This gift guide will bring you a selection of our favourite Mother’s Day cakes from local businesses across Portsmouth. From certified home bakers to independent coffee shops, this year we should all pledge to support local. We may not be able to take our mums to their favourite restaurants this year or cook a family roast, but we can still show our love with a delicious gift.
Here’s a selection of local cakes and bakes that you can easily order online, pick up in Portsmouth or have delivered before or on the 14th of March.
Les Macarons de Pauline
Macarons make the perfect gift as they are so pretty and usually come in a variety of different colours. I don’t know many people who make their own macarons and I’ve heard they are a fairly hard bake to perfect, so I couldn’t wait to try Pauline’s – who, by the way, is from the birthplace of macarons – France! Mother’s Day gift boxes contain macarons with a gradient pink palette and beautifully decorated tops. Flavours include:
- Strawberry cheesecake
- Champagne
- Rose
- Earl Grey
- Pistachio
The macarons were beautifully presented in a smart gift box with a bow.
We really enjoyed every flavour with our favourite being pistachio. The outer shell was nice and light, with a slight crisp, and the inside was soft and a little chewy. The flavoured fillings had a ganache-like consistency. The textures were just perfect and I rate these macarons on par with the likes of Ladurée and Pierre Hermé, which if you’ve been to Paris, is a pretty big deal.
Choose from a box of six for £8 (three flavours) or a box of ten for £12 (four flavours). Pre-order your Mother’s Day macarons before the 7th of March via Instagram or Facebook . Collection from Cosham on the 12th and 13th of March.
All About Cake
All About Cake specialise in celebration cakes and for this Mother’s Day, they are offering a unique gift box with six cupcakes, which we excitedly sampled. These cupcakes were incredibly light and bouncy, just like a cupcake should be. The frosting was beautifully done – it looked just like a rose, very pretty indeed and something most mums would appreciate.
Each box of six cupcakes contains two flavours:
- Raspberry and white chocolate chip cupcake, covered with white chocolate buttercream
- Lemon cupcake with a lemon compote filling surprise, covered with strawberry buttercream.
We tried the lemon cupcakes. They contained a refreshing lemon curd filling which was intense and flavoursome and complemented the buttercream well. We really enjoyed the lemon flavour, it felt lighter than other, more chocolatey flavours, and they felt very apt for spring.
Included with these cupcakes is a beautiful card by the lovely Miss Bespoke Papercuts and a “Life doesn’t come with a manual, it comes with a mother” quote mounted onto a card.
Everything you need for Mother’s Day at a cost of £20 with free delivery to postcodes PO1-PO5 (can deliver further for additional cost) or collection from Portsmouth on the 13th of March. Order via Instagram or Facebook.
For the Love of Bakes
For the Love of Bakes specialises in blondies, brownies and cookies and are offering a Mother’s Day treat box and boxes of cupcakes this Mother’s Day. We sampled the treat box which contains a nice selection of good quality bakes surrounded by old school treats like white chocolate pretzels and strawberry bonbons. This gift is great for mums who like to try different things. Included is:
- Triple chocolate brownie
- White chocolate and raspberry stuffed cookie
- Mothers Day cupcake (vanilla, choc or lemon)
- Lemon and white chocolate blondie
Let’s start with the brownie, which had a rich, dark flavour and a great consistency – soft on the inside and crispy on top. The giant stuffed cookie was just like cookie dough, different to any other cookie I’ve tried before, but in a positive way. This was Southsea Snapper’s favourite. My favourite was the lemon blondie. Lemon isn’t usually a flavour you’d find in a blondie but this worked really well and the lemon was only on top, the rest contained white chocolate chips. It was well baked and nice and sticky. The Mother’s Day cupcake was a nice touch and would help make your mum feel special.
This Mother’s Day treat box is £12 and you can also choose from a box of six cupcakes for £12 or ten for £20. All goodies can be posted anywhere in the UK via their Etsy shop, especially handy if your mum doesn’t live in Portsmouth. For those more local, you can also order via Instagram or Facebook and get local delivery for postcodes PO1-PO5.
Morello’s Cakery
Head baker Nicola has just returned to Portsmouth but has been making celebration cakes, afternoon teas and treat boxes for many years, with extensive experience in vegan and gluten-free baking.
Afternoon Tea is always a hit with mums (and daughters!) and you can pick one up from Morello’s Cakery this Mother’s Day. Included is:
- Roasted tomato and brie tart
- Smoked paprika sausage roll
- Zesty orange Eccles cake
- Eton mess rocky road
- Apple streusel cupcake
- Cherry scones with cream and jam
- Luxury tea
Vegan/gluten-free version available too
We were lucky enough to taste a wide selection of treats from Morello’s Cakery, both vegan and non-vegan which Mum (vegan) really appreciated. We were both really impressed with the quality of these bakes and the professional presentation.
I particularly enjoyed the vegan sticky toffee slice and Mum’s favourite was the vegan cherry brownie. It isn’t often I choose a vegan cake as my favourite but this was ever so moist and flavoursome.
Afternoon teas are £18 and available for collection from Southsea on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 March. Pre-order via Instagram or head over to their website to find out more.
Sweet Science
Sweet Science Patisserie has practically got us through lockdown with their generous samples. We’ve tried Bakewell cheesecake blondies, kinderella rocky road and a Milky Bar cheesecake – all weird and wacky combinations. This Mother’s Day, Sweet Science are offering a box of four unique cupcakes with flavours
- Champagne
- Strawberry gin and tonic
- Blackberry and white chocolate
- Strawberry chocolate fudge
We haven’t tried these cupcakes but we’ve tried Oreo cupcakes in the past and they were very indulgent and perfect for those with a sweet tooth. You can read our full review of their products here. To order, head over to their website and choose from a collection in Southsea or delivery as far as Waterlooville, Fareham and Southampton.
The Steam Room
For those of you who have left it a little late (like I usually do!) there’s still time to pick up something tasty on the big day without having to pre-order. Head down to The Steam Room on Elm Grove and choose from a selection of freshly-baked cakes. We’d like to say we’ve tried them all, but The Stream Room has a habit of surprising us with a new cake or savoury item every week and I think we’re yet to try the latest addition.
The quality of ingredients here is sublime. Mum and Southsea Snapper rate their bakes too with our favourites being:
- Vegan dark chocolate cookie
- Carrot cake
- Bakewell slice
- Triple chocolate brownie
You can read our full review of their food and coffee here.
Head down early so you can grab a speciality coffee and to be sure you’ll have plenty of cakes to choose from, or why not bring your mum and treat her to a brew too?
We hope this has given you a little taster of delicious Mother’s Day cakes from Portsmouth. Show your mum you care with cake this year and do your bit in supporting local businesses. If your business would like to feature in a guide like this, please contact us at info@livelifelovecake.com and follow us on Instagram. Thank you to the Southsea Snapper for the photographs.
Finally, we’d like to wish every mum a very Happy Mother’s Day,
Helen & Alison x
All samples were gifted.