Day 62: a little token of gratitude

It shouldn’t take for a day to be named Mother’s Day for us to show our Mums just how special they are to us. I hope my Mum is aware of my gratitude and love for her every single day, but if there is ever a chance for us children to show a little bit of extra soppiness, then I think we should, at the very least, take the opportunity to do so on Mothering Sunday.

I think I made my first ever cup of tea on Mother’s Day, nearly 30 years ago now. I recall immense pride as I carried it up the stairs and placed it on my Mum’s bedside table, happy that not only did I manage to not burn myself but that I also didn’t spill any on the carpet on the way up. I stood there, eager-eyed with excitement, waiting for her to taste it. She loved it. And for a while, I actually thought that that was the truth. As the years continued to pass and more cups of fantastic tea were made with my skilled hands and a happy face, not only did I find out the truth about Santa Claus, I was also sat down for the ‘if-you’re-going-to-make-tea-in-this-house-then-you-need-to-learn-to-make-it-properly’ talk. It turned out that ‘lovely’ cup of tea I had made was too milky, too weak and not hot enough. But this is how we learn and become better, right? My Mum's inability to break the heart of that sweet little blond boy who stood there in front of her, wide-eyed with excitement and pride for making his first cup of tea, is just a small demonstration of a Mother’s love for her child. My bond with my Mum grew from strength to strength every year, and today it stands unbreakable.

Mother’s Day isn’t a joyous occasion for everyone though; for many, it can be a painful day to endure. My love goes out to everyone and anyone who needs it. If a virtual hug from within the lines of this writing helps in any way, then I am sending you the biggest one the internet can handle.

Today’s inspiration came from a short Mother’s Day Baking article that Nigella wrote in 2014. She suggests her Lemon Meringue Cake, which seemed perfectly apt as my Mum loves lemon-based puddings and thoroughly enjoyed Nigella’s Lemon Pavlova that I made a few weeks ago.

Nigella’s Lemon Meringue Cake

Each time I bake, I get a little more confident. I am beginning to learn the basics of cake chemistry. Meringue chemistry, however, evades me still. I put the time, effort, love, and patience into my egg white whipping but I still don’t get the desired results. In fact, my meringues sink quite dramatically if truth be told. They still taste good, but they never maintain that perfect plumpy puff. I know this kind of meringue is different to a pavlova-base meringue (although it even happens when I make that) but I still hoped for it to maintain some cloud-like, marshmallowy plump.

I did not have a food processor so I made the sponge mix by creaming the butter first, and so on. I believe this would contribute to an airier sponge mix, as it had risen a lot more than I expected after I took it from the oven.

Anyway, everything was layered together at the end with silky-soft whipped cream and tangy-sweet lemon curd, so much of the meringue structure didn’t matter too much. Don’t get me wrong, I was still impressed with the fruits of my efforts (even if I do say so myself): it looked very worthy of a Mother’s Day bake and it tasted lip-smackingly tart, sweet and just all-round gorgeous.

Flavour musings

I may never take on a lemon meringue pie - neither do I feel the need now, to be honest - but I am very happy to have Nigella’s edition of this classic in my life; it could very well be a go-to dessert for many celebrations, and indeed summer garden parties, to come. Between three, this obviously lasted quite a while (though perhaps not as long as you may think) and after a while in the fridge, the sponge and meringue became nice and chewy, which was just a fabulous addition to an already glorious mix.