It's time to start planning your festive menus with the latest selection from suppliers.
Bidfood’s Premium Selection Caramel & Ginger Truffle Puddle Cake has a light biscuit and ginger base with a cold set caramel cheesecake studded with chunks of ginger sponge. This Christmas £1 of the sale of each of this cakes will be donated to FairShare via Work for Good.
Tidal Rum is a light and refined premium spirit distilled in the Caribbean and infused with marine botanicals, including lightly oak-smoked pepper dulse foraged from the shores of Jersey. A blend of four cask-aged rums from Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados and the Dominican Republic, it also has hints of cinnamon bark and a whisper of sea salt.
A citrus vodka is available as a limited-edition special from Shakespeare Distillery. The vodka bursts with the flavours of fresh oranges and lemons, which are hand-peeled at the distillery. Shakespeare Distillery suggests serving with ginger ale and a squeeze of lime, or making a classic cosmopolitan cocktail with the addition of Cointreau, lime juice and cranberry juice.
shakespearedistillery.com/product/citrus-vodka/
Héloïse Lloris Champagne comes in a precious metal casing, each one hand-crafted in the UK. The brand’s vine growers are based in Chigny-les-Roses, and it is one of only 44 Champagnes with ‘premier cru’ status. The bottle has been designed to recreate the darkness of a wine cellar and is finished in 24k gold or 18k rose gold.
Mainbrace – whose name is a nod to the splicing of the mainbrace in the age of sail – has launched a craft gin. The Cornish dry gin is spiced with juniper, orris, lime peel, lemon verbena, lime leaf, angelica and three kinds of Cornish seaweed.
This deep-dish apple pie now comes presliced from Central Foods. Packed with sliced apples encased in golden shortcrust pastry, it is pre-cut into 12 portions, which can be individually defrosted as required to help reduce wastage.
Cookie Pucks from Country Range are a way to offer customers freshly baked cookies in three flavours – milk chocolate, white chocolate and double chocolate – at peak times. The 50g pucks come frozen in packs of 90 and, depending on the oven, transform into a cookie in just 9-11 minutes.
After launching bottled spritzes earlier this year, aperitivo spritz brand These Days has now released them in cans too. While its Sundown Spritz and Venetian Spritz are both inspired by the flavours and tradition of aperitivo, they are lower in sugar and calories.
thesedaysdrinks.com/pages/shop
Aker is a new English aperitif that combines Chapel Down’s pinot noir with Capreolus Distillery’s fermented eau de vie from wild raspberries. The infusion of blossom, roots and spices is balanced with wormwood before the Chapel Down chardonnay grapeskin distillate is added. It is distributed by Axiom.
Bidfood’s Rockport ChalkStream Trout fillet portions are fresh, delicate and clean tasting and are sourced from ChalkStream trout’s world famous Test and Itchen Rivers in Hampshire
Family-owned Hampshire winery Hattingley Valley has released a sparkling rosé 2019. The latest addition to the winemaker’s sparkling range offers notes of bright red fruit – sweet strawberries, raspberries and pomegranate. On the palate, pink grapefruit is balanced by a touch of sweet marshmallow. It is made in the traditional way, from a blend of pinot noir (58%) and pinot meunier (38%) grapes.
Notes Coffee Roasters offers a range of wholesale coffees, with single-origin arabicas direct-sourced in season from farms in some of the most exciting coffee-growing countries in the world, such as Myanmar, Honduras, Brazil, Ethiopia and Yemen. There is a choice of beans or ground coffee in 250g and 1kg bags, as well as compostable Nespresso-compatible pods.
Tiramisu Liqueur is an addition to the Stambecco range from fine wine and spirits company Biggar and Leith. It is made with 100% natural ingredients including espresso coffee extract from local suppliers in the Torino area. The liqueur has an ABV of 24% and a flavour of mascarpone, amaretti biscuits, cocoa and coffee.
A crafted lemonade mixer that combines the citric bite of lemon with a hit of zesty lime is now available from London Essence. The flavour is further elevated by the roundness of kumquat and a slight twist of orange for a balanced aftertaste.