Nigella Lawson: best Mother’s Day recipes from the new GBBO judge

Want to surprise your mum with something heartfelt and home cooked this Mother’s Day? Who better to turn to than chef and newest celebrity judge on The Great British Bake Off, Nigella Lawson, for some sweet inspiration.

The annual scramble to produce a suitably thoughtful Mother’s Day gift — one that feels neither perfunctory nor wildly overengineered — induces panic in many. Flowers and cards are always well-received, of course, but when it comes to gifts, there’s always the worry that she neither needs nor wants more ‘stuff’.

When is Mother’s Day 2026?

Mother’s Day falls on Sunday 15 March, so you’ve still got time to prepare something special.

 

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Baking ideas for Mother’s Day

If you’re going to make a gesture, it might as well be a delicious one that’s well suited to the occasion. For that, there are few more reassuring guides than Nigella Lawson, newest celebrity judge on The Great British Bake Off and longtime lover of food that comforts, impresses and, crucially, doesn’t take a culinary degree to pull off.

Here, we revisit some of her most Mothers’ Day worthy recipes — with just enough time left to practise.

Read more: Chic fitness and wellness Mother’s Day presents under £50 that she’ll love

My Mother-in-law’s Madeira Cake

If you’re after something to slice and serve alongside an afternoon cup of tea, this Madeira cake fits the bill perfectly.

Obvious appeal aside — Madeira cake is food of the gods — there’s also something deeply impressive about baking an entire golden cake in your own oven. Just think of the brownie points.

Ingredients

Makes: 8-10 slices

• 240g unsalted butter (softened)
• 200g caster sugar (plus extra for sprinkling)
• grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon
• 3 large eggs
• 210g self-raising flour
• 90g plain flour

Method

You’ll need a loaf tin (23 x 13 x 7cm / 9 x 5 x 3 inches), buttered and lined.

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3.
2. Cream the butter and sugar, and add the lemon zest.
3. Add the eggs one at a time with a tablespoon of the flour for each.
4. Then gently mix in the rest of the flour and, finally, the lemon juice.
5. Sprinkle with caster sugar (about 2 tbsp should do it) as it goes into the oven, and bake for 1 hour or until a cake-tester comes out clean.
6. Remove to a wire rack, and let cool in the tin before turning out.

Our tip: add a handful of poppy seeds to the mix for extra texture and nuttiness, then serve with fresh fruit for contrast.

Read more: 21 thoughtful and sweet Mother’s Day messages to write in her card

American breakfast pancakes

Of course, if you’re planning on dazzling at dawn — or whenever Mum surfaces — you’ll need a breakfast option instead.

Thick, fluffy American pancakes are an obvious choice when indulgence is practically a prerequisite for the occasion — and thoroughly deserved.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 225g plain flour
• 2½ tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 2 large eggs (beaten)
• 30g butter (melted and cooled)
• 300ml milk
• Butter, for frying

Method

1. The easiest way to make these is to put all the ingredients into a blender and blitz. But if you do mix up the batter by hand in a bowl, make a well in the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar, beat in the eggs, melted butter and milk, and transfer to a jug: it’s much easier to pour the batter into the pan than to spoon it.
2. Heat a smooth griddle or pan on the stove.
3. When you cook the pancakes, all you need to remember is that when the upper side of the pancake is blistering and bubbling it’s time to cook the second side, and this needs only about 1 min, if that.

Our tip: lay out bowls of fresh berries, strawberries, syrup, chocolate spread and plates of streaky bacon for an impressive spread.

Read more: How to make Nadiya Hussain’s vegan cheesecake

Chocolate chip cookies

For those with Mother’s Day plans that’ll take them in and out of the house, but who still want to present something homemade, Nigella’s Totally Chocolate Chip Cookies are an eminently practical solution.

Baked the night before they can be doled out over the day with coffee or snacked on in-between plans.

Ingredients

Makes: 12 cookies

• 125g dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
• 150g plain flour
• 30g cocoa powder (sieved)
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 125g soft unsalted butter
• 75g soft light brown sugar
• 50g white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg (cold from the fridge)
• 350g dark chocolate chips (or semi-sweet chocolate morsels)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3. Melt the dark chocolate either in the microwave or in a heatproof dish over a pan of simmering water.
2. Put the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl.
3. Cream the butter and sugars in another bowl. (Nigella uses her freestanding mixer, referring to it as “an odd source of comfort to me”.) Add the melted chocolate and mix together.
4. Beat in the vanilla extract and cold egg, and then mix in the dry ingredients. Finally, stir in the chocolate morsels or chips.
5. Scoop out 12 equal-sized mounds — an ice cream scoop and a palette knife are the best tools for the job — and place on a lined baking sheet about 6cm apart. Don’t flatten them.
6. Cook for 18 mins, testing with a cake tester to make sure it comes out semi-clean and not wet with cake batter. If you pierce a chocolate chip, try again.
7. Leave to cool slightly on the baking sheet for 4-5 mins, then transfer them to a cooling rack to harden as they cool.

Our tip: warm slightly and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for an indulgent end to the day.

Feature image: Pexels