TOM KITCHIN: "Most mums will be thankful for the little gestures that show they're appreciated" Mother's Day is the perfect time to get together as a family and make mums - and grandmothers - feel special. In my eyes, the best gifts are often those you make yourself, and I know that most mums will be thankful for the little gestures that show they're appreciated. Sundays are a rare day off for us, as the restaurant is closed, so we always try to make the most of them and spend time as a family. We like to get together and spoil the ladies on Mothering Sunday, and this year my mum and dad will be joining us at our house for some afternoon tea. I know that both my mum and my wife relish the chance to enjoy an afternoon tea, so I will be helping our elder son Kasper to make some delicious home-made gifts for them. Sweet treats are a great way to celebrate and say thank you, and you can find some simple yet delicious recipes that even the smaller members of the family can help make. We recently went to a close friend's children's party, where another of our friends, Ailsa Ramage, who is very talented when it comes to baking, had created some beautiful cupcakes that inspired me. She kindly passed on her recipe to me and so we will be making the cupcakes ourselves as a special gift for this coming Mother's Day. You can use this simple recipe and decorating instructions to make vanilla cupcakes, but you can, of course, decorate them in any way you like. It's fun to be creative, and you can use your mum's favourite flavours and colours so they're just perfect for her. For me, the delicate frosting and pastel colours I've used here just sing spring. Mother's Day falls at a time when spring is just around the corner and the clocks are getting set to jump forward, giving us lighter, brighter days. It's always a really exciting time for me in the kitchen as we welcome the fresh new ingredients of the season in all their colourful glory. At this time of year, I look forward to the new season with anticipation and can't wait to start working with all of the fresh green vegetables and wild spring herbs again. Another favourite ingredient of mine that arrives with spring is rhubarb. It's a great one to remember if you're making food gifts as it gives a lovely seasonal spin to lots of different desserts, jams and cakes. It tends to come into season towards the end of spring, but you can get your hands on some forced rhubarb at this time of year - it has a slightly sweeter, juicier flavour and an intense pink-champagne colour, which makes it ideal for delicate desserts. Rhubarb is perfect for making chutneys and sauces and its tart taste is ideal when combined with sugary foods like macaroons. I like to make a big batch of rhubarb compote and keep it for my macaroon recipe, but I also use it in many other ways - as an accompaniment to other desserts or even with meat and fish dishes such as duck or mackerel. Macaroons are small, light biscuits that characteristically have a crunchy outside and a very soft inside. They are the perfect edible present and look both pretty and impressive, yet they are actually simpler to make at home than many people might think - you just need a little practice and a lot of patience, but it's certainly worth it in the end. The French patisserie method of making macaroons is the easiest to follow. They are generally made with a combination of freshly ground almonds, sugar and egg whites, though you can make flavoured macaroons with the addition of ingredients such as coffee, chocolate, nuts or fruit. There's no denying that macaroon-making is a delicate process. The key is in getting the consistency just right - you need to whisk the mixture until it's really light and fluffy. It's also important to get the right balance between colour, flavour and texture. This recipe is also relatively good for getting the children involved at different stages - even the younger ones can have a lot of fun just choosing and adding the food colouring, or sandwiching the macaroons together. We plan to make bright pink ones for Mother's Day so we will be flavouring ours with homemade rhubarb compote and using pink food colouring, but you can add any flavours you like. Or, if you're feeling really adventurous and truly want to impress your mum, you can try making a few different colours. You can lay them all out on a plate or stand, or wrap them up in a small bag or box tied with ribbon as the ideal gift. That's the beauty of both these recipes, the cupcakes and the macaroons. You can have so much fun personalising them to suit your mum's favourite flavours, tastes and colours. Not only are hand-made gifts a lot of fun to make, a personal card is also sure to make your mum smile. As well as lending a hand with the treats, I'll also be helping the boys to make a card for their mum, which they can present to her on the day. Once the baking is done, we will pour a lovely pot of tea and maybe a glass of sparkling pink fizz to go with the sweets, so the mums can sit back, relax and enjoy all our hard work. I think the real icing on the cake for them will be leaving all the tidying up afterwards to the men in the house. I hope you can use some of these ideas to make your Mother's Day special too. Ailsa Ramage's Vanilla Cupcakes Makes 18 cupcakes 100g margarine 100g caster sugar 4 eggs ½ tsp vanilla extract 100g self-raising flour Vanilla buttercream icing 150g unsalted butter (room temp) 275g icing sugar vanilla extract 1-2 tbsp milk Preheat the oven to 170C/gas mark 3. Place the cupcake cases into two 12-cup muffin tins. Beat the margarine and sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy. Crack the eggs into a jug and whisk lightly with a fork. Gradually beat the eggs into the mixture and then add the vanilla extract. Sift the flour and baking powder together and gently fold into the mixture using a metal spoon. Using an ice-cream scoop for even distribution, fill each case two-thirds full. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden and springy to touch. For the vanilla buttercream icing Beat the softened, unsalted butter using an electric hand whisk or free-standing mixer until smooth. Sift half of the icing sugar into the bowl and mix into the butter. Sift in the remaining icing sugar and beat on a high speed until smooth and combined. Add a few drops of vanilla extract and mix again. To make the icing easier to pipe on the cupcakes, add one or two tablespoons of milk and beat to soften the icing. Decorating the cupcakes Put a closed star-shaped piping nozzle into a piping bag and fill it with the buttercream. Make sure you have a firm grip of the piping bag and, holding it at a 45-degree angle to the cake, pipe in a clockwise circular motion to create a swirl on top of each cupcake. Small edible decorations such as hearts and flowers are available from specialist cake shops. Place one decoration on the top of each cupcake and finish by dusting all the cakes with a little edible glitter (also available from specialist shops). To make the glitter heart decorations, spread edible glue on to a white heart shape and brush on the desired colour of edible glitter until completely covered. Rhubarb Macaroons 90g ground almonds 165g icing sugar 80g egg whites 105g sugar 2-3 drops food colouring 3 tbsp rhubarb compote In a mixer, combine the ground almonds and icing sugar. Separate a quarter of this mixture into another bowl. Whisk the egg whites until they start to form peaks and then gradually add the sugar to make a firm meringue. Take a large spoon of the meringue mixture and fold in to the quarter of the mixture that has been set aside. Add the food colouring to the mixture at this stage - but just remember, a little goes a long way. Then add the remaining meringue to the rest of the dry ingredients. Lastly, add the coloured mixture to the meringue and combine. Now place the mixture into a piping bag with a round nozzle. Prepare a baking tray with greaseproof paper and pipe the macaroon mix on to it in discs approximately the size of a 50p coin - or whatever size you wish. Allow these to rest in an airy place for about 30 minutes. Now bake the macaroons in the oven at 120C/gas mark ½ for 25 minutes. Once the macaroons are cooked, spread the rhubarb compote on half of them, then place another on top so the compote is sandwiched between two. Note that rhubarb compote can be replaced with a good-quality jam of your choice.