We’ve had advent calendars, boozey gifts and even a non-alcoholic gift guide this season on F O. But sometimes you just can’t beat a foodie treat. So to finish off this years F O Christmas gift guides I’ve rounded up some of the best foodie treats that are available this year for a festive food gift guide. This post contains items that were gifted to me. They’ve been marked with an asterisk. All opinions are of course my own.

The Ultimate Food Gift Guide For This Christmas: Joe & Seph’s*

Okay so kicking things off we’ve got festive treats from Joe & Seph’s Christmas range. I spoke about Joe & Seph’s Gourmet Popcorn Advent Calendar in my advent calendar round up but the calendar isn’t all they have this Christmas. Joe & Seph’s also have a full range of Christmas popcorn gifts to share with the whole family this year. I’ve picked out a few of my favourites in the range which are sure to put you in the festive spirit this Christmas.

Joe & Seph’s Popcorn Mini Gift Box

First up are their super cute mini popcorn gift boxes (which I think would make lovely tree decorations). I’ve always loved hiding a few little chocolate treats in my Christmas tree each year so I think popcorn decorations could be a great alternative! I tried out their Coconut & Cacao and Salted Caramel flavours and both were absolutely incredible. The Coconut & Cacao flavour was honestly unlike any popcorn I’d ever had. Crisp and full of chocolatey, coconutty flavours it was an absolute dream. The Salted Caramel flavour is very much similar to your classic caramel popcorn flavour but the popcorn itself is super crisp and full of flavour. Both flavours are completely vegan (and completely delicious).

RRP £5.00, available online on the Joe & Seph’s website here.

Joe & Seph’s Salted Caramel Gourmet Popcorn Box, Merrily Sweet & Salty

Next up is another Salted Caramel popcorn treat, their Festive Cracker Gift Box. This pack is more of a ‘share with the family’ treat, but once you taste it I’m not sure you’ll want to share it out. While this is Salted Caramel again, it differs to the previous Mini Gift Box as this pack isn’t vegan. Flavour wise it’s super ‘melt in the mouth’ and packs all the sweet and salty goodness.

RRP £7.00, available online on the Joe & Seph’s website here.

Joe & Seph’s Mince Pie Gourmet Popcorn

We’re getting fully into the festive flavours with this next one. Yeah that’s right MINCE PIE POPCORN. I know mince pies are one of those festive foods that you either love or hate but I for one am firmly in camp LOVE. That being said, until trying this popcorn out, I’d never had anything that was mince pie flavoured that wasn’t just a mince pie. In my head I was just like ‘there’s no way you can make something other than a mince pie taste like a mince pie’. But I’ve very much been proven wrong with Joe & Seph’s Mince Pie Popcorn. Flavoured with fruit, almonds and festive spices and infused with 10 year old Spanish Brandy (oh, hello!) Joe & Seph’s have absolutely mastered the mince pie essence with this popcorn. It’s got the classic spiced and fruity mince pie flavours with a super crispy classic popcorn texture. Amazing!

RRP £4.00, available online on the Joe & Seph’s website here.

Joe & Seph’s Eggnog Gourmet Popcorn

The festive flavours continue on with their Eggnog flavoured gourmet popcorn. Now I haven’t had eggnog in absolute years. I tried it for the first time years ago; hated it, and never returned to it because, honestly, what sounds attractive about the word eggnog? I think we can all agree that it just sounds super weird. Anyway, flash forward to a few weeks back when it came to trying out their eggnog popcorn and it was safe to say I was feeling very sceptical. One bite of their popcorn though and all of my hate towards eggnog disappeared. Creamy and full of festive spices, their Jamaican Rum filled eggnog popcorn was nothing short of spectacular. The richness and creaminess of it made it feel so luxurious and like a proper treat.

RRP £4.00, available online on the Joe & Seph’s website here.

Joe & Seph’s Giant Christmas Cracker

And to finish it all off we’ve got an absolutely ma-hooooo-sive cracker filled with 6 bags of Joe & Seph’s Salted Caramel popcorn. Along with the popcorn itself you’ll also find 6 gold party hats and 6 Christmas cracker jokes. I can just imagine this sitting in the centre of the table on Christmas Day waiting to be cracked open!

RRP £16.00, available online on the Joe & Seph’s website here.

The Ultimate Food Gift Guide For This Christmas: Hawkens Gingerbread*

It isn’t Christmas without a bit of gingerbread now is it? And where better place are you going to find top notch gingerbread than from the UK’s no.1 award-winning gingerbread bakery, Hawkens. Based in Grantham, Lincolnshire, Hawkens are a dedicated bakery and supplier of gingerbread to shops, delicatessens and attractions around the UK. Why do they call themselves ‘dedicated bakers’ of gingerbread? Well that’s because they exclusively make gingerbread in their bakery. Just from that statement alone you know the gingerbread is going to be amazing! I tried out some of the products that they have available for this Christmas, along with a couple of classic gingerbread recipes too, and picked my favourites.

Hawkens Gingerbread: Gingerbread 2 Packs

Hawkens have given classic gingerbread a festive twist with their flavoured gingerbread 2 packs this Christmas. The first festive flavour is their Chocolate Orange Gingerbread which they describe as ‘dark in colour, rich in taste’ and boy are they right. The chocolate orange flavour combined with the classic ginger is just absolute foodie heaven. Their second festive flavour is simply called Christmas Gingerbread. Gingerbread will always just naturally taste like Christmas to me, but the added spice in this Christmas flavour just adds that extra bit of festivity.

RRP £2.15, available online on the Hawkens website.

Hawkens Gingerbread: Gingerbread Boxes

As well as the full sized flavoured gingerbreads, Hawkens also have a few different mini gingerbread boxes. The first is their Mini Christmas Trees Gingerbread Box which is filled with little tree-shaped gingerbread biscuits and the second is their Original Grantham Gingerbread Box, which would both make perfect gifts for sharing with the whole family.

RRP £2.15, available online on the Hawkens website.

The Ultimate Food Gift Guide For This Christmas: Willie’s Cacao*

Founded in 2010 in Devon, Willie’s Cacao was the first company in the UK to make bean to bar chocolate in over 100 years. What does bean to bar mean? It means that they control the whole chocolate making process from farming the ingredients to packaging the bar up for sale. They source the ingredients for their chocolates directly from farmers and make everything themselves using 100% natural ingredients. Their chocolates are all made in small batches (which takes 100 times longer than industrial chocolate) to allow for the highest quality of product. I tried and picked out a few of my favourite products from their incredible range and think that they’d make wonderful gifts this Christmas.

Willie’s Cacao: Dark Chocolate Bars

First we’ve got two of their Dark Chocolate Bars; the Almendra and the Ginger Lime. The Almendra is a dark chocolate bar made with roasted almonds and the Ginger Lime is, again, dark chocolate but filled with delicious exotic spices and citrus flavours. Both of them are so rich and dark in flavour, I honestly don’t think I’ve ever had dark chocolate as high quality as them before. If you’re a chocolate fan (who isn’t?) then you seriously need to try these out for yourself.

Willie’s Cacao: Truffle Boxes

If you’re looking for a slightly larger and more statement foodie gift to give to someone this Christmas then Willie’s Cacao’s Truffle Boxes might be just what you’re looking for. I tested out their Marc de Champagne Truffle Box and their Sea Salt Truffle Box. The Marc de Champagne Truffles were the perfect balance of bitter and melt in the mouth. The Praline Sea Salt Truffle Box were slightly more creamy in flavour, but you instantly get hit with the kick of sea salt. Not only does the salt hit at the beginning but it also lingers afterwards.

What I love about both of these truffles are the outer shell of them. The outside is firm and not super melty in your hands (which I often find is the case with loads of truffles). I love the slight crunch that you get from the outer shell of these. I also find that you’re totally satisfied with just having one of them. And as a self-confessed chocolate fiend that’s quite the statement. But it’s also completely true. I tried one truffle and was completely satisfied.

Willie’s Cacao have very kindly given me a discount code for you all for 10% OFF your order up until December 26th 2020. Perfect for picking up gifts for friends and family (or treating yourself!). Just pop in the code FAYE10 at checkout and receive 10% OFF any order at Willie’s Cacao.

The Ultimate Food Gift Guide For This Christmas: Fudge Kitchen*

Founded in 1983, Fudge Kitchen are a UK based hand-crafted fudge company known for their traditional fudge-making methods. Their fudge is made only with natural ingredients, no preservatives and is both vegetarian friendly and gluten free (unless stated otherwise). They even have vegan fudge options too. Fudge Kitchen are part of a virtual hamper put together by Produced In Kent which, if you’ve read my alcoholic gift guide, you will be familiar with. Produced in Kent’s virtual hamper aims to promote local Kent businesses and products, and to encourage shoppers to shop local this Christmas. It’s important to support our local independents whenever we can, especially now, so I encourage you to look into what local independents you have and include them in your shopping this Christmas.

Fudge Kitchen: Red Snowflake and Bronze Starry Night Christmas Crackers

Fudge Kitchen’s latest festive foodie gift is their super cute fudge Christmas Crackers. Each filled with three artisan fudge pieces, they’d be absolutely perfect as both a stocking filler or as a Christmas day table decoration (and dessert!). What are the three flavours inside you ask? Well you’ve got Sea Salted Caramel Fudge, Speculoos Fudge and Chocolate Orange Fudge. If like me you saw the word Speculoos and thought ‘erm, what’s that?’ then don’t worry, I’ll explain. Speculoos is a type of spiced shortcrust biscuit which came from Belgium and The Netherlands. Think spiced Biscoff Lotus biscuit. Sounds great right ?

So, I have to admit, I’ve never been a big fudge person. I’ve just had a lot of disappointing fudge over the years that’ve either been overly chewy or just tasted a bit too fatty. But my thoughts on fudge completely changed after trying Fudge Kitchen this year. Honestly it was a life changing experience. Their fudge was just so melt-in-the-mouth. I couldn’t get enough of it. My favourite of the three had to be the Chocolate Orange flavour. There really isn’t much that can rival a chocolate orange combo in my eyes. That being said the Speculoos flavour was incredible too. It tasted so festive! And then the Sea Salted Caramel Fudge tasted like a classic fudge to me, and it was so delicious.

RRP £3.50, available online on the Fudge Kitchen website here.

The Ultimate Food Gift Guide For This Christmas: Lindt*

I’ve always associated Lindt with Christmastime and absolutely love picking up a few boxes of their classic truffles each year. This Christmas they’ve got a whole new range of seasonal foodie bits so there’s plenty to get excited about! I featured their Pick & Mix Advent Calendar for 2020 in my advent calendar round up and now I’ve got a few other bits from their 2020 Christmas range to share with you as well! First up is their new Lindt LINDOR Selection Box which is filled with all of your favourite Lindt treats. If you’re a fan of the classic LINDOR milk chocolate products then this is a must have for this Christmas. Inside you’ll find treats including truffles, Lindt hearts, squares and bars as well, this is a proper chocolate lovers dream.

RRP £6.00 (227g) and £12.00 (500g), available online on the Lindt website here and in all regional UK & Ireland Lindt Stores.

Then secondly is the classic (and adorable) Lindt Teddy Bear. How cute are these? This season the teddies are all dressed in coloured pyjamas and oh my god just look at their little slippers. MY HEART! Again these are all made with the classic LINDOR milk chocolate and make for the perfect stocking filler for this Christmas. Who wouldn’t want an adorable little chocolate teddy in their stocking this year?

RRP £1.50, available online on the Lindt website here and in all regional UK & Ireland Lindt stores.

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The Ultimate Food Gift Guide For This Christmas: Reese’s*

If one selection box isn’t quite enough (because lets be real, when is one ever enough?) then Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Selection Box could be the perfect stocking filler for this festive season. Filled with 4 bars of Reese’s PB Cups; Original, Dark, White and Reese’s Pieces, you can get the chance to try out the full range of Reese’s PB Cups. It’s even got the very groovy looking DJ Santa on the front who is sure to brighten your day.

RRP £3.00, available online and in store at local supermarkets including TESCO.

Reese’s have also released a Peanut Butter Christmas Tree which is made with classic milk chocolate and filled with a creamy peanut butter filling. It’s an ideal stocking filler for gifting this Christmas, and come on it’s in the shape of a Christmas tree! I’m sold. Reese’s also have a new peanut butter miniatures advent calendar which I featured in my advent calendar round up.

RRP £00.60, available online and in store at local supermarkets including TESCO.

The Ultimate Food Gift Guide For This Christmas: Pierre Marcolini*

The final foodie gifts come in the form of two gift boxes from Pierre Marcolini. Established in Brussels in 1995 by chocolatier Pierre Marcolini, the company is known for its incredible chocolates, sweet treats and famous macarons. Not only do Pierre Marcolini create high-quality treats but they also have a reputation for their ethical standards when it comes to sourcing ingredients for their chocolates. Pierre himself always sources premium cocoa directly from independent producers across Cameroon, Cuba, Ecuador, Venezuela and Madagascar.

Pierre Marcolini: Petits Câlins (box of 9)

The first of the two boxes I’m sharing with you is the Petit Câlins box of 9. First of all I think these are the sexiest chocolates I’ve ever seen. Just look at them, they look like such an extravagant gift. As for the chocolates inside, the box of nine contains 3 different flavours of chocolate. The first is the brown coloured chocolate which is a dark chocolate outer shell with a hazelnut and caramel gianduja centre. Gianduja is a sweet chocolate spread that contains 30% hazelnut paste for anyone who isn’t familiar with it.

Next is the red chocolate which is actually a coffee gianduja and spiced pecan caramel centre, wrapped in milk chocolate. I would never have thought looking at it that a red chocolate would end up being a coffee flavour! And then finally is the white chocolate which is filled with pistachio, caramelised praline and caramel, and then wrapped in white chocolate. Something that I really loved about these chocolates was the slightly crispy centre in them all. Although they were all super smooth and creamy they each had a contrasting crunch to them which worked so well. It’s not often that you come across a chocolate with a crispy centre, but this really worked for me.

RRP £11.90, available online at Pierre Marcolini here.

Pierre Marcolini: Melove Cakes with Tea (box of 8)

The second of the gift boxes is the Melove Cakes with Tea, which comes in a box of 8. Inside the box are four Lapsang Melove Cakes and four Earl Grey Melove Cakes. For anyone who isn’t familiar with Lapsang, it’s a smokey black tea made with Camellia sinensis (also known as a ‘tea plant’). The Lapsang Melove Cakes are coated in a dark chocolate shell and have a hazelnut crisp inside. The Earl Grey Melove Cakes are instead coated in a milk chocolate shell but still have the delicious hazelnut crisp inside.

Both of these have super subtle flavours. The smokey Lapsang one was really light all the way through but then right at the end the smokiness came through. As for the Earl Grey, the flavour came through from beginning to end but it was lovely and subtle. It had a lovely light marshmallow texture on the inside and was cased in a very thin chocolate layer. A proper gift.

RRP £19.90, available online at Pierre Marcolini here.

There you have it. The final Christmas gift guide here on F O for this Christmas. Are there any foodie bits on here that you might treat yourself or someone else to this year? Which products sound like your kind of thing? Let me know in the comments!

Female Original

Liked this post? Then you need to check out my foodie advent calendar guide!