• Cupcake Kids!

  150 W. 10th St., nr. Waverly Pl. 646-789-5554; cupcakekids.com

  At least one good thing came out of last year’s tsunami of layoffs on Wall Street: Cupcake Kids, the brainchild of Jessi Walter, a Harvard-educated credit specialist who was cut loose from Bear Stearns. Her cooking classes teach future gourmands ages 2 to 14 how to make, bake, and decorate holiday treats, pizzas, and, of course, cupcakes ($60). Kids sing songs about how to make green macaroni and cheese and recite rhymes about the elements of a healthy meal, all while cooking in the private kitchen of P*ONG in the West Village. Walter also does private birthday parties ($100 per kid), where for two hours, kids are taught, fed, entertained, and afterward don’t even consider asking their parents for dessert.

From the