Autumn is well and truly upon us – the days are shorter, nights are cooler, and dishes that celebrate the season are on the menu. Welcome to the April issue, on sale today.

This month we shine the spotlight on some of Australia’s most exceptional producers, in the first delicious. Produce Awards feature of the year. South Australian chef David Swain cooks up King George whiting, expertly caught by fisherman Ashley Perkins – catapulting #knowyourproducer into action.

Ramael Scully, Ottolenghi’s former right-hand man at famed London restaurant Nopi, celebrates seasonal produce, with hearty veg-based recipes, like spiced pickled eggplant with green beans and feta.

Blackstar Pastry’s Christopher Thé talks pears in our No Waste column, while resident drinks guru Mike Bennie looks at Australia’s best cellar doors and takes his pick of their best wares.

Matt Preston reinvents his mother’s fish pie, and Colin Fassnidge and Anthony Puharich whip up a goat kofta that’ll bring attention to the versatility of this unique meat.

The April issue is all about new beginnings, too, with a brand-new cheese column by Ellie and Sam Studd. Following in the footsteps of their cheese connoisseur father Will, the siblings share their knowledge and love for all things fromage. This month, the Studds look at Brillat-Savarin.

Emma McCaskill serves up a long-weekend feast featuring hanger steak with mushrooms in pine butter, whole salt-baked pumpkin, and a maple pear tart, before George Calombaris takes on tradition with a twist with his Greek Easter menu.

Sardinia is calling, thanks to Giovanni Pilu, who showcases his Bottarga di Muggine – the Australian-made, salted, cured fish roe that won the Outstanding Artisan award in last year’s Produce Awards, and Carla Lalli Music shares recipes from her new book, Where Cooking Begins.

Aussie café culture and adaptations on Asian flavours get the LA treatment, with brunch recipes from Louis Tikaram, chef at the newly opened E.P&L.P in West Hollywood. There’s no doubt char sui BLATS, ginger chicken congee and blueberry ricotta hotcakes will be gracing breakfast tables very soon.

Now for those hot cross buns and chocolate showstoppers we promised.

Inspired by Aussie Bourke Street Bakery’s opening in New York, we’ve revamped the hot cross buns with classic American flavours – think salted peanut butter and jelly-glazed buns, cinnamon and coffee hot cross bagels and hot cross s’mores.

For the ultimate Easter dessert, look no further than food director Phoebe Wood’s breathtakingly decadent chocolate creations – brownies, cookies, puddings and our cover star, the chocolate, caramel and malt cheesecake.

Now to stretch our legs and travel – breathtaking Broome hosts a food festival like no other; we take a tour of Seattle’s new culinary scene, and stopover in Dubai on our way back. Editor Samantha Jones prises herself away from the pristine azure waters of Malolo in Fiji to talk next-level island luxury at Six Senses; and travel writer Richard Clune discovers that the inner-city hub of Barton in Canberra is about more than just the pollies.

Now, we think it’s time for a hot cross bun with extra butter.