Arriving earlier this year, the annual celebration of mums - and mother figures - is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the leading lady in your life.
She’s been there for you through it all, from being your first friend to driving you to endless after-school activities and weekend events. This past year has been tough for all of us, but especially mums who may have had to juggle home-schooling with work, caring for relatives or just the general stress of the pandemic.
What better time then, to show her how much you care. While we’re sure she would appreciate a good natter on the phone, a lovely treat like flowers or a gift is sure to make her smile.
But to really spoil her? Well, it has to be a hamper.
Packed with gourmet treats and indulgent sweets, there are some stunning hampers to send madre this Mother’s Day. The thoughtful packages come for every taste, from all-vegan chocolate boxes to options filled with fresh bakes and a bottle of champagne.
The ES features team has selflessly volunteered their discerning palates to test out some of the nicest options around this year.
See our thoughts below.
Selfridges Mother’s Day Experience Boxes
Selfridges has offered a selection of hampers in the past, but in 2021 it’s doing Mother’s Day gifting a little differently. On the cards this year are two experience boxes, designed to celebrate mum safely at home. Choose from the luxury breakfast box (£65), filled with all the trimmings for a slap-up morning meal like smoked salmon, cream cheese, sour cherry granola and freshly baked cookies, all washed down with fresh orange juice and Columbian coffee.
For those who prefer dining later in the day, the three-course hamper comes complete with name cards, a candle and a bottle of champagne (£165). Dishes are made and prepped by Selfridges’ in-house chefs and include life-affirming dishes like burrata, chicken with parma ham and jerusalem artichoke (there’s also a veggie strozzapreti pasta option) with raspberry and rose macarons to finish. Who wouldn’t be thrilled with this?
F&M The Fit For Your Queen Hamper
If you’re looking for a posh hamper for mum this Mother’s Day, few will elicit louder squeals of joy than a basket stamped with the letters F&M. The grocer with a royal warrant Fortnum’s has long-been the place to pick up a curation of gourmet treats handsomely parcelled in a wicker basket, and it’s Mother’s Day selection is designed to delight. Options start from an exceedingly reasonable £35 right up to the bountiful £500 Afternoon Tea hamper.
Features Editor Phoebe Luckhurst tried The Mother’s Day Hamper (£100): “Nothing says ‘I really, really appreciate you, Mum’ like a Fortnum’s hamper (if it’s good enough for the Queen…). The bounty includes buttery biscuits, chocolates (sea salted caramel truffles, and milk and dark chocolate caramels), sweet preserves (apricot and raspberry) and loose tea (a special Mother’s Day blend, and a Queen Anne blend, a mixture of Assam and Ceylon).
Picking your favourite Fortnum’s treat is like picking your favourite child, but the chocolate pearl biscuits were the first to go: crumbly, buttery and packed with chunks of creamy chocolate, they complement a posh cuppa perfectly. Send this to mum in time for Mother’s Day, and you’ll definitely be the favourite.”
The Fit For Your Queen Hamper (£150) also befits the occasion. As well as lovely teas, preserves, sweets and biscuits, the hamper includes a celebratory bottle of bubbles.
Tell Your Mum You Love Her Hamper
Harvey Nichols has Mother's Day love all wrapped up in this hamper which includes a healthy selection of Foodhall favourites. Contents include booze truffles, shortbread, teas, biscuits and a non-alcoholic chardonnay.
Shop all Harvey Nichols hampers
M&S You’re Blooming Brilliant Mother’s Day Gift
Pairing flowers with fizz as well as a few sweet treats, M&S’s hamper is a great mid-range hamper to send your old mum. The gorgeous pink tulips and foliage bouquet will last ages, and will give her something to look at while she’s tucking into the pretty chocs and bottle of strawberry and orange-flavoured Mumosa. Pre-orders are open now for delivery from March 2 - 13. - Naomi May, Fashion and Shopping Writer.
PAUL Bakery Hug in a Box
Life will never be quite the same once you’ve tried PAUL’s chocolate-speckled croissant loaf. It disappeared 30 seconds after I set eyes on it, and I came to with a croissant flake-flurry falling around my shoulders. For your own sake, add one to your basket once you’ve secured PAUL’s Hug in a Box hamper for your mum, which includes this slice of heaven and more.
Along with the loaf of dreams, the package includes a dozen pastel-hued macarons, chunky shortbread biscuits, a packet of freshly ground coffee and a litre of PAUL’s famous hot chocolate. Pre-order is open now with delivery made nationwide between March 8 and 14. - Abha Shah, Digital Shopping Writer.
Lanson Champagne Le Rose x Pearl & Groove hamper
You can’t go wrong with cake and champagne for Mother’s Day. Inside the Lanson x Pearl and Groove Mother’s Day box you get a lemon syrup cake featuring lemon buttercream with pressed edible flowers and sprinkles, as well as a pistachio and rose water cake covered in a pastel pink rose water buttercream, dried rose, pistachio crumb and a touch of glitter.
I have but a humble palate so usually don’t get any more adventurous than a red velvet cake, yet both flavours were a delight for my tastebuds and paired beautifully with the fruity and delicate Lanson Le Rosé. The cakes are part of Pearl and Groove’s gluten-free cake range. Speaking as someone who usually avoids gluten-free renditions of any of my carby faves, these were seriously yummy.
A great treat for the mummies out there who would rather be brunching with the girls than scoffing the same old packet of digestives on the sofa. - Natasha Mwansa, Features Social Media Producer.
Delicario We Love Mum hamper
Holidays may be on hold, but you can still transport mum to the continent with Delicario’s cute hamper. She’ll fall upon this wicker basket (great storage once the contents have been devoured), filled with five gourmet foodie treats. I’m talking Sicilian green olive pate, toasted hazelnuts from Piedmont, slivers of prosciutto crudo and Marettimo sheep cheese along with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. With the weather on the up, here’s hoping for a sunny March 14 so she can enjoy it all as she should, in the glorious spring sunshine. - Abha Shah, Digital Shopping Writer.
Mother’s Day Luxury Rosé Hamper
Treat rosé-loving mums to this indulgent gift hamper filled with chocolates, clotted cream fudge bites, a trio of macarons and topped off with a crisp bottle of pale French rosé. The wine, by Domaine D’Hondrat, comes in a chic glass bottle with a glass stopper, perfect for recycling as a table water bottle later.
Alongside a slab of strawberry Champagne-flavoured white chocolate, an accompanying box of chocs comes wrapped in gold paper with a pretty bow, and everything is housed in a generous-sized wicker basket that’s also ideal for reusing as storage.
It’s a scrumptious afternoon tea ensemble for mums with a sweet-tooth. - Rosie Fitzmaurice, Features Commissioning Editor & Wellness Editor
Hotel Chocolat The All Dark Vegan Chocolate Hamper
A dark chocolate delight for vegan mums. Vegan or not, if you love dark chocolate or mildly sweet treats then you’re going to relish this gift box. Made from 70 - 80 per cent cocoa, the hamper contains a mix of bite-sized goodness and chunky slabs for when a mouthful is just enough.
A super-smooth praline slice and spicy ginger puddles will entice you into trying the solid slabs - especially the fruit and nut one studded with almonds, hazelnuts and Montmorency cherries giving it a delicate acidity. There is also an assorted selection of eight - for sharing of course. - Radhika Aligh, Head of Video.
Paxton & Whitfield Mother’s Day Hampers
The UK’s oldest cheesemongers Paxton & Whitfield are encouraging you to give your mum the ultimate present this Mother’s Day - and it’s as cheesy as you’d expect. For the occasion, they have launched not one, not two but three dairy-filled gift ideas sure to tickle her tastebuds.
Get a Zoom cheese and wine night on the agenda with the Mother’s Day Cheese Treat Gift Box (£40) that contains three artisan cheeses; a Camembert-style Tunworth, Kirkham’s Lancashire - a traditional farmhouse cheese, and the creamy, nutty Celtic Capra as well as Buttermilk biscuits, caramelised onion chutney and Sea Salt Cotswold Fudge for dessert.
There’s also the March Cheese Treat (£60) with a seasonal collection of the best of the month and the Online Cheese Tasting (£45) for a more interactive present where you can sample some of the finest artisan creations from women cheesemakers alongside an expert. - Ellie Davis, Acting Shopping Editor.
Order by March 10.
Mother's Day Afternoon G&Tea
If you can't be together this Mother's Day, bring a smile to her face with a gin-soaked afternoon tea hamper instead, courtesy of Bombay Sapphire.
Each wicker basket comes with a selection of build-your-own snarnies, tea, gin miniatures and mixers, complete with garnishes. And of course, it wouldn't be afternoon tea without scones, clotted cream and jam, which is included too.
Get one sent to both of you and organise a virtual catchup on the day.
Morrisons The Best Mother’s Day Breakfast in Bed
Let her enjoy a lie-in and bring her (or recruit her spouse) breakfast in bed thanks to Morrisons' generous bundle. The celebration meal comes with buttermilk pancakes, maple syrup, orange juice, dry cured bacon and sausages, along with Breakfast Tea and cookies as a special treat.
Not Another Bill Mother's Day Hamper
A splendid array of treats await mum in Not Another Bill's hamper. Build yours with everything from chocolates and foodie treats to beauty products for a proper pampering. Everything comes beautifully wrapped and delivered in time for the day, along with a handwritten note and tulips - it's all in the details, after all.
Sofitel London St James Mother’s Day Hamper
With foreign travel on pause for the moment, this hamper will treat your mum to the staycation feel that she deserves with a gift voucher for a luxurious hotel experience at the London-based Sofitel London St James. Opt between afternoon tea for two in the newly revamped Rose Lounge or a set lunch at the Wild Honey restaurant. If you want to treat her to a premium pampering, the voucher can be redeemed in the Sofitel Spa on the likes of massages or facial treatments.
But it doesn’t end there, she will also be able to replicate the hotel experience at home with a bottle of bubbly, pint-sized Hermes amenities, a L’Occitane pouch with mini varieties of the French label’s best-selling hand cream, a velvet cake from French chocolatiers Valrhona, cocktail bottles and snacks that look right out of the hotel’s mini bar.
