A special March Mothers’ Day treat

Time I think for a bit of a treat! Especially important at the moment with all the bad news going on around us. Mothers’ Day is coming up and what better way to show you care than a homemade cake? If like me your mum is no longer with us then you can make these to just enjoy with your loved ones and raise a cuppa to your mum. I know mine would have loved these flowerpot treats!

It would be a lovely idea to save one to give to a neighbour if they’re confined to the house for a while – you might just brighten their day a little

A Mothers’ Day treat – Chocolate flowerpots

Takes about 25 minutes plus cooling time

Makes 10 flowerpots. These are easily available from garden centres or on Amazon – you want the mini ones about 2” (54cm) tall.

125g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

25g cocoa powder

100g caster sugar

1 large egg

100ml milk

3 tblspn vegetable oil plus a little extra for greasing the pots

125g milk chocolate chips

Cake decorations – green and brown vermicelli sprinkles, wafer daisies or icing flowers and carrots.

Mini muffin cases

Use a pastry brush to oil the inside of the pots then place on a baking tray and pop a mini muffin case to the bottom of each pot
Sieve together the flour, baking powder and cocoa into a large bowl and stir in the sugar and 50g of the chocolate chips.
Whisk together the egg, milk and oil in a small bowl then pour into the flour mixture.
Fold together gently – don’t overbeat until the ingredients are just mixed together.
Use a couple of teaspoons to pour the mixture into the flowerpots – they should be just over three quarters full
Pop into your preheated oven180C/fan160/gas 4 for about 12-15 minutes until the muffins are risen and firm to touch. Carefully lift (tongues help!) onto a wire rack and leave to cool.
When the muffins are cool try and ease the muffins out of the pots. If they are sticking use a very thin blade to ease round the side of the pots. Keep in the pots for serving.
Put the rest of the chocolate chips into a bowl and put over a bowl of gently simmering water. Leave to melt or pop in the microwave for speed. Spoon the melted chocolate generously over the muffins and sprinkle with the vermicelli. Add the decorations as you fancy. I used brown vermicelli with little icing carrots and the green with little flowers. If you’re making these as an Easter treat then you could pop a little chocolate egg on the top!