Wassail Royale Punch

Wassail is a hot mulled cider drink that's traditionally enjoyed on New Year's Eve. In this iced "royale" version, we've swapped out the cider in favour of sparkling wine and pears. Prep the punch in advance so you can relax and spend time with guests as soon as they arrive.

Mediterranean Vegetable Pie

Vegetable Rolls with Sweet & Sour Sauce

Tortellini Minestrone

This classic hearty Italian soup gets a lift with meat- or cheese-filled tortellini. Delish!

X-Shaped Cuccidati

Fig-stuffed cookies are essential Sicilian holiday sweets. Sometimes dressed with icing and sprinkled with nonpareils, these egg wash–glazed X-shaped ones offer a fantastic little twist.

Chewy Fruitcake Blondies

These blondies have all the flavour of fruitcake, but they take just a fraction of the time to make. Soaking the fruit and nuts in rum gives them a subtle boozy flavour without the need to soak the finished product in spirits for a month.

Iced Spice Cookies

Empanadas

Smaller versions of these savoury stuffed pies from Spain and Latin American make ideal snacks for tapas-inspired parties.

Mini Plum Puddings

Sweet and oh so cute, these little steamed desserts are anything but old-fashioned.

Chestnut Tourtière and Winter Fruit Chutney

This recipe comes from our contributing editor, Andrew Chase, who developed it for his vegetarian friends. But it's so delicious that his nonvegetarian friends love it too.