I think it’s safe to say I enjoy the process of making these cookies just as much as I love devouring them. It’s quick work if you have a standing mixer or a hand held electric whisk, as whipping the egg with the sugar until triple the volume is the key to the fudgy texture of the crumb, which, combined with a crackly, meringue-like edge, pretty much makes these the best cookies ever. Big claim, I know, but if you don’t believe me, then take the word of master baker Edd Kimber (the boy who bakes), whose recipe I adapted to create a fitting Mother’s Day treat.

Don’t despair if you are not in possession of kitchen gadgets, a good ol’ hand whisk and elbow grease will do the trick, and will infuse the batter with all the love our mammas deserve.

INGREDIENTS, MAKES 10, adapted from The Boy Who Bakes

80 gr of unsalted butter

small pinch of salt

150 gr of milk and dark chocolate (mix it up as you wish, I still had Easter eggs I needed to use up!)

1 egg

150 gr caster sugar (Edd’s recipe uses a combination of caster and soft brown sugar, which I didn’t have on the day. If you do use a mixture of both, you will get a shiny crackly top)

100 gr of self raising flour

2 tablespoons of Dutch cocoa powder

a few strawberries, cut into three

METHOD

1. Preheat you oven to 170 C. Line two oven trays with baling paper.

2. Melt the chocolate and butter together by placing them onto a bowl and sitting the bowl of top of a pot of boiling water (stove on low). Make sure the water in the pot doesn’t touch the bowl, or the chocolate will seize. Add the salt. Mix and rest for 5 minutes.

3. While the chocolate mixture is cooling, whip the egg with sugar until it triples in volume. If using electric beaters, this will take about 5 minutes. Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the egg one and mix well.

4. Gently mix in the flour and cocoa. The mixture will be thick and fudgy. You will want to stick your fingers in there. Go for it. Chef’s privilege!

5. Dollop tablespoons of mixture onto the trays, very well distanced apart as the cookies will spread during baking. Top with strawberries.

6. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool onto the tray for 10 minutes, then gently transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Please note that after 12 minutes in the oven, the cookies will feel super wobbly. They will set harder as they cool. Don’t be tempted to bake for longer.

7. Give to your mamma with a big hug!! xxx

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