17 golden syrup recipes

Homemade granola with rolled oats, sliced almonds, shredded coconut, wheat germ, and cinnamon, lightly bound with maple syrup and oil. Bakes in 10 minutes flat. Toss in golden raisins or dried cranberries after toasting.

No-bake Kahlua cocoa balls made with vanilla wafer crumbs, pecans, cocoa, golden raisins, and candied cherries. Roll in coconut, powdered sugar, or nuts.

Parkin is a variety of gingerbread, good warming stuff to eat out of doors in cold weather. When I was a child, it was always a firm favourite for the firework party on Bonfire Night each year. This is adapted from my mother's recipe.

Homemade Filipino-style banana ketchup simmered with raisins, tomato paste, allspice, cayenne, and dark rum. Sweet, tangy, and warmly spiced. Makes 3.5 cups and keeps for a month.

Stuffed French toast with crumbled tofu, brandy-soaked raisins, currants, and candied peel. Pan-fried golden in butter. A showstopping weekend brunch that freezes beautifully.

Myrtle's fruit cake bakes a brown-sugar-and-golden-syrup batter loaded with currants, sultanas, candied orange peel, and warming spices. British-style heritage Christmas loaf cake.

Carrot square cake with walnuts, golden raisins, and a tangy orange-flavored cream cheese icing. A 9-inch square pan version of the classic carrot cake, perfect for small gatherings.

Heirloom fruitcake packs candied cherries, pineapple, citron, dates, raisins and pecans into a spice-laden batter, baked low and slow then aged a month with wine before serving.

Unusual banana curry muffins flavored with curry powder, treacle, and sweetened condensed milk, plus mashed bananas and bran. A high-fibre breakfast muffin with a savory-spice twist.

Microwave peanut brittle: classic golden, glassy peanut brittle made entirely in the microwave in 10 minutes. No candy thermometer, no boiling pot, no fuss. Just sugar, syrup, peanuts, and patience.

Prize-winning cherry pie with a glossy filling thickened on the stovetop with grenadine syrup, almond extract, and butter, then baked in a flaky double crust until golden.

Finikia are Greek torpedo-shaped semolina cookies scented with orange and cinnamon, baked golden then dipped in a honey-cinnamon syrup and rolled in sesame or walnuts. Traditional Christmas melomakarona.

Honey spear pickles with cucumbers and onions brined overnight, then canned in a sweet honey-vinegar syrup with mustard seed, celery seed, and turmeric. A golden, sweet-tangy refrigerator or canning pickle.

Crunchy 7-grain sesame bars with maple syrup, crunchy peanut butter, coconut, orange zest, and chopped nuts. A wholesome, no-flour snack bar baked until golden.

Braided wreath bread made with whole wheat pastry flour, maple syrup, apple juice, butter, and almond extract. A stunning holiday centerpiece baked in a golden ring.

Golden Wardens are whole pears poached slowly in honey, white grape juice, and lemon until the syrup turns burnished and the fruit collapses to butter-soft. An English heritage dessert built for the hardest, most stubborn pears.