The best Christmas food gifts
You can't go wrong with an edible Christmas present. We've scoured the shops and the internet to find the best foodie gifts on offer.
Christmas shopping for food-lovers can be a little overwhelming, so we’ve sourced the most thoughtful and unusual festive gifts related to food and drink.
Under £10
Mince Pie chocolate bars
Combining two of the best things about Christmas, the Grown Up Chocolate Company has come up with mince pie chocolate bars. The favour combination shouldn’t work, but it really, really does. Other flavours include fig and port from £2.95/100g bar.
Chocolate baubles
The Grown Up Chocolate Company are at it again, but this time with chocolate baubles. Crunchy crispy toffee, praline, dark chocolate and salted peanut caramel are a few of the options, which cost £7.95 each, or a box of 4 for £30.
Sugar thermometers
A cooking thermometer, such as one of these from £5, is an inexpensive tool that every professional chef owns and every serious home cook needs.
A stoneware pie bird
For any aspiring pie-makers in your life a pie bird – a funnel to allow steam to escape during cooking – makes a cute stocking filler at £9.
Wine stoppers
At Christmas, there are often various bottles of half-drunk wine sloshing around. Give the gift of less waste with a festive wine stopper like these by Chalk Talk from £5.99.
Cookie cutters
Baking homemade cookies for friends goes down a treat at Christmas, and you can use these quality copper cookie cutters to make them festive. Or, gift them to a friend, in the hope they’ll make you cookies. Various shapes and sizes – we especially like Rudolph – are all under £10.
Under £30
Cheeky Boy hot sauces
Cheeky Boy Sauces make some of our favourite hot sauces, marinades, rubs and dips. For Christmas 2017, they’ve bottled a triple pack of 150g hot sauces for a stocking-filler-sized gift: Berlin49 (German hot sauce), Jolly Roger (coconut hot sauce) and HRH (Harry Redders hot sauce) for £10.80.
Paxton and Whitfield's cheesemaking kit
Given the huge diversity of cheeses available, it is astounding to think that many cheeses start with the same basic ingredients. This kit (£25.00) contains everything that you need to make fresh mozzarella, ricotta, burrata, a soft goat's cheese and a soft cow's cheese at home. You get a thermometer, citric acid, cheese salt, a cheese cloth, rennet tablets, a basket mould and a recipe booklet. All you need to add is the milk.
A self-guided chocolate tour of London
For anyone inordinately fond of chocolate, Taste Tripper have created “an indulgent self-guided chocolate tasting experience” that visits artisan chocolate shops in London. You'll get samples along the way, plus three chocolate recipes. An Explorer Pack is £19.50 for one person, but you can also buy a pack for two.
An ice-cream maker
Amazon’s best seller and Which? Magazine’s “best buy”, the Andrew James Ice Cream maker comes in at under £30 and you can choose white or red. Make delicious homemade ice cream, sorbet or frozen yoghurt in 25–30 minutes.
A cocktail shaker
For a whale of a time this party season (sorry, it had to be done), you could purchase this quirky cocktail shaker from the National Theatre Bookshop. It’s got a stainless-steel body and a (food-safe) silicon tail. And more to the point, it’s cute.
Edible Christmas wreaths
At loveFOOD, we think this herb and chilli Christmas wreath from Rocket Gardens is pretty classy. The wreaths are handmade to order, using produce grown on their farm – and with this hanging on your front door, you won’t go short on spice. This one is £30, or you could order a heart-shaped one for £39.99.
A kitchen blowtorch
A blowtorch is indispensable for caramelizing or searing (think beautiful crispy crème brulee). We like the GiBot Blowtorch which is refillable with butane gas and has an adjustable flame. It also has a safety lock in case you’re worried about this lying around in the kitchen. It's available from around £15.
Over £30
Leiths cookery courses
Leiths School of Food and Wine, perhaps the most respected cookery school in the UK, offers the chance to give the gift of a class or course. Courses start from from £100 and include wines from around the world, home smoking and preserving.
A serrano ham joint
The ultimate indulgent foodie gift for carnivores is a serrano ham joint to enjoy over Christmas – and well into the new year. This M&S serrano ham joint comes with a knife and stand, and it's matured naturally with Mediterranean sea salt for 12 months (£40).
A pasta machine
Make fresh tagliatelle, ravioli and fettuccine that tastes way better than shop-bought with a traditional double cutter pasta machine. Priced from around £50.
A decanter
Handmade from mouth-blown glass, this sleek and contemporary decanter can hold a 75cl bottle of port, spirits or wine.
Loaf: Artisan bread courses
This West Midlands bakery and cookery school makes an appearance in nearly every “best UK bakery” round-up. Bread courses run by (very charming) industry experts include sourdough, bread basics or sweet breads and viennoiserie, and cost from £65–120.
A slate cheeseboard
Create some after-dinner fun with a beautiful slate cheeseboard by Winning Works engraved with a tongue-in-cheek “Hello, is it brie you’re looking for?” (in case you hadn’t guessed, in homage to Lionel Ritchie’s famous song). Each slate (£30) is unique and cut by hand in a Derbyshire workshop.
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How to make the perfect Christmas cheeseboard
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