“This fudge brownie is definitely for the adults, as it’s filled with rum-soaked raisins, prunes, dried figs and warming spices. It’s delicious any time of year but it does make for a classy Christmas treat. I like to keep it in the fridge so it’s chewy.” - Olivia Galletly

"I first met Melanie Russo when she attended kinder with my daughter Pam, so I have known her a long time. Melanie’s big, bold cooking smacks you in the mouth. My father started working for the Russo brothers, Joe and Jack (distant cousins to Mel’s family), in the early 1950s. Joe, Jack and Diego bought a farm in Tyabb called Cumbrae…"

In a world choking on food trends, we can almost hear you yawn at the mere mention of panforte. But panforte doesn’t care about going viral on The Tok – it’s so above all that noise. It’s as eternal as Siena’s cobbles and is never flashy, never out of date. Dense, chewy, spiced and totally delicious, we make batches for edible gifts at Christmas time because it’s way less hassle than…

“Dirty chai is a chai with a shot of espresso, and it’s what kept me going through grad school. The combination of chai spices, milky black tea, and bitter coffee is stellar. You can make this semi-homemade if you’re short on time by using boxed brownie mix. I promise I won’t judge…”

“Being a travelling monk in sixteenth-century Sicily couldn’t have been easy. During Lent, the season of austerity preceding Easter, monks were expected to hike on foot day after day for forty days, ministering to the faithful across the land. Although they were able to stop at monasteries for sustenance, eating meat was prohibited…”

“There’s an excellent Sicilian pasticceria in my neighborhood in Brooklyn called Monteleone, owned by a man who was born and raised in Sicily. His pastries taste as authentic as any you’ll find in Sicily and, lucky for all of us, he makes cuccidati year-round, not just at Christmas time. (That’s when he makes a larger, ring-shaped version called buccellati, or bracelets.)…”

“It’s not clear whether the reference to wealth here relates to the caloric value of this chocolate-topped caramel slice, or the fact that sugar and chocolate were out of reach for the average Scottish peasant back in the day. Let’s just settle on the fact that this is R I C H. And delicious. A small piece, savoured slowly, is perfect….” – Michael & Pippa James

This recipe is from Yael Shochat’s dear friend Nariman who’s from Nazareth – and if you don’t know Yael, she’s the owner of Auckland’s Ima Cuisine and is originally from Haifa in Israel. These Palestinian anise cookies are just right with a cup of tea or coffee for a morning or afternoon break...

They’re the most refined, delicious oat cookies imaginable; they first appeared in the 1990s and you used to be able to get them here. Duchy Original products were made using organic ingredients grown on Charles’ Duchy of Cornwall land and for an oat biscuit, Duchy Originals were posh. And expensive...

This recipe is from Naples native Giapo Grazioli of Auckland’s Giapo, who makes fabulous home-made ice-cream and gelato. This is a gluten-free interpretation of a biscotti recipe his grandmother, Francesca, made – the biscuits are twice-baked...

Here it’s the turn of Sid Sahrawat, the executive chef and owner of Cassia, Sid at The French Café, Anise and KOL, which he runs with his wife and business partner Chandni Sahrawat. Sid is originally from Chandigarh in northern India...

First up it’s the turn of Toulouse, France native Leslie Hottiaux, chef and owner of Auckland’s Apero Restaurant. Packed with hazelnuts and slathered in chocolate, her sensational Florentines are surprisingly simple to make…

Fellow members of the chili crisp fan club will revel in these umami-packed cookies where sweet and savory battle deliciously for attention. These are gooey, mottled with melty pools of dark chocolate, and wrinkled with crunchy golden ridges. Brown butter makes them toasty, nutty, and extra chewy…

“Brownies are like socks. Stay with me here … They are mostly functional, but when you get a really, really good one, you really, really know it and you become deeply loyal to those socks/that brownie. Brownies are also a deeply personal bake – no nuts, fudgy, cakey, edge piece or centre piece…

Why are these called The Peanut Brownies We Never Had? Because we still have some bad attitudes toward the 1970’s baking of New Zealand. And yes, before the, er, Peanut Gallery goes, um, nuts, we do know that there were some, uh, gems from that era…

And now for something sweet, rich, indulgent and creamy. Just kidding; it’s Lent, doofus. And you know what that’s about – going without. I don’t really ‘do’ Spartan so correct me if I’m wrong, but observant Catholics fast from meat during the Lenten period (the 40 days leading to Easter), while for Greek Orthodox believers…