Celebration Recipes

Simmer split pea and ham hock soup with carrots, potatoes and onion. Cook the hock until tender, shred the meat and thin the naturally thick soup as needed. Serve it hot.

Make a Kyiv-style celebration cake with crisp hazelnut meringue layers and two condensed-milk buttercreams. Dry slowly, cool completely and chill before slicing.

Dried prunes and apricots soak in tea before going into a warmly spiced cake. Honey and brown sugar make the crumb moist while a gentle oven keeps the fruit from scorching.

This tall, lightly sweet Easter bread carries raisins and lemon zest through a rich milk dough. Follow the measured steps for dry-yeast easter kulich with raisins.

A buttery ring cake carries dark rum in the batter and a warm glaze poured over the cooled top. Follow the measured steps for dark rum bundt cake with rum glaze.

Roast a whole duck until its thickest meat is fully cooked, glazing near the end with honey and orange. Rest before carving and skim fat from the pan juices. Serve hot.

Make sixteen birthday ham and cheese canapés on crisp toasted baguette rounds with cucumber, tomato and parsley. Assemble close to serving and keep chilled. Serve for guests.

Bake white chocolate raspberry swirl cheesecake with a crisp biscuit crust. Use softened cream cheese, gently marble berry puree and chill four hours before slicing.

Shape simple Christmas marzipan from blanched almond flour, dissolved sugar syrup and vanilla. Add tiny amounts of colour or chopped nuts for festive sweets. Shape at home.

Stack crisp puff pastry with cooked chicken, mushrooms, cheese and sour cream for a savoury Napoleon cake. Chill the layered appetizer before slicing. See the recipe.

Stack cherry-filled pastry tubes into a Monastery Hut cake with sour cream frosting. Chill overnight for neat slices that show the triangular cherry pattern. See the recipe.

Assemble Curly Pinscher cake from soft sponge cubes, condensed-milk buttercream, cherries and walnuts. Chill the uneven mound before slicing and finish with chocolate.