Scratching your head while thinking of how to celebrate Mother’s Day this year? What better way to say ‘thank you’ than to bake a Mother’s Day cake from scratch! We’ve curated nine easy Mother’s Day cake recipes for a heartfelt and delicious stay-in celebration. If you don’t have an oven, fret not! We’ve also included a couple of no-bake recipes to impress mum with. From last year’s trendy Dalgona cheesecake to classic Pandan Gula Melaka cake, whip up a sweet cake for her this Mother’s Day!
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1. Easy Chocolate Cake
Who would have thought the word ‘easy’ could be associated with Chris Morocco? The test kitchen director of Bon Appetit Magazine has been known to demand only the best in the kitchen, so we naturally got excited when we saw this (actually) easy cake recipe. This recipe produces a rich, chocolatey dessert that is sure to wow. Even if you’re not too confident in your artistic abilities, Chris walks you through a couple of simple yet effective decoration ideas for a beautiful Mother’s Day cake.
Prep Time: 30-40 minutes
Cook Time: 40-45 minutes
Servings: 9-inch cake (12-20 slices)
Recipe Ingredients:
- 171g all-purpose flour
- 276g sugar
- 1 ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 50g cocoa powder
- 2 large eggs
- 163g vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- About 64g chocolate chips
- About 64g heavy cream
Recipe Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 165-degree Celsius
- Whisk together all-purpose flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Sift in cocoa powder
- In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract
- Mix wet ingredients with the dry ingredients
- Heat 1 cup milk in a small saucepan without letting it come to a boil. Thoroughly whisk warmed milk into the batter until the mixture is lump-free
- Transfer batter to greased and lined cake tin and bake for 40-45 minutes
- Meanwhile, combine chocolate chips and heavy cream in a microwave or over a bain-marie to create a chocolate ganache
- Whisk cream cheese, powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla extract together with the chocolate ganache
- Decorate the cooled cake with chocolate frosting and serve to mum!
2. No-Bake Dalgona Cheesecake
Raise your hand if you spent some time last year whisking instant coffee, sugar, and water together to create stiff peaks in an attempt to make dalgona coffee!
Bring back the memory of last year’s dalgona craze with a special dalgona cheesecake for mum. Although it looks like a dessert only pastry chefs can pull off, it’s actually a simple Mother’s Day cake to put together for those without an oven. Fun fact: Dalgona is a Korean candy made from sugar and baking soda. It actually does not use any instant coffee!
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: ~ 1 hour
Servings: 6-inch cake (6-8 slices)
Recipe Ingredients:
- 150g sugar for dalgona candy
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 90g speculoos cookies
- 40g melted butter
- 200g cream cheese
- 40g sugar
- 3g lemon juice
- 2g vanilla essence
- 5g gelatin
- 150g whipping cream
Recipe Instructions:
- Combine melted sugar and baking soda in a saucepan over low heat. Stir quickly and pour onto baking paper, press down with the base of a pot and let it chill in the refrigerator. This will form the honeycomb-like dalgona candy.
- Combine crushed speculoos cookies and melted butter to form a biscuit base at the bottom of your cake tin
- Leave your biscuit base to harden in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, take the chilled dalgona candy out of the refrigerator and smash it gently with a wooden spoon. Put aside the prettiest pieces for decoration and crumble the rest into tinier bits in a ziploc bag..
- For the cheesecake, combine softened cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla essence in a mixing bowl. Whisk well.
- Add melted gelatin, partially-whipped cream and dalgona crumble into the cheesecake mixture, stirring well after each addition
- Pour the mixture into the cake tin on top of the biscuit base and freeze for an hour
- Decorate with the dalgona candy pieces and you’re all set!
3. Strawberry Crepe Cake
You don’t need fancy baking accessories to make your mum the perfect crepe cake. All you really need to make the paper-thin crepe layers are tons of patience and a frying pan. If you’re new to baking, we recommend baking this cake. It’s a perfect cake idea for Mother’s Day for beginners with a repetitive, straightforward process.
Prep Time: 30-40 minutes
Cook Time: ~ 2 hours
Servings: 6-inch cake (6-8 slices)
Recipe Ingredients:
- 55g butter
- 3 eggs
- 110g cake flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- 50g cream cheese
- 200ml whipping cream
- 100g mascarpone cheese
- 30g sugar
- Vanilla essence
Recipe Instructions:
- Melt butter in a saucepan and stir until it’s browned. Let cool
- Combine melted butter, eggs, cake flour, baking powder, and salt and mix. This is your crepe batter
- Strain the mixture to get rid of any solid bits then let cool in the refrigerator for an hour
- Grease a nonstick frying pan over the stove and ladle a thin layer of batter to cover the base
- After a minute or so, flip it! Make sure that both sides of the crepe are golden brown.
- Repeat until all the batter has run out
- Whisk together cream cheese, whipping cream, mascarpone cheese, sugar, and a few drops of vanilla essence to create the frosting
- For neater edges, cut the crepes into perfect circles using a plate or cake tin as a guide
- Layer crepes and cream in an alternating fashion, inserting thinly-sliced strawberries after every few layers
4. Lemon Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze
Looking for a cake idea for Mother’s Day? A pound cake is perfect for treating mum to a high tea party at home! This easy Mother’s Day cake recipe doesn’t require much skill nor baking experience to put together or decorate. We adore this recipe for its beautiful balance of citrusy flavours. This cake also includes a delicious lemon glaze that melds tangy with sweetness.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30-35 minutes
Servings: About 6.5 x 3.3 x 2.5-inch loaf cake (6-8 slices)
Recipe Ingredients:
- 20g lemon pulp
- 20g sugar
- 2 eggs
- Vanilla extract
- 110g butter
- 80g sugar
- 110g all-purpose flour
- 3g baking powder
- 50g powder sugar
- 10g lemon juice
Recipe Instructions:
- Line a loaf tin and preheat the oven to 170 to 180-degree Celsius
- Mix together lemon pulp and sugar in equal parts to create a pickled lemon mixture
- In a small bowl, beat together eggs with a few drops of vanilla extract
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar, then gradually add the egg mixture in 7-8 parts
- Fold in all-purpose flour and baking powder
- Once evenly mixed, add in the pickled lemon mixture
- Scoop the cake batter into the loaf pan and bake for about 30-35 minutes
- Combine powder sugar and lemon juice and glaze the cooled cake before serving
5. Basque Burnt Cheesecake
Chances are, you’ve probably seen or heard about the infamous basque burnt cheesecake by now. It’s well-loved for its darkened, caramelised crust that hides a jiggly, creamy middle. While it certainly makes a mind-blowingly delicious Mother’s Day cake, the best part about this recipe is that it defies all the standards of how a typical cheesecake should be made or look like! In fact, this easy cake recipe is a great cake idea for Mother’s Day as it doesn’t require you to put together a biscuit base or use a water bath, making it fuss-free and time-saving.
Prep Time: 25-30 minutes
Cook Time: 30-35 minutes
Servings: 6-inch round cake tin (6-8 slices)
Recipe Ingredients:
- 120g sugar
- 420g cream cheese
- 3 eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 20g flour
- 270g cream
Recipe Instructions:
- Line a round cake tin with two sheets of baking paper, crinkling them to create a rustic effect. Preheat the oven to 240 degrees Celsius
- Beat sugar and cream cheese together until silky smooth
- Beat in eggs one at a time, taking note to scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula after each addition
- Add vanilla extract and lemon juice to the mixture
- Mix together flour and ¼ of the cream until smooth. Add in another ¼ of the cream, mix, then add the remaining cream and mix together until smooth
- Combine into the cream cheese mixture and ensure the batter is thoroughly mixed
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, then let cool fully before slicing
6. 10-minute No-Bake Tiramisu
If you’d like to shower your mum with love by making her an elegant dessert that screams atas, then tiramisu is the way to go. A simple yet tasty cake idea for Mother’s Day, this Mother’s Day cake takes only 10 minutes to prepare and doesn’t require the use of an oven! Pro tip: use your mum’s favourite type of espresso when soaking the ladyfinger biscuits to add a personal touch to this already special dessert.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: Refrigerate for 2-4 hours
Servings: 6
Recipe Ingredients:
- 225ml whipping cream
- 71g sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 225g mascarpone
- 1 tbsp amaretto
- 2 cups espresso or strong coffee
- Ladyfingers
- 1 tbsp brandy
- Cocoa powder for dusting
Recipe Instructions:
- Beat whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla until they form soft peaks
- Add mascarpone and amaretto (optional), then whip till stiff peaks appear
- Swiftly dip ladyfingers in a mix of strong coffee and brandy (optional) and arrange neatly on the base of a square tin
- Layer half of the whipped cream over the ladyfingers. Repeat with more ladyfingers and the remaining whipped cream.
- Dust with cocoa powder, then refrigerate for two to four hours before presenting to mum!
7. Pandan Gula Melaka Cake
If your mum prefers traditional Singaporean flavours, here’s an easy cake recipe you can try that’s sure to suit her palate. Like many of our delicious local desserts, it uses pandan and gula melaka. If this recipe sounds daunting as a cake idea for Mother’s Day, fear not. This step-by-step video guide ensures that even the most inexperienced bakers (and their mothers) will be able to taste sweet, sweet success in making their very first Mother’s Day cake!
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Servings: Two 9-inch cakes, stacked (12-20 slices)
Recipe Ingredients:
- 375g butter
- 330g sugar
- 5 eggs
- 375g self-raising flour
- 1 tbsp pandan paste
- 120g gula melaka
- 50ml water
- 300g sugar
- 80g cream cheese
- 100g icing sugar
- 500g non-dairy whipping cream
Recipe Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Brush two cake tins with butter and line with baking paper
- Sift your self-raising flour
- Cream butter and sugar together. Then, crack eggs into the mixture, one at a time
- Add in self-raising flour little by little while continuing to whisk the mixture at low speed
- Add in pandan paste and stir thoroughly until just combined
- Fill both cake tins evenly with batter, making sure not to fill more than halfway to prevent overflow during the baking process
- Bake for 40 minutes and test for doneness with a skewer
- While the cakes cool, chop up gula melaka into smaller cubes and dissolve in water simmering in a pot. Once the gula melaka mixture reduces slightly, set aside to cool
- Whisk together cream cheese, butter, and sifted icing sugar
- In another bowl, whisk up non-dairy cream till stiff peaks form. Add the cream cheese mixture into the whipped cream and mix well
- Flavour frosting with gula melaka syrup to desired sweetness
- Slice cakes and decorate with gula melaka syrup and frosting as directed
- Optional: garnish with toasted coconut flakes for an aromatic oomph!
8. Red Velvet Cake
Red velvet cakes are all the rage right now! If your mum has a sweet tooth, baking her a red velvet cake this Mother’s Day cake might just be the way to go. Made up of three layers of dark red velvet layers and topped with silky cream cheese icing, this cake melts in your mouth and delivers a burst of flavours. Apart from being moist and fluffy, it’s also coated with red velvet crumbs and decorated with beautiful red heart shapes! This is definitely a great Mother’s Day cake idea that will leave her beyond impressed!
Follow this easy step-by-step Mother’s Day cake recipe to make the perfect red velvet cake:
Prep Time: Up to 1.5 hours
Cook Time: 35 – 40 minutes to bake
Servings: One 8-inch cake (10 slices)
Recipe Ingredients:
For the cake:
- Use 2½ cups (around 310g) of all-purpose flour, also known as cake flour
- 2 tbsps (16g) cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1½ cups (300g) sugar
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk, room temperature (you can use milk+1 tablespoon vinegar (mix and let stand 5-10 minutes)
- 1 tbsp (200g) vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1/2 cup (115g) butter, room temperature
- 1-2 tbsps red food colouring
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
For the frosting:
- 1¼ cups (300ml) heavy cream, cold
- 2 cups (450g) cream cheese, room temperature
- 1½ cups (190g) powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Recipe Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 175-degree Celsius
For the cake:
- Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a mixing bowl. Sift it and set the mix aside.
- In another bowl, beat butter and sugar until the mix is smooth. Add an egg (one at a time), and beat the mix after each egg is added
- Add in oil, vinegar, vanilla extract, and buttermilk after this and beat until combined. Thereafter, slowly add the dry ingredients and mix together after each ingredient is added. Lastly, add in food colouring and mix the batter well.
- Grease two 8-inch (20cm) round baking pans with butter and dust them with flour before pouring the batter in
- Bake the cake for 35-40 minutes. To test if it is properly baked, insert a toothpick into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean, your cake is ready!
- Place the cakes on a wire rack for 10 minutes and let them cool. After which, you can release the cakes from the pan and let them cool down fully.
For the cake frosting:
- Using a large bowl, beat cream cheese with powdered sugar and vanilla extract until the mix is smooth and creamy.
- Fill another bowl with heavy cream to stiff peaks. Thereafter, fold this into the cream cheese mix in the first bowl.
For assembly:
- Cut the top layer of the cakes. Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut 8-12 heart shapes from this piece. Don’t throw the leftover cake! Instead, make crumbs with them and set them aside in a bowl.
- Place one cake layer with its flat side facing downwards. Spread a layer of frosting on one cake. Then, place the second layer of cake on top of the frosting, this time flat side up. Make sure to spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the red velvet cake!
- Coat the sides of the red velvet cake with the crumbs and place the hearts on the top layer and you’re done!
- Remember to refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours before serving, as the cake tastes best when chilled
9. Chocolate Lava Cake
Bored of regular chocolate cakes? If you’re looking for a unique cake idea for Mother’s Day, you have to try chocolate lava cakes. A petite and delicate dessert, chocolate lava cakes are known for their crusty top and runny, smooth chocolate filling on the inside. If eating a regular whole cake is too much, treat yourself to these mini chocolate cakes instead with this easy Mother’s Day cake recipe!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 6 mini cakes
Recipe Ingredients:
- 3 eggs
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 170 g dark chocolate
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 stick (110 g) butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Recipe Instructions:
- Take six ramekins (or aluminium muffins moulds) and butter them on the inside and along the edges and dust them with flour
- Melt chocolate and butter over a water bath until smooth. At the same time, beat the eggs with salt and sugar using a whisk or hand mixer until the mix appears thick and light yellow in colour. Add vanilla extract and flour to the batter. Then, add in the melted chocolate and stir well. Once you’re done, pour the mixture into the moulds and prepare to bake.
- Preheat the oven to 200-degree Celsius. Then, bake the cakes for 10 minutes. Once it is ready, take the cakes out and check that their edges are firm and the centre is soft.
- Remove the cake from the oven and leave it out to cool. Then, slide a knife carefully under the inside edge of the moulds and invert the cake onto plates. Remember to sprinkle powdered sugar on top and serve while warm!
Say ‘I love you’ with a spectacular homemade Mother’s Day cake
There really isn’t a better way to surprise the most important woman in your life than with a homemade Mother’s Day cake. You can even try these recipes together with the rest of the brood at home, dad, and even mum for a fun Mother’s Day bonding activity. Want to still give a present to mum? This Mother’s Day gift guide should sort you out! Don’t forget to also check out these unconventional Mother’s Day ideas for unique ways to celebrate this special day!
This article was updated on 29 April 2021. Additional research done by Jamantha Lim.
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