TRACEY SPICER’S MELTING MOMENTS

In celebration of Mother’s Day, Tracey Spicer shares her mum’s favourite sweet recipe, Melting Moments.

The recipe is one of many hand-me-down favourites in the new Australian Women’s Weekly cookbook, At My Mother’s Knee.

I grew up in the era of “Cocktail”. That was the food culture of Redcliffe, Brisbane. Mum was a classy lady and quite the gourmet, so we did have prawn cocktail, and spaghetti bolognese was also on the rise. I remember many a night having a spag bol. Or, the other big thing – and this was fancy then – was the tuna casserole.

In retrospect, it was basically just a whole bunch of leftovers; pasta, vegetables, tomato sauce, cheesy sauce and a tin of tuna. But it’s something I cook for my kids now and in actual fact it’s very healthy.

Mum was also into those kitschy 70s canapés, so we had a lot of devils and angels on horseback at parties. She’d come out in a lovely frock with the canapés and Dad would be there searing some meat on the barbie.

Mum was also a terrific baker: she made incredible biscuits, cakes and melting moments. I’ve still got her melting moments recipe; they were to die for. Eating them is one of my favourite childhood memories. They literally did melt in your mouth.

Another favourite childhood memory is licking the beaters and bowls; it’s so nice because it’s the kind of thing that I do with my kids now, though I’m a rotten baker! I still bake dreadful hard cakes with my kids, but it’s about spending time with them. Sitting there, seeing them lick the beaters, just brings me back to when I was a kid.

Mum passed away 11 years ago but every time I’m cooking something I’ve forgotten how to do, I literally go and pick up the phone to call her. Those are the times that I miss her the most.

See over for Tracey’s Melting moments recipe>>