If your mum’s favourite place is in the kitchen - either making food or eating it - then the gift of gourmet is the perfect option when it comes to a special occasion.
Whether it’s her birthday, Mothering Sunday, Christmas or any other big occasion that calls for a little gift-wrapped something, a food or drink-focused present will tickle her foodie taste buds.
With so many options, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to collect the best ideas and present them below to make shopping for the perfect gift much easier.
From workhorse appliances to streamline cooking and wonder tools that make tough jobs easy, to gins that will make her heart sing, see our favourite food and drink gifts for your old lady below.
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Harvey Nichols Blooming Lovely Mother’s Day Hamper
Best for: floral freshness
Celebrate spring as well as Mother’s Day with Harvey Nichols’ hamper, which feels like the season in a box. The treat-packed black wicker basket is a floral dream with pink gin and a bottle of Prosecco Rosé rose-flavoured Turkish Delight, fruit and nut biscuits and a jar of delicious acacia honey, fresh from the beehive. Cheesy nibbles offer a tasty savoury note. A hamper that lives up to every word of its name; bloomin lovely.
Shop all Harvey Nicks hampers here.
Buy now £145.00, Harvey Nichols
Ninja Foodi MAX 15-in-1 SmartLid Multi-Cooker
It’s no exaggeration to say that Ninja appliances have changed our lives. We first tried its multi-cooker in lockdown; and if we were impressed with its capabilities then, it’s not a patch on what its successor can do now.
The brand spanking new 15-in-1 Ninja Foodi can practically replace your entire kitchen. It can do a range of cooking functions, from air frying and slow cooking to grill, steam and roast. It can even slow cook, using the same lid (saving you a ton of cupboard space).
Whether your mum loves whipping up family meals or could use something to make cooking easier, this Ninja is the sous chef she soon won’t be able to be without.
Buy now £319.99, Ninja
Le Creuset Cast Iron Signature Round Casserole, Shell Pink
If your mum’s happy place is the kitchen, Le Creuset’s iconic casserole dish is a superb gift. Made of strong, durable cast iron, it’s endlessly versatile: use it in the oven, on the hob, under the grill, and, when the weather improves, on the BBQ too. Comes with a lifetime guarantee.
If this particular dish is out of your budget, the French brand also offers a range of tableware that will provoke equally loud squeals of delight.
Buy now £285.00, John Lewis
Coravin Pivot
How many times have you wanted just one glass of wine but wound up drinking the whole bottle for fear it will ‘go off’ from oxidation? We’ve all been there.
Thanks to innovative wine tool Coravin Pivot though, your mum can enjoy as much or as little as she likes, and keep the rest for up to four weeks, when it will taste just as fresh. Not only does it preserve wine, but it aerates as it pours too, so her vino will taste just as the producers intended.
There’s also the Coravin Sparkling, which can preserve Champagne and other sparkling wines for up to four weeks. No longer will she have the excuse of waiting for a special occasion to sip something extraordinary. This little gadget will allow her to enjoy a little luxury, every day.
Buy now £129.99, Amazon
Papier Feast Recipe Cards
From the Hoste by Laura Jackson collection comes these Feast recipe cards so she can preserve instructions for her epic roast, curries and comfort food dishes safely. Have them personalised to make it really special.
Buy now £25.00, Papier
HexClad 20 cm Hybrid Stainless Steel Frying Pan with Stay-Cool Handle
It's the cult US brand gaining traction on home soil: HexClad, dubbed ‘the Rolls Royce of pans’ by Gordon Ramsay is making ripples in the cookware world, making one of the hybrid pans ripe adding to kitchens everywhere. Functioning like a non-stick thanks to the hexagonal grid in the pan, it performs like stainless steel with the robustness of cast iron.
We've not stopped using ours, from heating refried beans for taco night, whipping up a weeknight stir fry and searing steak before finishing it in the oven.
So confident is HexClad in its product that the hybrid pan comes with a lifetime guarantee. Available in 20cm, 25cm and 30cm, they start at £94.99.
Buy now £94.99, Amazon
Champagne Lanson Le Black Reserve 750ml
Beaming smiles are in the bag when you’re gifting a bottle of Champs, and this one comes from one of the oldest holders of the Royal Warrant.
To mark its 260th year (it’s been making liquid gold since 1760), Lanson presents Le Black Reserve. Biscuity and fruity, it’s a stunner of a gift. Well, if it’s good enough for HRH...
Buy now £54.99, Selfridges
Nouveau Wine South African White Lies
A bottle of plonk may be all good and well for the odd dinner party, but for your mum you need to go the extra mile. This bottle will transport her to the southern hemisphere as it's filled with grapes grown in South Africa's stunning Stellenbosch region.
It's perfect for the incoming season, brimming with floral and fruity notes with a crisp burst of citrus to finish. Plus, she'll have a giggle at the unusual bottle label.
Buy now £17.99, Selfridges
Big Mamma Cucina Popolare: Contemporary Italian Recipes
Serious brownie points are in store for the child that gifts the Big Mamma Cucina Popolare cookbook this Mother’s Day. Packed with delicious ideas that champion a new style of Italian cooking, there are 120 recipes she’ll be itching to try. As much a gift for you as her.
Buy now £24.75, Amazon
Charbonnel et Walker English Rose and Violet Creams
Sometimes a good box of chocolate is all you need to make your mum’s heart melt. Royal Warrant-holders Charbonnel et Walker have been around since 1875, making them a more indulgent treat than any corner shop classic.
Buy now £20.95, Chocolate Trading Co
Mirabeau Dry Rosé Gin
Presented in a beautiful blush pink bottle, this dry gin is infused with rose petals and wild botanicals plucked from the Mirabeau wine estate in France. The delicate flavours are lovely in a cocktail or classic G&T, served with plenty of ice and a wedge of lemon to coax out the citrus notes.
Buy now £36.00, Majestic
Black Lines Spicy Tommy’s Margarita
Give your Mother’s Day happy hour a tropical spin and whisk her to Mexico, by way of Black Lines Spicy Tommy’s Margarita. Spiked with a hint of chilli to liven things up, the ready-to-drink mix promises to get the party started. Pour over ice, add a wedge of freshly cut lime and enjoy!
Buy now £20.95, Master of Malt
Konditor Brownie Sharing Platter of 12
When it comes to brownies, everyone likes something slightly different: gooey, cake-like or less sweet. Impressively, Konditor had universal positive feedback. In fact, there was not a bad word to be said about this eclectic selection.
Featuring Chocolate Chip, Curly Whirly, Salted Caramel and Boston Cranberry Brownies, our testers heaped praise on these sweet bites. Top marks to the Chocolate Chip which, during our rigorous testing, one fan said was the best brownie they had ever eaten.
Order 12 full squares or 24 fingers - the perfect bite-sized snack to enjoy after dinner or in the afternoon with a cup of tea. You can also bag yourself a limited time deal of two platters for £60.
Buy now £38.00, Konditor
Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque Champagne Rose
With Spring-ready notes of strawberry and raspberry, this luxe cuvee from the House of Perrier-Jouet is designed to delight from the inside out. It’s a bottle just made for big occasions like birthdays and Mother’s Day and pairs well with light, fruity desserts in particular.
Buy now £230.00, Selfridges
Hotel Chocolat The Velvetiser
Made by Dualit, Hotel Chocolat’s Velvetiser comes in at just shy of £100 for the machine alone, but you’ll want to add in the variety pack of shaved chocolate sachets, which are also available as vegan versions, and in the exact 35g proportions required by the Velvetiser. It’s not pocket money, but a sound investment if you live on hot chocolate over the winter or plan to make rounds of the stuff for visiting guests. If you’re watching the pounds keep an eye out for it in big sales, where it’s often marked down.
The device comes in four colours; rose gold is the chicest. The machine also comes with a wide whisk, a kettle-like power base and spouted jug with a handle, plus two white ceramic cups in which to pour your chocolatey elixir.
To use, simply plug in the base to a socket and fill with regular milk or plant-based milk to the measurement etched inside the pot. Add in your chocolate shavings and hit go. There’s only one button to press, which makes it foolproof to use. It will illuminate as the milk and chocolate gently heat and whirl to combine your cocoa and is ready to drink in less than three minutes at barely detectable noise levels. To clean, simply rinse the whisk and hand wash the non-stick inner of the jug.
The result is a perfectly blended indulgent hot chocolate that slips out of the jug and into your favourite mug. Add toppings and get ready to toast the most luxurious hot chocolate you can make at home.
Buy now £99.95, Hotel Chocolat
Laurent-Perrier Brut Cuveé Rosé Champagne, 75cl
As failsafe gifts go, a well-chosen bottle of bubbly is up there. Laurent-Perrier is one of the finest Champagne house’s around and its Rose version is perfect for celebrating big occasions. Expect fruity berry notes with a gentle brioche finish on the tongue.
Buy now £75.00, John Lewis
Nespresso Vertuo Next
Best for: a value-for-money route into the Nespresso club
The Nespresso Vertuo Next has pretty much all of the features you could desire from a coffee maker and a few of the extras that you may not have anticipated - namely WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. While neither of those will actively make your coffee tastier, they do help to create a seamless experience around brewing your next mug.
This budget-friendly coffee machine is quick and easy to use, promising a zero-fuss experience that allows you to have a coffee in hand in less than a minute. Despite its tiny size, it's a well-packed machine, capable of brewing up to 18 oz. of pour-over coffee. Bonus: it also comes in a range of colours.
Buy now £150.00, John Lewis
Mermaid Gin Spiced Rum
It's already well known for some of the nicest gin bottles around, but now the Isle of Wight distillery has launched a new bottle of spiced rum.
Housed in the same Venetian glass bottles as its famous gin, the pretty bottle has a golden amber hue and unites rum from Trinidad and the Dominican Republic with local fruits and spices foraged from the Isle of Wight.
Perfect for gifting as well as giving your drinks cabinet a chic update, the rum is the fifth iteration in the distillery's line-up. Try it with ginger ale for a light and refreshing serve at happy hour.
Buy now £39.90, Isle of Wight distillery
