It was food fit for a princess, and as her name suggests, Fulton Keats belongs to Australian cooking royalty. Her mother, Suzanne Gibbs, is a well-respected food writer and cookbook author, and her grandmother, Margaret Fulton, is often credited as being the woman who taught Australia to cook. Through her weekly columns in Woman's Day and a string of cookbooks, Fulton introduced the housewives of Australia to what were then new and exotic foods, like eggplant, and pasta.

Fulton was also the kind of grandmother who would allow her grandchildren into the kitchen to help out, and Fulton Keats was lucky enough to have spent many happy days cooking with grandma.

Now 88, Fulton has collected more than 300 recipes for pies, puddings, cakes, breads and pastries into a comprehensive guide called Baking, released in time for Mother's Day. Meanwhile, Fulton Keats has been busy writing her second children's book, inspired by her grandmother's recipes and those fabulous birthday parties, The Best Ever Birthday.

Baking is refreshing for its lack of gimmickry. There is no complex food philosophy behind it, just easy-to-follow recipes, some lovely photography and a few simple illustrations.

There are recipes for apple tea cake, pecan and caramel slice and Italian amaretti biscuits, but there are also basic lessons on melting ingredients (don't let them boil), where to position slices in the oven (on the middle rack, in the centre) and how to moisture proof a pastry case (brush the inside with a lightly beaten egg or warm jam and set in a hot oven for two or three minutes.)

It is classic, and therefore a fitting offering from someone who has held a place in family kitchens for so many years.

In the introduction, Fulton reflects on the important role baking has played in her family's life, and issues a few firm instructions for would-be home bakers.

''Some people avoid baking because they think special skills are needed. The most important thing to remember is to follow the instructions. You've got to learn the rules. If you don't learn the rules you'll get into trouble,'' she writes.

But there's also plenty of encouragement for beginners.

''There's nothing mysterious about baking. If you're not daunted by something, it's just a matter of going in and doing it. And practice, just keep at it.''

It is a practical, commonsense attitude to cooking that her granddaughter shares.

The Best Birthday Ever tells the story of Lulu, a girl preparing for her birthday party with the help of younger brother Harry and Nutmeg the dog, with a bit of advice from grandma.

The children consider different birthday themes before settling on a fancy chefs party. They bake a chocolate chef's hat cake, and when Nutmeg sends it flying, Lulu despairs, until she remembers what Grandma likes to say:

''Do you know how to pick a top chef right away?

It's not always the fanciest, or the most swish,

It's the one who can rescue any dish!''

Fulton Keats offers recipes for themed parties, so there are rocket fruit sticks and rainbow star biscuits for an outer-space party, and pink fairy cupcakes and chocolate-dipped strawberries for a fairy party.

Fulton Keats brims with enthusiasm when she talks about getting children involved in the kitchen. A former lawyer, she is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu cookery school and has qualifications in childhood nutrition, and she says the best way to get children to eat well, including those tricky vegetables, is to expose them to different foods over and over again.

''We know children who grow vegetables and are involved in the kitchen eat better as a result,'' she says.

Fulton Keats says that while she is lucky to come from such revered cooking heritage, even her formidable grandmother very occasionally made mistakes. But she was always good humoured about it, had a laugh, and ensured her grandchildren that it would still taste good.

For her own son Harry's second birthday this year, Fulton Keats made a tractor cake. It was no easy task.

''I now know why you never see tractor cakes in birthday party books,'' she laughs. ''But he loved it.''

Unfortunately, it seems more parents are finding children's birthday parties a stressful time. Fulton Keats says while many families feel under pressure to ''keep up with the Joneses'', children will not notice whether the house looks like the liftout from a magazine or whether it is a bit of a jumble. The same goes with food, where the pursuit of perfection is often counterproductive.

''Even a cake that's lopsided and hopeless is much more precious if Mum or Dad made it,'' she says.

Fulton Keats says the key to a fun and anxiety-free children's party is preparation. Sausage rolls, sandwiches and even the cake can be made earlier and frozen. The cake might prove easier to ice as a result. She also likes to keep parties relatively small, and she says children will appreciate it all the more if they are involved in planning and preparing the food.

It is also a good idea to provide some healthy options. ''Parents are pretty unpopular these days if they serve up a table of sugar,'' she says.

But the most important thing of all is to have a go, and like her grandmother, Fulton Keats is not afraid to suggest drastic measures for the truly time-poor or terrified. ''You can even use a packet cake. I would use a packet cake if I had no experience, it's better than just getting something from the shop.''

CHOCOLATE METEOROIDS

Makes about 35

100g stoned dates

170g raisins or sultanas

½ cup almond meal

2 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tsp fresh orange juice

½ cup desiccated coconut, plus an extra ⅓ cup for coating

Place the dates and raisins in the small bowl of a food processor and blend until finely chopped. Add two tablespoons of boiling water and leave to soak for one minute.

Add the almond meal, cocoa powder, orange juice and desiccated coconut, and blend until the mixture forms a smooth paste.

Spread the extra desiccated coconut on to a flat surface. Using your hands, separate the mixture into small balls and roll in the coconut.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

RAINBOW STAR BISCUITS

Makes about 50 - 25 small, 25 large

100g butter, softened

½ cup icing sugar

1 egg

1 ½ cups plain flour

25 sugar-free fruit drops

25 Mini M&Ms

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and icing sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until well combined. Using a spoon or spatula, fold in the flour until a smooth dough forms. Turn the dough on to a lightly floured surface and shape into a disc (about 12 cm diameter). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour or until firm.

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan). Line two large baking trays with baking paper.

Take the dough from the refrigerator and roll out between two pieces of baking paper to 5-6mm thickness. Using a 7cm star cutter, cut stars from the dough, and place on to the baking trays. Using a 4cm star cutter, cut small stars out of the centre of each large star and place these on the baking trays. Repeat with the remaining dough, re-rolling any dough scraps.

If the dough becomes too soft to handle, place it back in the refrigerator (or briefly in the freezer) until firm.

Place a fruit drop in the centre of each large star and a mini M&M in the centre of each small star. Bake, one tray at a time, for eight minutes or until the biscuits are golden. Leave the biscuits on the trays until cool.

GALAXY CAKE

2 x quantities basic butter cake (see below), or use 2 x 440g packet butter cake mix

blue and yellow food colouring (natural, if available)

400g ready-to-roll white icing

10 pieces white florist's wire, cut in half

1 x quantity butter cream icing (see below)

silver cachous, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 170C. Grease and line a deep 22cm round cake tin.

Make the cake mixture and spread into the prepared tin. Bake for about one hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Knead the white icing until soft. Divide into four portions (three of equal size and one smaller for the yellow moon). Leave one portion white and tint the remaining portions different colours - light blue, dark blue and yellow for the smaller portion - by kneading through the food colouring, starting with a few drops and adding more as needed. Roll out half of each icing portion, apart from the yellow, on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar or cornflour (or between two sheets of baking paper) to 5mm thickness.

Cut out star shapes with a star cutter and thread on to the florist's wires by dipping the ends of the wires into water and inserting half way into the stars. Set aside on plastic wrap and allow to dry completely.

Meanwhile, trim the domed top off the cooled cake and turn cut-side down on to a cake board or plate. Make the butter cream icing and add a few drops of blue food colouring, adding more as needed until the desired colour is reached. Spread the icing over the entire cake, making it as smooth as possible.

Roll out the yellow icing to 2-3mm thickness. Using an 8cm round cutter make a crescent moon shape and place on top of the cake. Roll out the remaining icing portions to 2-3mm thickness, and use small and large star cutters to cut out shapes and arrange on the cake as desired. Using the picture as a guide, place silver cachous on the cake top and sides. Slightly bend the wires on the wired stars and place in the cake before serving.

Basic butter cake

Makes 1 cake or 18 cupcakes

125g butter, softened

¾ cup caster sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 ½ cups self-raising flour, sifted

½ cup milk

Preheat the oven to 170C. Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin (or line three six-hole (80ml) cupcake tins with paper or silicone cases).

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until well combined. Using a spoon or spatula, fold in the flour and milk until just combined.

Transfer the mixture to the tin(s) and spread evenly. Bake for 45-50 minutes (20-25 minutes, if making cupcakes) or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave in the tin(s) for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

To make a chocolate version of this cake, replace a quarter of a cup flour with a quarter of a cup cocoa powder.

Butter cream icing

125g butter, softened

1 ½ cups icing sugar, sifted

1-2 tbsp milk

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until very pale. Add the icing sugar and one tablespoon of the milk and beat until light and fluffy. Add the remaining milk if needed, for desired consistency.

To make chocolate icing, add a third of a cup of cocoa to the icing sugar.

Party recipes from My Grandma's Kitchen: The Best Ever Birthday, by Louise Fulton Keats (Hardie Grant, April 2012, $29.95)

ORANGE AND BLUEBERRY CAKE

Serves 8-10

2 cups (300g) self-raising flour, sifted

1 ⅓ cups (295g) caster sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

¾ cup milk

grated rind and juice of 1 orange

130g butter, melted

200g fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a deep 22cm round loose-based tin. Combine flour and sugar, add eggs, milk, rind, juice and butter and mix until combined. Spoon into the prepared tin. Top with half of the blueberries (there's no need to thaw them if they're frozen) and bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle over the remaining blueberries and bake for another 20 minutes.

Cool in tin for 10 minutes before turning on to wire rack.

From Margaret Fulton Baking, by Margaret Fulton (Hardie Grant, April 2012, $59.95).

Larissa Nicholson is a staff feature writer.