Mum’s are worth their weight in gold and deserve to be showered in love every single day of the year. But there’s no harm in going completely over the top and making it an extra special big deal once a year on Mother’s Day.
Here are our top tips to make this Mother’s Day the most memorable of all by hosting a magnificent lunch that treats her as the queen that she truly is.
Breakfast in bed: Ricotta pancakes with honeycomb
If you really want to spoil your mum, why not make sure that the day is magical from the moment she opens her eyes? What better wake-up call than salivating at the scrummy waft of buttery soft pancakes piled high on a plate? We love this recipe courtesy of the talented Bill Granger from delicious.com.au.
Ingredients:
Pancakes
- 320g of fresh ricotta, drained and crumbled
- 3/4 cup of milk
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1 cup (150g)of plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Unsalted butter
- 2 bananas, sliced lengthways
- Whipped cream and honey to serve
Honeycomb butter
- 250g unsalted butter, softened
- 60g honeycomb, finely crushed
- 2 tbs honey
Method:
For the honeycomb butter
- Place all ingredients in a food processor and whiz until smooth.
- Shape into a log, glad wrap it in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for two hours
- Any leftover honeycomb butter (is that possible?) is excellent on toast
For the pancakes
- Place the ricotta, milk and egg yolks in a bowl and mix. Sift flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt into a separate bowl. Add the ricotta mixture and whisk until combined
- Place egg whites in a clean, dry bowl and whisk into stiff peaks. In two batches, fold them through the ricotta mixture using a large metal spoon
- Lightly grease a large non-stick frypan with butter and add a 1/4 cup of batter to the pan
- Cook over medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden
- Don’t cook more than three hotcakes per batch
- Place one banana slice onto a plate and stack the desired amount of hotcakes on top of each other with a piece of honeycomb butter
- Top with whipped cream and drizzle with honey to serve.
Presentation is everything
Once your beautiful mum’s had a leisurely morning all to herself, it’s time to throw a fabulous family lunch that puts her on a pedestal at the heart of it all.
Taking the time and effort to set the table all prim and proper is the least we can do, right? And that can start with ourselves. So many mums love to see their kids all turned out for a big day. Post-lockdown, we’ve all become a bit too wedded (or welded) to our trackies. Hustle to get the kids, yourself and your partner to put a little bit of extra effort into looking nice for mum, without going too far (no tuxedos or ballgowns required).
Flowers are the easy way to mum’s heart, and a brilliant centerpiece can really help transform a table for an event as special as Mother’s Day. Introduce autumnal colours that pop with a flourish of natives, including Wattle, Banksia, Kangaroo Paw, Waratah, Billy Buttons, Grevillea and Leucadendron, or anything with warm tones of gold and pink and luscious deep greens. You can snip some fresh greenery or twigs to help spruce the look.
Let the centerpiece do the talking, with a plain white tablecloth or show off the table’s wood grain with placemats, perhaps in olive or powder blue. Keep the crockery nice and simple too. We love earthenware that embraces the imperfect, because goodness knows we’ve all got a wobble or two. You can get some colour tips here if you feel inspired to give the walls a fresh lick of paint in time for Sunday.
Ensure the room is toasty enough to stave off winter chills but not too stuffy. Lean into the autumn vibe with scented candles like spiced orange, cedarwood or cinnamon.
Greet arriving guests with a glass of sparkling (alcoholic or not) so that the chat’s bubbly from the outset. And while we’re speaking about sparkles, we know it’s old school, but trust us, mum will be tickled pink if you bring out the good matching cutlery and, whether silver or brass, give them the once over with a proper polish.
If you’re feeling adventurous, here are some more ideas to give your home an Autumn makeover mum’s sure to approve of.
The main event: Rosé Chilli Prawn Pasta
Once you’re ready to sit everyone down, you need to pull out the wow with a luxuriously indulgent lunch that’s fit for a queen this Mother’s Day. We recommend this bang-up feast care of Tori from Intothesauce.com.au, who has never let us down yet (be sure to scour Tori's Instagram @intothesauce for your next dinner party too!).
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 large shallots, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 red chillies, seeds removed, halved lengthways and sliced
- 350ml tomato passata
- 150ml creme fraiche
- 300g pasta (fettuccine, linguine, spaghetti or spirals)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 200g peeled and de-veined king prawn meat, cut into 2cm pieces
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
Method:
- Set a pot of salted water to boil
- Melt butter over medium heat and sauté shallots, garlic and chilli together until the shallots are soft and translucent
- Add the tomato passata and simmer on low until half the liquid remains (5-10 minutes)
- Meanwhile, cook pasta until al dente, reserving one cup of pasta water
- In another frying pan, heat olive oil over medium heat, add prawns and sizzle until just cooked (1-2 minutes)
- Add prawns and crème fraîche to the tomato sauce, stir until combined, taste and season with salt and pepper
- Drain the pasta and add directly into the sauce, adding reserved pasta water bit-by-bit until it’s silky and smooth
- Toss through a handful of parsley and serve the rest as a garnish when plated up
Wash it all down: Lemon Lavender Gin Spritz
Why not skip dessert and go straight to the cocktails with this effervescent refresher from Agirldefloured.com that’s sure to bring a smile to mum’s face?
Ingredients:
Simple syrup
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 cup of water
- 1 teaspoon of dried culinary lavender
- 5 pink peppercorns
Cocktail
- 4 ounces quality gin
- 2 ounces of simple syrup
- 1 1/2 freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Sparkling water
Method:
- Put the sugar, water, lavender and peppercorns in a small pan and heat until the sugar is dissolved
- Remove from heat and let the flavours infuse for 10 minutes
- Strain and refrigerate until ready to use
- Fill a cocktail shaker and four glasses with crushed ice. Add the gin, simple syrup, and lemon juice to the shaker and shake for 10 seconds
- Strain the mixture evenly into the prepared glasses and top with sparkling water
- Garnish with lemon slices and a sprig of fresh lavender
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