Twelve wallet-friendly yet wow Mother’s Day ideas from cooking kits to ‘Goldilocks’ treats

Roses are red, violets are blue, a memorable Mother’s Day is not hard to do – at least not this year. From DIY gestures that are also wallet-friendly to a cooking class highlighting little-known dishes to a box of sweet treats by some of the city’s best bakers, you can forget flowers and chocolates. These gifts will wow.

Piccolina bon bons

Not too big, not too small, these might be the Goldilocks of sweet treats. Shattery chocolate coatings, including white chocolate and almond, give way to Piccolina gelato fillings with as many layers as mum. There are hemispheres of apple compote and cinnamon gelato, a gooey peanut butter-caramel number, or understated pistachio. The cute 1960s packaging seals the deal.

$45 for box of 5. Pre-order at piccolinagelateria.com.au or purchase from any Piccolina store while stocks last.

High tea at Queen Victoria Market

Chances are you’ve taken mum to high tea before – but at a bustling food market? That’s bound to be remembered. Primo caterers Tommy Collins are putting out tiered stands in the Queen Victoria Market’s C shed all day Sunday. There’s cinnamon knots and smoked salmon-filled croissants for the breakfast crowd, then finger sandwiches, lemon meringue tart and more at lunch, plus mimosas, fruit and juices from the market all day.

$85 (food and drink), Sunday, May 12 10am-noon or 1pm-3pm, C Shed, Queen Victoria Market, Queen Street, Melbourne, qvm.com.au/mothers-day

Maker & Monger scones pack

Prahran Market’sMaker & Monger is renowned for cheese (and killer toasties). But this Mother’s Day is all about scones. It’s selling DIY kits of top-quality ingredients – like Gippsland Jersey buttermilk and salted butter, and Rodolphe Le Meunier creme fraiche – so you can bake your best at home, using a recipe fromFlour & Stone’s Nadine Ingram. Mum will also get a copy of the latest Swill Magazine, plus you can add on vino.

$55; $110 with wine. Pre-order at makerandmonger.com.au for pick-up from May 9 to 12 at Maker & Monger.

South African cooking class with Almay Jordaan

Does your mum get a kick out of expanding her recipe repertoire? Book her (or the whole family) into a special workshop by Almay Jordaan, head chef and co-owner of Neighbourhood Wine and Old Palm Liquor. She’s bringing her South African heritage to Brunswick Kitchen to share how to make dishes like fragrant Cape Malay lamb curry with savoury doughnuts, and Old Palm’s signature flatbread with labneh and sumac.

$140, Saturday, May 11, 5pm-7pm, Brunswick Kitchen, 1/288 Albert Street, Brunswick East, brunswickkitchen.com.au

Desserts of the Day box

Three exciting sweet-treat purveyors are pooling their expertise for a one-off Mother’s Day dessert box that will have her whole day sorted. Breakfast is croissants (mandarin-almond and red velvet) by Paul Kennedy of buzzy Bayswater bakery Drom. Lunch is cake slices (including the famous eight-layer carrot creation) by Rosemary Andrews, the ex-Attica pastry chef behind Malvern cake shop Mietta. And to finish? Petits gateaux, or little French cakes, by Robyn Curnow of The Hatter & The Hare.

$115 for a box of six desserts. Pre-order at hhcafe.shop for pick-up on May 12 between 11am and 3pm at Drom, Mietta or The Hatter & The Hare.

Brunetti Classico kid-friendly cooking kits

Letting the kids loose in the kitchen to cook on Mother’s Day isn’t always the best idea. But with Brunetti’s simple DIY pizza and gnocchi kits, results (and, OK, maybe a little mess) are practically guaranteed. Each kit comes with two serves of prepared gnocchi and pizza dough that’s ready to cook, plus accompaniments: toppings for margherita pizza, and vibrant tomato sauce for gnocchi alla sorrentina.

$40 (gnocchi) and $30 (pizza). Pre-order at brunetticlassico.com.au or on 03 7034 7066 for pick-up in Carlton or delivery.

Dine at D.O.C for a good cause

If carbs are the way to your mum’s heart, there’s no better place to win her over than D.O.C, spinning artisan pizzas since 2004. On Mother’s Day, every slice you eat will spread the love beyond your table: the team are donating $1 from each pizza sold to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, funding research in Australia. Better order another capricciosa.

Locations in Carlton, Mornington, St Kilda, Southbank, docgroup.net

Four banquets that won’t break the bank

On Sunday May 12, Collingwood brewery restaurant Molly Rose is doing a three-course set menu for $55; Balaclava’s Moonhouse has all-you-can-eat yum cha (which it’s calling “mum cha”) for $59; West Footscray’s Harley & Rose is serving a generous spread of antipasti, wood-fired chicken and layer cake for $75 (or $20 for kids); and Brunswick East’s Noisy Ritual is doing a four-course Sunday roast headlined by slow-roasted sumac chicken (or baked celeriac) plus live jazz for $50, a great way to check out new chef Mertcan Dogusgen (ex-Attica, Little Andorra).

And one that might

No recently opened restaurant is as grandiose and glamorous as Reine & La Rue, the Nomad’s group reimagining of the Melbourne Stock Exchange, named best new restaurant in The Age Good Food Guide 2024. For a lavish celebration, book the multi-course Mother’s Day feast served share-style beneath the cathedral ceiling, complete with beautiful bits and pieces you can add on when you book. There’s your choice of Le Salon Aux Fleurs florals, Aesop gifts, or a box of six macarons for some extra sweetness.

$220, Sunday May 12, lunch or dinner, 380 Collins Street, Melbourne, reineandlarue.melbourne