Native Botanical Treats for Mothers Day

by | May 1, 2023

Make your Mothers Day lunch a little extra this year with a personal selection of homemade gourmet delights. These old favourite recipes use unique Australian botanicals to add that special flavour twist.

DIY Native Tea Blend

Make your own bushfood tea blend by combining dried plant parts from up to three of your favourite bushfood botanicals. You can mix these with black, green or white tea leaves, or steep them on their own for a totally native tisane. Safe plant parts to use include:
Homemade bush tucker teas and tisanes

Nomad Bees Knees

This Prohibition-era cocktail serves as an excellent opening tipple for a swanky Mothers Day lunch. It uses the only available Australian botanical gin infused with Native Thyme, Geraldton wax, Samphire and Sea Parsley to both accentuate and balance out the honey-lemon base.

45ml Wandering Distillery Nomad Gin
30ml lemon juice
1 Tbsp honey syrup*

Shake with ice, strain and garnish with a lemon twist.

*Honey syrup is made with two parts honey with one part water over medium heat until the honey is dissolved.

Gluten-free Chocolate Wattleseed Brownies

Recipe courtesy of Robyne Low from RiverMint Dining.

Preheat a fan-forced oven to 180°C. Mix 320g melted unsalted butter, 360g caster sugar and 150g brown sugar in a bowl and whisk until pale with sugar dissolved. Add 2 tsp vanilla extract. Add 6 eggs, one at a time, whisking thoroughly until incorporated, then sift in 100g cocoa powder, 80g almond flour and 50g ground wattleseed.

Microwave 150g of dark chocolate chips in 30 second bursts, stirring in between, until completely melted. Gradually fold into the egg mixture.

Pour the batter into a greased and lined baking tray. Bake for 30–40 minutes until it’s just set and doesn’t wobble in the centre. Allow to cool for two hours, then refrigerate before cutting.

Cinnamon Myrtle Shortbread Biscuits

For a gift-box batch of shortbread, fluff together 125g of butter with 55g white sugar. Add 180g of plain flour, a quarter to a half teaspoon of ground Cinnamon Myrtle and a tiny pinch of salt, and mix thoroughly.

Roll the dough out into a rectangular slab roughly half a centimetre thick, then cut into slices and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. Bake for 15-20 minutes in a preheated oven at 190°C.

This recipe also works with other native botanicals like Lemon Myrtle, Jambinu Zest, Muntries, Quandong, and Macadamia nuts. Experiment with quantities to suit your taste!

River Mint Sorbet

Recipe courtesy of RiverMint Dining. Find more recipes…

River Mint Sorbet
Dissolve half a cup of castor sugar in 600ml water over a low heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add 100g of chopped River Mint leaves, 100ml lime juice and half teaspoon of vanilla paste, and simmer for a further 2 minutes. Allow the mixture to infuse for 1 hour.

Once cooled, blitz with a stick blender, gradually adding 1 tablespoon of xanthan gum until it thickens. Beat 3 egg whites until soft peaks form, then fold completely into the sugar mixture. Cool in the fridge, then pop in an ice cream churner until the whole thing reaches the desired consistency.

#jambinuzestrecipes

Our Book: Bushfood for Beginners

Packed with tips and advice from the seasoned green thumbs at Tucker Bush, it aims to help any enthusiastic gardener take the first step in their long and bountiful bushfood journey.

We’ve put together an e-book of our favourite recipes

Featuring contributions from some of Australia’s leading chefs, using native bush tucker ingredients. This book includes all the recipes from our website plus more, covering entrees, mains, desserts and more, along with basic essentials like drying your own herbs and making your own jam.

Introducing Our Range Of Dried Herbs

Tucker Bush Native Herbs are dried and ready to use in your cooking. Enjoy these local flavours with cooked meats, baked treats and steeped in hot water for an aromatic tea.

Share This