Christmas at Borough Market
BY PALOMA LACY
Christmas is quite frankly the most delicious time of year, with new launches and seasonable foods available. Here are our top buys to help get into the festive spirit.
Lucky enough to live in city with a world-class food market, Borough Market is a veritable Aladdin’s cave of edible treats.
Visit midweek to miss the big crowds – or shop online and miss the crowds all together.
Indulge in exclusive Christmas hampers, beautifully packaged in a reusable Borough Market bag.
The collection of hampers includes a ‘12 Days of Christmas’ selection of 12 store cupboard ingredients.
From Oiveology’s pine honey to ceps from Turnips and pomegranate molasses from Arabica – it’s a great one for keen cooks.
The Luxe Christmas Hamper delights, with fresh cheeses and charcuterie from traders, and Neal’s Yard Dairy, Bath Soft Cheese and the Parma ham and mozarella stand are the stars of the show here, along with iconic favourites like Pâté Moi’s Mushroom pate.
Available to order from Borough Market Online – delivered by zero-emission electric bikes and vans for those within an eight-mile radius of the market, or posted nationwide via the carbon neutral ‘Borough by Post’ service, until 23rd December.
The hamper range starts at £49.40.
https://www.goodsixty. co.uk/retailers/london/836-best-of-borough-market-gift-hampers
What could possibly be better than a chocolate brownie?
A longer one, and this is where the Cutter and Squidge Brownie bar comes in.
The width of a brownie but longer, ready to enjoy and, if needs be, to share.
A delicious brownie that is gooey in all the right places, it comes in two flavours, and the box is packed with two of each.
Sandwiched with a smooth orange spread and covered in an indulgent dark chocolate Sorrento orange ganache.
It’s delicately garnished with candied orange and dried orange slices.
The Pistachio Cherry brownie is rich and moist, with a layer of fudgy brownie.
Covered in luxurious white chocolate ganache, it’s finely decorated with crushed pistachios and dried sliced cherries.
Christmas brownie bars can be delivered anywhere nationwide, making it the perfect gift for family and friends.
Gourmet UK has pushed the boat out this year with a huge selection of new foodie gifts and tempting treats.
We rather like the mouth-watering, Brazilian-inspired brigadeiro.
This fudge-like treat is a deadly combination of bitesize and moreish.
Ready to eat when guests come over, or use them as a decoration for the Christmas tree – the choice is yours.
Customers can choose their flavour combinations and their box sizes (6, 7, 12, 24 or 50).
The Christmas range also includes yule log, Christmas cakes and the cakeatone – a cake and pannetone hybrid.
It’s known as the chocolate revolution and eating the sweet stuff has never tasted so good.
Divine Chocolate, the only Fairtrade chocolate company to be co-owned by cocoa farmers, has a new range which is helping to end exploitation of cocoa farmers, one bar at a time.
Three new tantalising flavours include Smooth Milk Chocolate with Orange Crisp, Smooth Dark Chocolate with Pretzel and Caramel and Smooth Milk Chocolate with Almond and Salted Caramel.
Available to purchase at most major supermarkets. No drink says Christmas quite like Eggnog.
This version of the festive classic adds chai tea, coconut and almond milk.
Ingredients:
250ml coconut milk
500ml almond milk
80ml maple syrup
3 chai teabags (or 2 tsp of chai spice mix in a spice bag)
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 egg yolks
For the topping:
200g whipped cream
Piece of dark chocolate
1 shot of rum or brandy per glass
1 tsp cinnamon – freshly grated using
Method:
Put all the ingredients, except for the egg yolks into a saucepan and warm through slowly. Do not boil.
Leave to infuse for five minutes.
Mix the egg yolks in a bowl and add some warm almond milk then pour it into the saucepan and heat everything up again, slowly, stirring constantly.
Remove the tea bags/spice sachets from the pan.
Pour a shot of brandy into each glass, divide the mixture equally, top with whipped cream and a fresh grating of cinnamon and chocolate.