Cakes have always brought my family together to celebrate occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, and Canada Day. But of all the cakes we’ve baked over the years, from ice cream to meringue, whether big or small, one has stood out: carrot cake. It’s my favourite and my family’s favourite, too.

Carrot cake is my brother’s favourite. Ever since I was diagnosed with celiac disease, I’ve had a hard time making gluten-free versions of my favourite recipes and those of my family. After a lot of practice, I finally found a flour to prepare my recipes so that they taste just as good as they did before. 🙂 Now, my brother and I can enjoy his favourite dessert together! I really missed that!

This recipe comes from far away! Granny Rose, my grandma’s grandmother, used to make this cake in Spain. My Grandma Jeanine’s mother, who came to live in Canada, had 12 children and baked this cake thousands of times. Granny Jeannette, the 10th child in her family, made this cake with my mom, Christelle, and now Granny Jeannette makes it with me. My name is Annabelle, and I’m 11 years old. I’ve been making it since I was five years old! It’s a Garcia family tradition!

Patrick Chan motivated me to participate in this cooking contest. I met him at an event and discovered that we’re both very passionate about figure skating, surfing and cooking. In my kitchen, cookies are shaped like the Eiffel Tower, meringues are pink and blue, and baked goods always have a unique flavour. The first thing I learned to bake was cookies. The spirit of the Francophonie is in my kitchen! My name is Paris, and I’m 10 years old. I’m young, creative and inspiring.

I dedicate this recipe to you, my beautiful grandmother Sofia. Oh, how you spoiled us with your linden-blossom tea and your cheese-filled pastry pies (branzoici or poale-n brâu) all through our childhood! Those pies tasted like heaven! Thirty-eight years later, I still clearly remember the taste and smell of branzoici coming out of the wood-burning oven. Your grandmotherly love reigned supreme in our tiny kitchen. Grandma, my heart was filled with emotion last week when I made your branzoici for my partner for the very first time. And what about you, dear reader? Do you have a Proustian madeleine?

I associate this dish with my two passions. I live in Caraquet where the sea is all around me, and that’s why I love underwater diving. My other passion is cooking. In addition to the joy of diving to find scallops, I cook them using my own recipe. Life in Acadia tastes great, and especially on my French tongue.

Ever since I first started cooking, galettes have been one of my favourite things to prepare. Both simple and elegant-looking, they are true comfort food. I enjoy both sweet and savoury versions, but my favourite would probably have to be apple. I have always lived near orchards that produced an abundance of apples with different qualities. I personally think this recipe is perfect with its sweet and slightly softened apples, crunchy pecans, locally produced maple syrup and a nice punch of Canadian bourbon. I always picture the galette sitting cooling in a farmhouse kitchen, while a family drools in anticipation.

I’m from Normandy, and I grew up surrounded by apple trees on my parents’ old farm. While living in London, I brought home a small apple tree in my 2CV to plant in my garden. A few years later, I started baking these tartes Tatin, which remind me of my childhood. I would make them in the fall, using only the apples from my tree. Now that I’m in Vancouver, I’ve been searching for the best apples to recapture the flavours of my native Normandy, and I’ve found them!

Rappie pie is an Acadian dish from Nova Scotia. This dish, which represents my Acadia and Francophonie, is often served at large parties or gatherings. My mother and I love serving it with pickled beets. There’s nothing better than a good rappie pie with a perfect crust, like the one that my grandfather makes!

My mother JeAnine, who’s 92 years old and has 5 children, was an excellent cook in her day. She loved to make recipes from the great cooks of her era, like Jehane Benoît, Janette Bertrand and Sœur Berthe. She was passionate about cooking shows. Her recipe books overflowed with recipes clipped from newspapers, yellowed with age. I’m so happy to have gotten my hands on her recipe binders when she moved. This recipe is simple to prepare: once the meatballs are made, the meal is almost ready! My two daughters are always asking for this meatball stew!

This is my grandma’s recipe, which is over 70 years old. My grandma fell in love with her neighbour’s poppy seed filling and asked how to make it. The neighbour said the recipe had never been written down and invited her to learn how to make it. With a few modifications over the years, it has become a family favourite.

As someone who’s originally from Réunion Island, an overseas department of France, I’d like to share one of the region’s signature dishes: sausage rougail with white rice and kidney beans. Cooking this dish reminds me of the many times my entire (very large) family would gather over shared meals or at picnics on the beach, which are typical of the island. La Réunion lé la!