[AD] Best of British Artisan Food Hampers

Winter is fast approaching, and Christmas is just around the corner. I'm ashamed to say that I'm one of those annoying people that has already started the Christmas shopping, but most years I start off really organised in October, it starts to go downhill in November, and then I panic buy throughout December!

The British Hamper Company have the perfect solution for the less organised of us, whether it's for Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries or just because. 

CHRISTMAS CHEER HAMPER £33.97

The Tod family business from Lincolnshire focuses on sourcing great food from artisan and independent British food producers, then packaging them in lovely gift boxes. The selection of hampers can be sent worldwide, with each product clearly showing the cost, including delivery to the selected country, and delivery date, without having to go hunting the site for this information.

ARTISAN CHOCOLATE SELECTION £35.97

Many of the carefully selected foods included in the hampers are 'Great Taste' award winning and Fair Trade certified, and most of all they're delicious. I've sampled a few of the products from the hampers and so far my favourites are the Skinny Coated dark chocolate almonds by Mighty Fine, and the Kent & Fraser Cherry, Pecan & Poppy Seed Toast, both in the Gourmet Produce of London Gift hamper. I also loved the inclusion of a couple of bars of Willie's Cacao chocolate in the Artisan Chocolate Selection as, despite following Willie Harcourt-Cooze's chocolate making journey on tv over 10 years ago (Willie's Wonky Chocolate Factory if you've not heard of it), I've never actually tried a bar of the chocolate, and it didn't disappoint.

GOURMET PRODUCE OF LONDON GIFT £44.97

Everything in the hampers I received are the types of products you would find at artisan food markets or in farm shops, and the hampers would make great gifts for lovers of gourmet UK produced foods and alcohol gift sets. I also particularly liked the strong boxes, printed with a uniquely British design, that the foods were presented in as they can be re-used for gifting or as storage or memory boxes. The larger box has a removable lid and the smaller ones have a magnetic closing folded lid.

Overall the hampers are a lovely choice of gift for gourmet food lovers. They are not a cheap option (ranging from £40 up to £800!) but they definitely have that touch of luxury, and are an extremely convenient gift especially if you're sending overseas.

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Getting Christmas Wrapped Up with Hamper.com

December is fast approaching, and despite working two more jobs than I was this time last year, I feel that I've got this Christmas lark well and truly under control. I'm so organised that I actually hate myself right now. I've bought and wrapped presents, hand made a pom pom wreath , baked a Christmas cake, prepped ingredients (including a 2018 silver sixpence) for making a Christmas pudding on Stir it Up Sunday this weekend, and even planned my menus for the festive period. 

If you see me out and about with a smug grin on my face then kick me and tell me to get a grip and remind me that it's still only November!

LUXURY GIN HAMPER

Fortunately, for those of you that don't have Christmas wrapped up yet, there's still plenty of time for shopping before the big day. If you don't have the time or inclination to fight the crowds on the high street, or sift your way through the stream of 'hot deals' online, fear not, there is a simpler 'one stop' way to shop for your family and friends this Christmas, and you will barely have to lift a finger.

Whether your recipient is into wine, beer, gin, chocolate or even cheese, there are ready made Christmas hampers to suit all tastes and budgets at hampers.com.

I've received three such hampers, with the first being the Luxury Gin Hamper containing a half bottle of Hendrick's gin, a couple of Fever Tree tonics, chocolate limes, shortbread and olives. It arrived in a strong double walled cardboard box lined with wood shavings. The hamper.com website shows the contents of each box clearly on the page, in both the description and images scrolling underneath, and all hampers come with free UK delivery, and in many cases the delivery is next day.

CHRISTMAS CRACKER HAMPER

The second hamper I received was the Christmas Cracker hamper, which again arrived in a presentation box and was filled with treats to enjoy over Christmas, including a jar of luxury cranberry sauce and a Christmas pudding to serve 3-4.

CHOCOLATE INDULGENCE HAMPER

The final hamper would suit chocoholics out there, and is presented in a wicker basket, although disappointingly it wasn't the white one that was pictured on the website. There's a great selection of indulgent chocolate treats in the basket though, including a hot chocolate stick, truffles, popcorn and honeycomb.

LUXURY GIN HAMPER UNBOXED

Whilst it's definitely cheaper to put hampers together yourself, not everyone enjoys shopping for the individual items to fill a basket as much as me, nor may they have the time. Ready made hampers from hampers.com come with the utmost convenience and are available to deliver all over the UK, and a limited number of hampers can also be sent to many countries worldwide. If you don't quite see what you're looking for within the huge range of ready made hampers then it's also possible to create your own, and include anything you like from fresh apples and oranges to Wensleydale cheese and Champagne.

If you're looking to send a surprise to friends and family that you can't be with this Christmas, whether you're living overseas or they are, then sending a hamper is the perfect gift. Who doesn't love receiving a hamper filled with your favourite goodies!

What are you waiting for? Go and get your Christmas wrapped up too!

In collaboration with hampers.com

Ciao Gusto Authentic Italian Cuisine

I absolutely love a Christmas hamper, and usually make at least one up for members of the family. This year I bought a lovely crate from Waitrose for just £5 and filled it with goodies for my parents. My mum often gives hampers too so I guess we have hamper giving in our blood. She's much better at the ribbon curling than me though so mine are usually finished with a bow.

I think the lovely people at Ciao Gusto must've known about my love of hampers and sent me this amazing basket filled with Italian goodies.

If you're not familiar with Ciao Gusto, they are a unique family of iconic Italian food and drink brands, such as Lavazza, Cirio, Barilla and Filippo Berio, to name a few. There's a dedicated Ciao Gusto shop online at Ocado where you can find all the authentic Italian foods that you need.

The Ciao Gusto site is full of recipe inspiration to get the best out of your ingredients, and I'm particularly keen to try the Cheese & Amarena Cherry Tartlets as I love a cheese & fruit combo, and these will make a great appetiser over the festive period.

I couldn't wait to tuck into the mini panettone, and made it into an indulgent dessert using cherry jam, mascarpone and a drizzle of Prosecco, inspired by one of the Ciao Gusto recipes.

SERVE WITH A GLASS OR TWO OF PROSECCO

Panettone Dessert for one (or maybe 2 if you're feeling generous)

1 small Bauli Panettone (100g)
130g mascarpone
75g Santa Rosa Italian Cherry Jam
1-2 tbsp Prosecco
10-20g dark chocolate, grated

• Slice the panettone into 5 equal slices
• fold the mascarpone, jam, prosecco and grated chocolate together (reserving a little for decoration)
• spread or pipe the mascarpone filling in between slices of panettone
• top with grated chocolate before serving with a large glass of Prosecco

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I was provided with a Ciao Gusto hamper in exchange for this post

Selfridges Challenge - Christmas Pudding Cheesecake

Today I will be venturing off to London on a very exciting challenge.

Today I will be visiting the Selfridges Oxford Street store with three other bloggers to meet the head chef from one of their restaurants.

Today I will be taking something that I've made to be judged by this chef with a chance to win a great prize.

Today I will be very nervous.

The challenge

Last week I was sent one of the fabulous Selfridges hampers filled with some bright and sunny Selfridges own label products and given the challenge of creating a recipe around the products in the hamper.

 

After much deliberation I decided to go with a cheesecake, using the following items from the hamper (along with a few more of my own):

Brandy Butter
Handmade Chocolate Butter Shortbread Biscuits
Christmas Pudding
Giant Milk Chocolate Coin

Christmas Pudding Cheesecake

200g Selfridges Handmade Chocolate Butter Shortbread Biscuits, crushed

90g Selfridges Brandy Butter, melted

400g Full fat cream cheese

400ml Double cream

40g Caster sugar

zest of 2 clementines

1 tsp Cinnamon

450g Selfridges Christmas Pudding, cooked, cooled & crumbled

To decorate

200ml Double cream

3tbsp Malteser vodka (or Baileys)

90g Selfridges giant milk chocolate coin

Cranberries 

• Mix to the crushed shortbread biscuits together with the brandy butter
• Press into the base of a 20cm loose bottomed cake tin
• Place in the fridge whilst the filling is made
• Beat together the cream cheese, cream, caster sugar and orange zest until smooth
• Fold in the christmas pudding until evenly distributed
• Spread the filling over the base and smooth the top
• Place in the fridge for 4-6 hours or overnight
• Make the chocolate holly leaves by melting the chocolate and piping leaves onto a sheet of baking paper
• Before serving whisk the remaining cream by hand with the Malteser vodka until it is the thickness of thick clotted cream (careful not to over whisk)
• Remove the cheesecake from the tin and smooth the cream over the top
• Decorate with the chocolate holly leaves and cranberries

I had a practice run at the weekend and the husband said that this is by far the best cheesecake that I've ever made & he's ever tasted, I just hope that the Selfridges chef thinks the same and I don't have to endure any 'Paul Hollywood spitting out into his hand' style moments.

I also need to thank the lovely Brian from my local nursery who supplied me with the Holly for the photos, who incidentally said that this is the best cheesecake he's every tasted too!

Wish me luck.............

I was provided with the hamper to enable me to take part in this challenge