Today’s most fetching Friday offers Mother’s Day recipes inspiration.
Be it breakfast in bed, dining table set to impress, or a picnic spread enjoyed in springtime splendor, a deliciously edible and visually stunning Mother’s Day meal stands as a time-honored gathering held in celebration of Mom.
Picture and pitcher perfect for this special day, colorful vintage pitchers packed full of fresh flowers and cuttings strike a commanding pose.
Better Homes & Gardens – Photo by Kritsada Panichgul
For your Mother’s Day recipes inspiration consideration, I’m featuring traditional favorites from my traditional favorites, Better Homes & Gardens and Southern Living Magazine.
Strawberries and Cream French Toast
Ingredients
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1¼ cups heavy whipping cream, divided
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons strawberry jam
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 (16-ounce) loaf French bread, cut into 1-inch-thick slices
Sugared Fruit (see recipe below)
Maple syrup
Directions
Spray an 11×7-inch baking dish with baking spray with flour.
In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, ¼ cup cream, and granulated sugar with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Stir in jam; set aside.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together remaining 1 cup cream, brown sugar, eggs, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Dip bread slices in cream mixture. Spread one side of each bread slice with approximately 2 teaspoons cream cheese mixture.
Place bread slices upright, side by side, in prepared dish. Pour any remaining egg mixture over bread slices. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to 2 days.
Preheat oven to 375°.
Remove casserole from refrigerator, and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Bake, covered, for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until center is set and bread is golden brown, about 30 minutes more.
Spoon sugared fruit over casserole before serving. Serve with maple syrup.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Sugared Fruit
Ingredients
1½ cups quartered strawberries
1 cup raspberries
1 cup blueberries
1 cup blackberries
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons bourbon
Directions
In a large bowl, stir together strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, sugar, and bourbon.
Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Southern Living Magazine – Jennifer Davick
Cranberry Chicken Salad
Ingredients
3 cups chopped rotisserie chicken (from 1 rotisserie chicken)
½ cup chopped celery (from 2 stalks)
1/3 cup dried cranberries
2 Tbsp. sweet pickle relish
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives, plus more for garnish
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ cup mayonnaise
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
Directions
Stir together all ingredients in a large bowl until well incorporated. Garnish with additional chives, if desired. Serve immediately or, for best results, chill, covered, at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours before serving.
Better Homes & Gardens – Photo by Melanie Acevedo
Royal Heritage Bone China Cup and Saucer – Pink Rose
Hibiscus Punch
Ingredients
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
6 whole cloves
4 hibiscus tea bags
1 ½ cups orange juice
1 ½ cups grapefruit juice
Ice cubes
2 limes, thinly sliced
Directions
In a small pot combine ¼ cup sugar, 2 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger, 6 whole cloves, and 2 cups water.
Bring to boiling over high; cook and stir 1 minute or until sugar dissolves.
Add 4 hibiscus tea bags. Let cool to room temperature.
Strain through a sieve into a large pitcher.
Stir in 1½ cups each orange and grapefruit juices.
Chill up to 24 hours. Serve with lime slices. Serves 8.
-Better Homes & Gardens
Better Homes & Gardens – Photo by Dana Gallagher
Lemon Verbena Ice Cream Pie
Ingredients
Lemon Verbena Ice Cream
1 cup milk
½ cup fresh lemon verbena leaves or 4 teaspoons lemon zest
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1 ½ cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
Ginger Shortbread Crust
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped candied ginger
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Herbs and edible flowers, such as lemon verbena, phlox, and/or roses
Directions
For Lemon Verbena Ice Cream:
In a medium saucepan heat milk and verbena or zest just to a simmer over high. Remove from heat; let steep about 30 minutes. Stir in salt.
In a medium bowl whisk together sugar and egg yolks until thick and pale. Return milk to a simmer. Gradually whisk 1/2 cup milk mixture into egg mixture. Continue whisking until smooth. Slowly add egg mixture to saucepan, stirring constantly. Cook and stir over medium-low until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and just starting to bubble. Stir in cream. Press through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl; discard solids. Stir in vanilla.
Set mixture in an ice bath to chill, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a 2-qt. ice cream freezer. Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions.
For Ginger Shortbread Crust:
Grease a 9-inch pie plate. Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl beat butter with a mixer on medium 30 seconds. Add flour, sugar, candied ginger, ground ginger, and salt. Beat until a soft dough forms.
Press dough evenly into prepared pie plate. Line with a double thickness of greased foil. Fill to top with pie weights. Bake 25 minutes.
Remove foil. Bake 10 to 12 minutes more or until dark golden brown. Let cool completely. Freeze at least 1 hour.
Spread ice cream into crust. Freeze at least 4 hours or until ice cream is firm. Let stand at room temperature 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Top with herbs and edible flowers. Makes 10 servings.
Southern Living Magazine – Photo by Antonis Achilleos
Food Styling by Torie Cox – Prop Styling by Kay E. Clarke
As easy as they are pretty, this recipe for Mini Confetti Cakes is Mother’s Day perfect.
Mini Confetti Cakes
Ingredients
1 (15 1⁄4-oz.) pkg. vanilla cake mix
3 tablespoons pink candy sprinkles
Homemade Whipped Cream (recipe below)
Edible flowers (such as violas, tuberous begonias, English daisies, and pansies)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Prepare cake batter according to package directions, stirring pink candy sprinkles into batter. Pour batter into a greased and floured 13- x 9-inch baking pan. Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 28 to 33 minutes.
Cool cake in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Invert cake onto rack; cool completely, about 45 minutes.
Prepare the sweetened whipped cream.
Cut out 15 mini cakes from cooled cake using a 2 1⁄2-inch round cutter. Slice each mini cake in half horizontally, making 2 layers per mini cake.
Using a small offset spatula, spread sweetened whipped cream on half of layers, and top with remaining layers.
Cover tops and sides of cakes with whipped cream. Press edible flowers directly onto cakes.
Homemade Whipped Topping
Ingredients
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons unsifted powdered sugar
Directions
Beat cream and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until foamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, and beat until stiff peaks form.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers, grandmothers, mother-in-laws, like a mother to me, sister moms, and best friends we celebrate and appreciate.
I hope these Mother’s Day recipes inspiration gift you with ideas for preparing a delicious treat to complement your Mother’s Day celebration.
