Maple Spice Cake with Butterscotch Maple Sauce and Sugared Pecans

Developed by up-and-coming Canadian chef Gordon Bailey for Sugar Moon Farm, this dessert will more than satisfy any sweet tooth. Cooking the pecans in maple syrup and brown sugar infuses them with flavour and makes it impossible to eat just one.

Dragonfly Cookies

Fluttering dragonflies will catch everyone's eyes with their colourful sparkle and brilliant shades. Insert lollipop sticks into a few cookies before chilling them to make cookie pops.

Sour Cherry Apple Pie

Quickly saut?ng the apples first gives them a silky texture and reduces the airspace that naturally occurs under the top crust as the apples shrink during baking.

Pumpkin Japanese Cheesecake

Cranberry Pistachio Trees

Nothing says winter like a fir tree heavy with snow, except maybe these shortbread triangles, heavy with cranberries and pistachios. Blanching pistachios in boiling water makes it easy to slip off their brown skins to reveal the bright green nuts underneath. The slightly moist nuts will also stay green longer in the oven, instead of toasting and turning brown before the cookies are fully baked.

Crispy Japanese-Style Pork With Sesame Slaw

This shortcut version of tonkatsu, a crispy pork cutlet that's a favourite in Japan, doesn't require any deep-frying but tastes just as delicious as the traditionally prepared dish. Toasting the panko before breading the pork results in an even golden crust. Serve with a dab of spicy mustard.

Mochaccino Cupcakes

We love coffee, and anything coffee flavoured—so trust us when we say these little bites of delight need to be in your recipe repertoire.

Orange Chili Crispy Beef Strips

This dish is representative of highly flavoured meat dishes meant to accompany fiery Chinese alcoholic drinks or sherry-like Chinese rice wine. The trick to cooking it is to cook the beef until quite dry and crispy but not overcooked and burnt. It should be similar in texture to beef jerky, only more tender, so test the strips as you cook them.

Best Peppermint Patty Sandwich Cookies

The combination of peppermint and chocolate is a holiday winner. The dark chocolate dough is ideal for cutting into all sorts of holiday shapes, such as holly and trees.

Candy Cane Cookies

Use a heavy pan or rolling pin to crush the candy canes, then shake through a fine sieve to remove the powdery bits. Avoid the food processor because it will crush them to dust. Instead of candy canes, you can cut the dough into a variety of holiday shapes.