New online baking initiative launches to get Britain Baking, Forget days out and holidays abroad, the secret to a happy family can be found much closer to home – in the kitchen.

New research, from leading baking company Dr. Oetker, reveals a third (33 per cent) of Brits believe home bakers make better parents and 85 per cent would like to see their children taught how to cook and bake more in school.

It seems that baking represents great family bonding time (59 per cent) and over a quarter (27 per cent) of Brits say their fondest childhood memories are baking with their parents or grandparents.

However, most of us don’t have the time (23 per cent) or ‘know how’ (20 per cent) to bake and a third of us are put off by the thought of washing up afterwards (32 per cent).

In fact the average Brit bakes only 2.3 times a year (women 2.9 and men 1.6) whilst over half the nation (51 per cent*) don’t know what goes into a sponge cake and nearly two thirds (63 per cent*) can’t put together a classic English scone.

In a bid to get back to basics, encourage the nation to spend more quality time baking with the family and raise money for Breast Cancer Care, Dr. Oetker is launching www.bakemap.co.uk, an online resource of recipes donated by the British public.

Whilst the desire to bake more frequently is evident (42 per cent) given today’s busy lifestyles it is no surprise that two thirds (62 per cent) of British women bake less often than their mothers did.

Yet today’s younger generation could be asking Dad for baking tips as two thirds (63 per cent) of British men are baking more often than their fathers ever did.

So, all is not lost and given the right tools a quarter (23 per cent) of us could be enticed back into the kitchen if we had more quick and easy recipes to follow, better baking knowledge (20 per cent) and someone to bake for (18 per cent).

Fronted by busy mum and television chef Sophie Grigson, the interactive microsite will invite the nation to upload their much-loved recipes and create a virtual cake map of the UK and Ireland. However, for busy people looking for simple and easy ideas there will be a selection of tried and tested cheats and ‘quick bake’ recipes available.

Sophie Grigson said “It would be a tragedy if families stopped baking together. My mother was a great inspiration to me and I love getting my children involved in the kitchen too. I hope bakemap.co.uk encourages other families to start doing the same. There are loads of quick and easy recipes on the site so even when time is tight families can still spend some really enjoyable time together getting messy in the kitchen!”

Richard Ilsley, Managing Director (Ambient), Dr.Oetker (UK) said: “We pledge to start a new movement to get Britain baking and raise money for Breast Cancer Care. It’s a skill too important to lose and the research shows that many people want to bake but just need a little help.

“There are so many new products on the market that cater for busy people and mean you can still enjoy the benefits of baking with your family but in half the time. So what better way to spend your spare time than to bake and raise money for an excellent cause?”