Apple pie, scones and perfect Welsh rarebit: Country Life’s top recipes of 2017

All this week we're looking back at our most popular articles of the year – today, we list the 10 recipes which generated the most excitement.

Anna Del Conte’s ragù bolognese sauce

‘Anna is the queen of Italian cookery, and this is as far removed from the ghastly spag bol (made with cheap mince, burnt onions and ketchup) as it can be. This is a slow-cooked classic.’ So wrote Tom Parker-Bowles when he first brought this to our attention.

How to make elderflower cordial and wine

Okay, so December probably isn’t the best month to highlight this quintessential-taste-of-summer recipe. But make sure to bookmark it now – home-made elderflower drinks really are very special indeed.

The ultimate apple pie recipe

The headline makes a big claim, but Simon Hopkinson’s recipe delivers everything you want from a great apple pie. Just perfect.

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5 scrumptious strawberry recipes

As with elderflower, above, this round-up (which we produced to coincide with Wimbledon) seems more summery than appropriate for this time of year. But with strawberries readily available year-round there’s no reason you shouldn’t whip up one of these as a New Year celebration dish.

Perfect roast goose recipe from Mark Hix

Goose is tricky to get right, but this is how to nail it – including how to get the gravy spot on. And while it’s an iconic Christmas dish, but there’s no reason you should use Mark’s tips all year round.

Cheat’s Eggs Benedict, by The Goring’s Shay Cooper

Almost all the joy, almost none of the hassle. In other words, exactly what you want from a good recipe.

Michel Roux Jr’s Soufflé Suissesse

 Thomasina Miers picks out Michel Roux Jr’s signature soufflé dish as one of the world’s finest dishes and cautions people not to be put off by the dish’s fearsome reputation for potential disaster. ‘Give it a go,’ she says. ‘It’s indescribably good.’

Michel Roux Jr's Soufflé Suissesse

How to make the perfect Yule Log, as served at The Dorchester

Christmas cake tends to go stale before it gets finished. But we’ve never known a yule log that wasn’t all gone by lunchtime on Boxing Day – no wonder you liked this recipe.

Fergus Henderson’s Welsh rarebit

The ultimate simple lunch, perfected.

Nancy Birtwhistle’s lemon and caraway scones

These delicious scones from the former Great British Bake Off champion are absolutely delicious and perfectly timed for summer.