Making cakes for cuddly monsters? Yeah, we’ve done that regularly, and our two sons keep coming back for more. Oh, you mean actual monsters…

This is the idea behind Foodo Kitchen, an iPad app released this week by developer Tutu Lab. It’s a bit like the still-ace-after-three-years Toca Kitchen (or more specifically, its spin-off Toca Kitchen Monsters) but with a focus on baking.

“Cuddly monsters are roaming the world, looking for sweet treats. They arrive at your bakery shop, where you’re free to roll, bake and decorate as you like – but careful while feeding them, they are very picky,” explains its App Store listing.

“Will they devour your cakes or spit them out? It’s up to you and your culinary imagination. Giggles guaranteed.” And perhaps also a slightly more grateful approach when your kids are baked cakes in the real world. Well, we can dream.

The app has five monsters to feed, with a variety of moulds, colourings, decorations and sprinkles to use – unlocked as your children play, which provides a nice feeling of progression.

We like Foodo Kitchen, because like Toca Boca’s cookery apps, it’s rooted in reality: kids crack eggs, roll dough, pat flour and do all the things they’d do when baking in the real world.

It’s a creative app rather than a game, so they’re not working against a clock or trying to beat a highest score: although the monsters’ reactions are a pretty good way of gauging how tasty (or not) the virtual cakes are. The best ones can be saved in a gallery for showing off – or perhaps even trying to recreate in your own kitchen.

Foodo Kitchen costs £1.99 for iPad from Apple’s App Store, with no in-app purchases as extras.

Read about more monster apps for kids on Apps Playground, and check out our 100 Best iPad Apps of 2013 e-book – £1.99 from Apple’s iBooks Store