In Celebration of Mothers
A sweet and tender Pear, Nutmeg & Ginger Cake, our best-ever baking recipes to make with or for the motherly figures in your life, ideas for brunch, plus a couple of gift ideas if you’re in a pinch.
It’s hard to believe that it is May already. The beginning of the year is always such a whirlwind with the end of summer holidays, getting back into the swing of things, and then suddenly, it’s Mother’s Day.
In Wānaka, Annabel has been busy making ceramics (more of that to come!) which she has been loving. Her mother, Anne was an incredibly talented potter, so it is wonderful to carry on the tradition. Rose has recently returned from a trip to Stockholm to visit her godmother, Birgitta, who is also an acclaimed potter! A theme seems to be emerging. It’s fascinating to think that for almost as long as we have cooked, we have made vessels to cook and eat with. Clay is such a tactile material to work with, and in many ways, working with clay is a lot like cooking. Coaxing something out of nothing, using the elements to change its matter and form, and waiting patiently to see what the end result will be…
For both of us, some of our earliest food memories are in the kitchen learning to cook with our mothers. For Annabel, she remembers sitting on a stool in the kitchen, watching her mother cook, and then becoming hooked herself. For Rose, she recalls a fixation with licking the spoon and the whisk attachment on the family Kenwood. A thick chocolate cake batter or a light-as-air meringue mixture were always the most sought after.
Spending time with your kids in the kitchen is a great way to encourage an early interest in cooking and gain some basic skills that will equip you for life. It’s also a fun and low-cost way to spend quality time together and (hopefully) create something delicious to eat. For both of us, our love for cooking started with a love of baking — with warm ovens and mouth-watering scents filling the house, waiting patiently to see if the cake will rise, and of course, the best part — eating your creations. Baking is essentially chemistry in action, so you do need to follow recipes exactly if you want the desired outcome. Make sure you read the whole recipe before you start, measure carefully, and have fun! It's like riding a bike — the more you do it the easier it gets.
Here are some of our favourite baking recipes to make with or for the motherly figures in your life — as you might’ve already gathered, we can’t get enough of these Spinach & Feta Pinwheel Scones. These scrumptious scones come together in a flash and are green enough to make you feel good. They are super easy and fun to make with kids, and you can make them with frozen spinach to cut down on costs too.
Another child-friendly scone recipe is these Three-Ingredient Cheese Scones which are about as simple as it gets and are tasty to boot. On the sweet side of things, you can’t go wrong with this foolproof recipe for Lemonade Scones which we love serving alongside some homemade Strawberry or Apricot Jam (great to make with frozen fruit).
Citrus is just starting to come into season, and what better way to celebrate than with Annabel’s famous Orange Lightning Cake, which gets its name from the speed in which it comes together. It’s so quick and simple and yet it has an amazing flavour, like something your grandmother might have made — that has everyone coming back for seconds. You can use sultanas or raisins.
Last weekend Annabel revisited our Italian Plum & Almond Cake from Summer at Home, which was a roaring success. This wonderfully tender cake is perfect for a celebration. The tartness from the plums balances out the sweetness from the cake perfectly. You can make this with whatever seasonal fruit you like — we recommend apricots, apples, pears, or persimmons.
And of course, we haven’t forgotten Anne’s famous Chocolate Chip Cookies — a childhood favourite that makes for a lovely gift in a big cake tin with a thoughtful card.
Now for the best part — we developed this fabulous Pear, Nutmeg & Ginger Cake last autumn and we are thrilled to finally it share with you here. It has a delicious biscuit base that gives the cake a wonderful texture, and the nutmeg is such a warming, nostalgic spice. As soon as we made this, we knew it was a winner — the rich pears and heady spices balance the sweetness so perfectly. This is a recipe you’ll come back to again and again and is perfect for this time of year.
Be sure to tune in to RNZ on Sunday morning where we will be talking about Mother’s Day, this delicious cake, and our exciting new weekly newsletter — What to Cook Tonight.
Sunday Brunch
A tradition we had growing up was to have a special brunch for Mother’s Day. When Rose was little she and her brother Sean always made breakfast in bed for Annabel on the day. Over the years this evolved into a more civilised brunch that gets served around 11am, with everyone chipping in to help out.
You can’t beat a good omelette. Rose has been making a version of this Best-Ever Omelette since she first left home at 17. If you want it to be more substantial, we love to fry off some mushrooms in butter and add those in when you add the cheese. This recipe is very flexible, you can throw in whatever you have to hand — crispy bacon, sautéed kale, or other leafy greens. If you have goat cheese or feta, great, if not, that's okay too. Be patient with your eggs and cook them gently over a low heat, or they will be rubbery and overcooked on the outside and undercooked in the middle. A good trick to have up your sleeve is to add a little salt to the eggs when you whisk them (rather than once they are cooked), this ensures they will be more tender and you won’t get any of that undesirable watery liquid coming out of them.
Corn fritters are always welcome, especially when they are nice and light. We love serving these Gluten-Free Corn Fritters with guacamole, poached eggs, rocket, and Green Summer Sauce. The rice flour in the batter makes them super crispy, and the curry powder adds a nice depth of flavour. If you don’t have curry powder, the same amount of ground cumin is also delicious.
For those with a sweet tooth, we suggest whipping up a batch of light as air pancakes. These Buttermilk Pancakes are as good as it gets — buttermilk is the secret to super-tender pancakes, which are a universal favourite treat for a lazy weekend breakfast. Here we’ve served them with blueberries in syrup but they are great with maple syrup, bananas, and bacon, or lemon juice and sugar — as you wish!
If you are entertaining or wanting something a little more substantial, an excellent cheat’s brunch that Rose picked up from a childhood friend is to purchase a side of hot-smoked salmon. Warm it gently in the oven for 10-15 minutes and zhuzh it up with baby rocket, pomegranate seeds, thinly sliced chilli, and herbs. Voila! Brunch is served! We love this alongside some fresh bread, mayo, more Green Summer Sauce, a big green salad like this Everyday Green Salad, and perhaps some Crunchy Potatoes with Thyme or a Herbed Potato & Egg Salad.
Now is also an appropriate time to revisit this fab recipe for a Smoked Salmon & Leek Quiche which is perfect for mothers and daughters alike. You can use storebought pastry if you’re tight for time. Pair this with a crunchy green salad and a crisp white wine for a match made in heaven.
What to Cook Tonight
We have had an overwhelming amount of support for our new newsletter which is really exciting for us both. We are spending a lot of time working on this, so it is fantastic to know that it is being well received. Thank you so much!
For our paid subscribers, keep an eye out for our next dispatch on Sunday morning. We're heading back to Europe with our flavour profiles — all things pizza, pasta, and salad — the prefect trio! If you’re in a last-minute pinch and want to get your mother something she’ll love and use, consider gifting her a subscription to What to Cook Tonight.
If you’re wanting to gift something more tactile, Annabel’s autobiography, Bella: My Life in Food is a vivid recount of a huge and varied life that many women will resonate with, in one way or another. From her childhood fascination with cooking to a teenage flirtation as a Maoist hippie, to possum trapping and living off the land as a hunter and forager, to travelling and starting her own croissant business in Brazil, Annabel's life has always been centred on food and nature. Out of this came an obsession with creating cookbooks, introducing a generation of cooks to her simple recipes for delicious, stylish meals. You can purchase the book via our online store or at good bookstores nationwide.
Thanks for joining us! We hope you find some time to cook yummy food and enjoy the company of those you love this weekend. If you have any feedback, thoughts, ideas, comments, etc, please let us know by commenting below — or you can find us at hello@langbein.com.
With all our love, and a big hug from,
Annabel & Rose xx
You’re currently a free subscriber to the Langbein Newsletter, if you would like to upgrade your account and receive our weekly meal plans and recipes in What to Cook Tonight, consider becoming a paid subscriber for $8 a month or $80 a year.
What cute pictures of little Rose licking the whipping attachment. Also, your pie looks very appetizing.🧡
Just love reading your news letter Thankyou
Reekie Davis