There are few things more rewarding than a freshly baked pie. In this episode Anna shares her secrets and techniques to making the perfect pie dough. She starts off with her standard pie dough recipe—it bakes flakey and tender—and she forms it into sweet, sticky Pecan Butter Tarts. Next Anna adapts her pie dough to perfectly compliment a delicious filling and bakes her classic Pumpkin Pie with a braided edge. Then, for a challenge and a restaurant-worthy dessert, she bakes Individual Coconut Cream Pies. These little pies are so delectable with their layers of warm custard and smooth cream in a crisp shell! Lastly Anna bakes up a rustic yet pretty tart, Apple Cinnamon Galettes.

Light and airy, chiffon cakes combine the richness of a butter cake with the light spring of a sponge cake and they are the foundation for many favorite desserts. Anna starts with a basic chiffon cake, sharing her recipe for Angel Food Cake. She then adds fresh lemon and prepares Mini Lemon Chiffon Cakes. The texture and flavor of lemon and chiffon are a natural fit—both light and refreshing. For a dessert that is restaurant worthy, Anna creates Warm Maple Almond Chiffon Cakes. The layers of flavors in this cake are mouth watering and sure to impress. And finally Anna shows viewers how to transform chiffon cakes with four different styles of garnish: one for each season.

Anna knows that all great pastry chefs have a recipe for pastry cream in their repertoire and, in this episode, she shows how to perfect this thick, rich custard filling to create delicious, versatile and delicate cakes and pastries. She begins with a basic vanilla cream and prepares Strawberry Cream Tarts. Next, Anna takes those principals and bakes individual Apricot Orange Soufflés. For the ultimate dessert featuring pastry cream, perfect for that special someone, Anna prepares a classic Caramel Birthday Cake with caramel-flavoured pastry cream. And for something a little extra with pastry cream, Anna shares with viewers how to make Mini Cannoli with yummy pastry cream filling.

Cupcakes are a pop culture phenomenon with countless bakeries devoted to them. Anna teaches viewers how to make a variety of styles and flavours, everything from simple vanilla to decadent edible works of cupcake art. Starting with basic Vanilla Cupcakes, Anna shows how she perfects tasty and fluffy classic cupcakes that are sure to be crowd pleasers. Advancing the technique she then creates a more challenging version: Chocolate Spice Cupcakes. This rich cupcake hides a chocolate truffle centre and is enhanced with exotic warm spices. Yum! Traditional ice cream cones inspire Anna next, when she creates her delicious Dulce de Leche Cupcakes. And finally, what cupcake lesson would be complete without a little icing 101. Anna shares her tips and tricks on creating beautifully decorated cupcakes with her Floral Cupcake Frostings.

Puff pastry is a key element in any French bakery and in this episode, Anna teaches viewers everything they need to know about puff pastry. Anna prepares basic puff pastry dough and demonstrates the principals behind making this buttery, flakey yet delicate pastry. She then takes her puff pastry dough and makes three individual Puff Pastry Tarts: Apricot Vol au Vent, Salted Caramel Pear Tart and S’Mores Tart. Big and little kids will love the last one! Anna advances the puff pastry lesson when she creates a classic French dessert: Chocolate Hazelnut Napoleon. Lastly Anna takes any leftover puff pastry and bakes delicious Savoury Hors D’oeuvres: Pesto Palmiers, Sesame Cheese Straws and One Bite Tapenade Pockets.

Secrets for creating cheesecake.

In this episode Anna shares her secrets for making perfect French meringues. She starts by teaching viewers meringue fundamentals with Birds’ Nests. These light, airy and crunchy meringues are delicate vessels for fresh fruit. Next Anna moves to a more exacting meringue recipe, Classic Passion Fruit Pavlova. Named for the graceful Russian ballerina, Pavlova, it has a crunchy exterior but a soft and delicate inside, served with passion fruit and whipping cream. For a real showstopper that is certain to impress guests, Anna creates an elegant yet challenging layered dessert: Hazelnut Dacquoise Torte. This torte is an exquisite example of a French meringue. Finally Anna makes charming Meringue Mushrooms. These playful little sweets can accent any dessert or be presented as a petit four or packaged as a party favour.

Used as a base for truffles and filling for tarts, cookies and cakes, ganache is simply a mixture of chocolate and cream.

Croissants have long been staples of French bakeries and patisseries but home cooks can make them too. In this episode, Anna gives a lesson on to how to bake them like a pastry chef. She starts with basic Croissant Dough recipe and then works that dough into Classic Filled Croissants: almond, cheese and irresistible pain au chocolat. Expanding on the tips and techniques learned, Anna takes these buttery pastries and transforms them into a decadent dessert—Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding.

An important dessert for pastry chefs to master, creme brulee is a classic dish of smooth custard with a carmelized sugar topping.

In this episode, Anna shows viewers the basics on working with a standard in a baker’s kitchen, tender tart dough, more commonly referred to in the baking world as pâte sablée. She begins with a simple recipe for preparing the perfect sweet dough and bakes Empire Cookies. She then advances the technique and uses the sablée dough as the base for her delicious Pumpkin Crème Brûlée Tarts. For a more elegant dessert featuring sablée dough, Anna bakes a classic fruit tart, one that you might find in a bakeshop window, Peach Raspberry Custard Tart. And finally Anna prepares a scrumptious assortment of icebox cookies made with Pâte Sablée dough: Lemon Icebox Rounds, Earl Grey Squares and Chocolate Pinwheels.

Jelly roll cakes range from straightforward tea time sweets to elaborate decadent desserts. They are fundamentally thin sponge cakes that are filled and rolled. Anna starts with a Classic Raspberry Jelly Roll and then moves on to a recipe that is a little more complex—Tart Lemon Roulade. For the ultimate in elegance, Anna prepares a rich and delicious Flourless Black Forest Roulade. And finally Anna combines a raspberry jelly roll with Bavarian cream and transforms it into a spectacular Charlotte Royale.

Choux Paste, also known as pâte a choux or cream puff dough, is a wonderful airy pastry that can be used in countless ways to prepare cream-filled desserts. Anna starts with the fundamentals and teaches viewers a basic choux paste and makes simple sugar-dusted Crullers. Next Anna steps up the complexity with Profiteroles & Éclairs. For the ultimate in choux paste Anna shows viewers a French patisserie classic, Gateau St. Honoré. And finally Anna has a little fun building a glamorous cream puff tower—Croquembouche.

Squares are so versatile with a flavour to suit every taste. In this episode, Anna shares her secrets on how to make her favourites. She begins with a rich and delicious classic: Fudge Brownies. Next she moves on to a two-layer square requiring a little more finesse: Pumpkin Cheesecake Squares. For a truly challenging and elegant square, Anna shows viewers how to prepare smooth and silky Lemon Meringue Squares. Finally she breaks the mold on squares, creating a ‘round’ square—Rocky Road Cinema Tortes.

Strudel is a buttery pastry that is a bakery staple; layer upon layer of flaky goodness wrapped around a delicious filling. Anna starts with a basic strudel made from thin sheets of dough, rolled up with filling and baked to perfection in her Caramel Apple Jalousie. Next she moves up a level when she makes individual Cabernet Pear and Walnut Strudels. For an advanced dessert Anna goes back to strudel’s roots with a Classic Cherry Strudel. This strudel has paper-thin pastry and is a must in any professional bakery. And finally Anna fancies up strudel with a delicious garnish—Caramel Springs.

Secrets for baking sandwich cookies.

Nut cakes range from easy little cakes to elaborate grand tortes. In this episode, Anna shows viewers how to make a few cakes that she’s just nuts about, desserts where nuts feature prominently in the recipe. Anna begins with a lovely little French teacake prepared with almond flour called Financiers. Next she moves on to Italian Pine Nut Cake. This classic cake from Italy has a rich and complex nutty flavor. And for a grand dessert featuring nuts, Anna prepares an elegant Mont Blanc torte—an impressive cake to serve at a dinner party. And what could be more fun than nut brittle, served as a garnish or a treat on its own.

Anna's favorite shortcake desserts.

Chocolate pastry is a buttery, rich and crispy base that is fundamental in a professional kitchen and an important element for the home cook too. Anna starts by teaching viewers how to make basic chocolate pastry dough and turning it into Chocolate Slice Cookies. Next Anna advances the lesson when she prepares a delicious French classic, Tarte au Chocolat. For the ultimate use of chocolate pastry Anna creates a decadent restaurant-style dessert—Warm Chocolate Orange Tarts. And for a final bit of fun Anna shares her secrets on beautiful plating with Piped Chocolate Garnishes.

How to make a classic brioche; over-the-top decadent desert.

Flourless pies and tarts are gluten-free desserts made without conventional wheat flour. Anna starts with delicious Raspberry Clafoutis, a classic French dessert that uses ground almond as a base rather than a traditional tart pastry. Next Anna moves on to a Flourless Pear and Cranberry Pie, an exquisite winter dessert. To show viewers another option that is a little more complex but worth the extra effort, Anna prepares Flourless French Apple Tart with a flourless crust. This is a truly elegant dessert. Anna uses that same flourless crust and shows its versatility by making Cheddar Shortbread and Preserves.

Part cake, part cookie, ladyfingers are extremely versatile in the pastry kitchen. Anna starts by showing viewers how to make these light and spongy biscuits and dips them in chocolate to create Chocolate Dipped Ladyfingers. Next she uses those same delicious ladyfingers as a key ingredient in everyone’s favourite Italian dessert, Classic Tiramisu. Anna then really ramps it up when she prepares an Elegant Raspberry Lemon Torte. When your guests are raving you’ll know it was worth the effort. And for a little fun, Anna transforms classic ladyfingers into Coconut Almond Madeleines.

An upside down cake is a single-layer cake baked with gooey-sweet fruit at the bottom. Then it’s flipped and served with that delicious fruit side up. Anna starts with the classic favourite: Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Then she advances the techniques from the first recipe and creates individual Upside Down Lemon Cakes. For the showstopper, a truly decadent restaurant-worthy dessert, Anna makes Cranberry Gingerbread Cakes with brown butter caramel sauce. Simply scrumptious. And finally, Anna takes the lemon cakes one step further and creates delicious Lemon Berry Meringue Cakes.

Anna demonstrates how to make pound cake from a classic lemon to more advanced recipes.