WE have been eating hazelnuts as part of our Scottish diet since time began. Even archaeological sites have found remains of hazelnut shells left over from cooking, particularly in the Highlands and Islands. This meringue cake is sheer indulgence on a plate. It is very simple to make, light and gooey, filled with whipped cream and fresh fruit. On this occasion I have used apricot purée, but later in the year, I will substitute fresh Scottish raspberries or blackcurrants, the jewels of our Scottish berry crown.

This recipe has been a favourite of mine for decades. It made a regular appearance on the early-years menu at The Three Chimneys. My own family frequently request it as a birthday cake and I have piled it high with fresh fruit as a wedding cake on several occasions, scattered with edible fresh flowers and colourful petals.

Today is Mother’s Day and this would be a gorgeous indulgence as a dessert or teatime treat. However, most readers may already have something special arranged to mark this special day, such as Sunday lunch out at a restaurant or afternoon tea in a local hotel. Celebrating the mother figure in your life, is growing in popularity year-on-year and like most of these calendar celebrations, it has become increasingly elaborate and heavily marketed.

The days of tiptoeing downstairs early in the morning to prepare breakfast in bed for my mother seem very long ago. One year, I remember pulling on my coat and wellie boots over my pyjamas, to hunt for snowdrops to fill a small vase to decorate the tray. Easter must have been early that year if they were still in bloom. Mothering Sunday always falls exactly three weeks before Easter Sunday. As we know, Easter weekend changes from year to year, meaning Mother’s Day does too. It could be at any time from very early in March, until early in April. A posy of wild primroses could be another gift for my mum, but these must have been little treasures picked early in April, probably from the banks of the disused railway line in Peebles.

Traditionally, Mothering Sunday was a time when people returned to the church in which they were baptised. Families would reunite on this special day early in the year. Young people who were living away from home, perhaps working as servants in large houses, would be given a holiday on this day, allowing them the opportunity to visit home, usually bearing gifts and special treats, such as homemade food. A light fruit cake made with a layer and topping of marzipan, known as a Simnel cake, was once a popular choice. The whole custom is very much associated with the church calendar and Lent, when people fasted from Shrove Tuesday until Easter. Mothering Sunday provided a little window of acceptable, light relief.

Every mother has a tale to tell of a treasured handmade card with a child’s signature painstakingly written inside. A mug of cold tea and burnt toast might be the offering for breakfast in bed, but nothing tastes as good as the gift of something homemade with love and served with great pride.

In contrast, celebrating a special occasion with an elaborate afternoon tea, has become incredibly popular. A tiered cake-stand laden with tiny sandwiches, scones, cakes and fancies, has been reincarnated in recent times. From five-star hotels and lounges, to spas, restaurants, teashops and cafes, this Victorian custom has become a high-flying treat, frequently served with Champagne.

The custom of taking afternoon tea is said to have been "invented" by an English Duchess in the mid-1800s. Fashionably, dinner at her grand home was not served until 8pm. However, she had hunger pangs between 4pm and 5pm and asked for bread and butter with a slice of cake and a pot of tea. This grew to become a popular time to meet with friends and gossip. In Scotland, the evening meal was more commonly served earlier, between 5pm and 6pm. Known as high tea, this was a combination of a hot, savoury dish, a pot of tea and something sweet to follow, always home-baked, of course. The more celebratory the occasion, the more elaborate the treats on offer – meaning a family get-together with all the relatives could become a fancy feast of homemade goodies, from jam and scones to tarts and fruit cake, shortbread, biscuits and sandwich sponge cakes, buttery tea-bread, gingerbread and loaf cakes. The list of possibilities is endless, but I love to see traditional Scottish baking on the plates that grace our poshest tea tables, rather than fancy, French patisserie. After all, we have a great deal to be proud of.

For me, a slice of hazelnut meringue would be quite enough of a treat with a cup of tea in the afternoon. There is no need to indulge in any more than this – although a glass of Champagne does make a gorgeous accompaniment.

Apricot hazelnut meringue

(Serves 8)

For the meringue:

4 egg whites, at room temperature

450g caster sugar

225g ground hazelnuts

For the filling:

250g dried apricots (NB these need to be prepared the night before)

Zest and juice of 1 large orange

150ml cold water or cold Earl Grey or Lady Grey tea

1 cinnamon stick, broken in half

300ml fresh double cream

1 tsp icing sugar

Method (for the meringues)

1. Line the base and sides of two 20cm sandwich cake tins with non-stick parchment paper.

2. Whisk the egg whites in a clean, grease-free bowl until stiff.

3. Add half the caster sugar and whisk again until mixture is glossy and has reached the "firm peaks" stage.

4. Mix the ground hazelnuts together with the remaining caster sugar.

5. Fold sugar and nuts slowly and carefully into the meringue mixture, preferably with a large metal spoon, until thoroughly incorporated.

6. Spoon the mixture between the two cake tins and roughly smooth over to fill the tins, leaving the surfaces uneven. Bake in a moderate oven, 190°C or gas mark 5, on the centre shelf, for 30-35 minutes, or until just firm to touch on the surface and turning nut brown. Leave to cool in the baking tins and then turn out on to wire trays. Remove the parchment paper.

Method (for the filling)

1. The night before, place the dried apricots in a bowl, together with the orange juice and zest, cinnamon stick and water or cold tea, and leave to soak overnight.

2. The next day, transfer the soaked apricots and all other ingredients to a saucepan, cover with a lid, bring slowly to boiling point and immediately turn down the heat and leave to simmer. Check from time to time that the liquid has not evaporated. The apricots should be very soft. If a dash more water is required, add a little at a time. You want the apricots to absorb most of the liquid.

3. Liquidise the cooked apricots and pass through a fine sieve to make a thick purée. Be sure to include all the fruit residue that will collect on the base of the sieve. You should be left with approximately 250g of fruit purée. Leave this to cool completely.

4. Shortly before serving the dessert, whip the double cream until very thick. Swirl the apricot puree through the whipped cream, forming a ripple effect. Spoon the apricot and cream mixture on top of one the meringue cases.

5. Using a wire tray, or similar, turn over the second meringue case so that the rougher, baked side is uppermost. Slide this off the wire tray to cover the cream, therefore sandwiching the two cases together like a cake.

6. Dust with sieved icing sugar and store in a cool place until ready to serve.

NB If using fresh raspberries, or other soft fruit, simply wash, dry and prepare the fruit and stir through the whipped cream. No prior cooking is required. Additional raspberries can be pureed to make a fruit sauce to accompany the cake.

Shirley Spear is owner of The Three Chimneys and The House Over-By on the Isle of Skye www.threechimneys.co.uk