the sandwiches in the shapes of dinosaurs or hearts or stars and arrange on a plate.
Note: Kids like this, because they can see what's in each sandwich

Iced treats
Making your own sorbet isn't hard and it's a great way of getting fruit on to the birthday party table.
185g caster sugar
375g raspberries
125g redcurrants, stalks removed
185 ml water
Juice of 1 lemon

Combine the sugar and 185ml water in a small pan over a low heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar, then boil for a minute until the mixture goes all syrupy. Cool.
Put the fruit, lemon juice and cooled sugar syrup in a blender or liquidiser and whizz to a purée. Sieve the puree.
At this point you can either transfer to an ice cream maker or put in freezerproof container, cover, and freeze for around two hours until ice crystals have formed. Transfer to a liquidiser or food processor and whizz until smooth. Freeze again. Repeat after another two and four hours and then freeze until it's needed. Soften in the fridge for around 10 minutes and serve scooped into cones.

Foolproof Birthday Cake
6oz golden caster sugar
6oz softened butter
6oz self-raising flour
3 eggs, beaten
Heaped tsp baking powder
Tsp of vanilla extract
Put all the ingredients into a food processor and mix (if you haven't a processor – cream the butter and sugar together first before adding the egg a bit at a time and then the sieved flour).
Divide the mixture between two 8in cake tins, greased and lined with baking paper. Put in the oven for around 30 minutes at Gas mark 4, 180 degrees Celsius until golden. Take out and cool for five minutes turn out on to a wire and cool before adding icing or cream and jam.

Rice Krispies Cakes
A classic children's party recipe and all the better for it! (makes between 10 and 15 cakes)
Take 50g of butter and 100g of chocolate and 5 tbsp of golden syrup and melt in a saucepan over a low heat (alternatively microwave until melted).
Remove from heat and stir in 80g of cornflakes or Rice Krispies.
Get your kids to help putting spoonfuls of the mixture into colourful cake cases and put in the fridge until they're set. Don't forget to lick your fingers when you're finished!

Healthy Pitta Pizzas
Spread pizza topping over some mini pitta breads, top with ripped up bits of mozzarella and add healthy toppings in the form of cherry tomatoes, sliced pepper and spinach leaves. Put in the oven at 200C/400F/Gas 6 for 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden.