while british mums had their one day a year of breakfast in bed and flowers back in march, aussie and american mothers will be celebrated next sunday. rather than buying some sad, petrol-station bouquet and a disappointing sara lee cake en route to your mother’s, how about baking a beautiful and tasty treat to show mum you care?

these lemon meringue cupcakes are the perfect post-sunday lunch dessert. light, zingy and fluffy, they are mouth-watering delicious without being too heavy. i used this martha stewart recipe – it takes some concentration and time to assemble the cupcakes, lemon curd and fluffy frosting, so set aside about an hour and a half to prepare them – surely you can spare that time for mum?

the cupcakes have lemon zest, juice and buttermilk in them, making them so light and fluffy, but packed full of flavour. worlds away from those crumbly, dull cupcakes with the rock hard icing you get from the store.

biting into these sweet little cakes, the lemon curd is sharp and fresh after the buttery base, and the marshmallowy meringue frosting is light as air and not too sweet.

i tried a few different nozzles on my icing bag, but decided in the end that i preferred the rustic look of just spooning the frosting on in a fat, delicious blob.

if you don’t have a kitchen torch, do as i did and sit the cupcakes under a hot grill for 20-30 seconds, but watch them carefully, they brown quickly.

i live in a different country to my mother, so i’ll make these, send her a picture and then, i suppose, eat them myself. wouldn’t want to be wasteful. the thought is there mum!

these little delights are also perfect for picnics, baby showers, birthdays or any time you need a little break from chocolate but refuse to compromise on your sugar intake, like moi.

(disclaimer: eat with a napkin to hand – you will get frosting all over your nose as you gobble these up, with any sense of decorum out the window at first bite.)