Christmas Hamper Inspiration Thread

[christmasunicorn]

After reading posts of wonderful Christmas hampers people produce over the years I've decided to have a go myself this year. Unfortunately though I'm not a great cook. Or baker. Or anything that requires time in the kitchen so I'm asking for help.
I thought I'd set up this thread where we can all share ideas and inspiration on what to put in our hampers and you we can share the recipes too. Sharing is caring after all.

I do food ones for the grandparents. I love to cook and bake but nothing in these is particularly hard. I usually include a mini Christmas cake, chilli jam (Nigella's recipe), apple and blackberry jam, Christmas chutney (Mary Berry's recipe), gingerbread syrup, and whatever the kids want to make - chocolate bark usually. Among other things, but those get requested each year. I start making things August/September time.

Ooo Chris chutney sounds good. I love chutney! Goes off to google recipe....

Have you ever tried peppermint bark? I love it but had never made it. I tried this recipe not too long ago and it was very easy. Wrapped up in some cellophane it would be nice in a hamper.

If you can get it straw really makes a difference to the look of a hamper compared with shredded paper. I'm not sure where the best place to buy it would be

And a second layer of stuff hidden away feels very luxurious. I think a smaller basket with two layers is much nicer than a big basket with one even though it's the same amount of stuff.

I'm thinking of doing some sweet hampers this year. Haven't really thought it through yet but thinking of
Honeycomb half dipped in chocolate
Tiny bars of chocolate (I have moulds but have to find foil in right size/quantity/price)
Pink sugar mice
Fudge
Bailey's truffles
Caramel chocolates
Candy cane hearts (maybe)
Bottle of lemonade (maybe)

I'd like a nice vintage look but aside I from a couple of pretty glass jars, I haven't figured it out yet.

I'm aiming for luxury rather than bargainous so using high quality ingredients but hoping to give as family gifts so that I don't have to think up 4 or 5 individual gifts especially for impossible to please teenagers
I'd far rather spend time cooking than trawling the shops so there's a little bit of selfishness in it too.

I adore honeycomb but never realised you could make it at home. I think I might have to try it over the summer holidays, you know to trial is and taste test it to make it perfect. Totally unselfish reasons of course ;)

I have never heard of peppermint bark. What exactly is semi sweet chocolate? I work in white, milk and dark. I did say the kitchen was not my natural ground.

Definitely want to go for quality. I'd like about 10 treats and a mix of savoury and sweet then a couple of bottles of booze. Can anyone recommend a good marmalade recipe?

Things I've made in the past include bacon jam, chilli jam, plum chutney, biscotti (keeps very well), Turkish delight, fudge, tablet, hot chocolate spoons (silicone cases filled with chocolate, wooden spoon stuck in and topped with mini marshmallows/toffee/more chocolate!) and salted caramel sauce.

Stroan - would you share your bacon jam recipe please? I would love to make some.

Bacon jam?

I imagined that ^ said in the same tone of voice as Peter Kay's 'garlic bread?!'

Lol Fluffly that's now stuck in my head! Bacon? Jam? 😂

christmasunicorn I used milk chocolate - not sure if that's what the recipe meant but let's face it, American chocolate is weird!

Of course, I used this one: www.marthastewart.com/326881/slow-cooker-bacon-jam

After I made one batch, I had to make another so that I could keep some for myself! It's gorgeous with cheese or cold meat.

💐 thank you!

Just a word of caution, I did hampers last year for lots of people and they were all tailored to them and included their favourite booze, books etc as well. Nobody seemed particularly enamoured with them so this year I'm not going to bother as they were actually more expensive and a lot more effort. I would personally love to receive one but perhaps I didn't analyse my target audience properly!

Agree with WhichJob, I made one for my MIL, not homemade stuff as I didn't have time having just had my third dc: lovely thick Heatwarmer socks, Hotel Chocolat, a couple of small craft items (she can sew), M&S biscuits, a couple of naaice bath products, naaice coffee (she doesn't like much but she likes coffee) a book that I'd bothered to check it had good reviews and was same genre she reads, a calendar with photos of her dgc, etc. I gave it to her she kind of looked it over, said thanks, put it aside and that was that. I should have really known as she's never enthusiastic about anything other than slagging her son in law off . My DM saw the basket by accident before I'd wrapped it and was wowed but I'd already bought her gift - guess who's getting the naaice hamper this year.

thatwouldbe, sounds like a similar experience to mine, many people didn't even rummage through them to see what was in there! Mine weren't homemade either. I hope your DM likes hers, no-one is getting one from me this year!

I stopped doing homemade stuff for my in-laws when I found one years goodies unopened on the kitchen worktop at least a year later. They were an extra, not the main present, but it still stung a little.

They all get money now, exactly what they want. I still do homemeade bits for others, but tend to make big batches and give them to friends etc. Not as a real present, just a wee thing at Christmas time if that makes sense.

God that's so SO rude of people to be visibly unimpressed with such amazing-sounding presents! I would be thrilled.

I'd love a hamper #justsayin' 😂

I did one for my parents last year and am again this year too. I they liked last year's!

No word, I would too!! To be fair, some of the recipients were in their twenties so they can be excused even though the contents were appropriate - bottle of vodka for one, bottle of champagne in another etc. And PIL aren't impressed by much so they can get slippers and a book this year which was DH's suggestion!

ecumenical your mil just sounds rude, that was a lovely collection of gifts.

Ann much as I would love something like you suggest, I suspect it would be wasted on teenagers who will be and really want cash or an amazon voucher.

Some of my hampers included vouchers - Nando's one for the student, Costa one for recent grad who likes a latte on the way to work. Honestly, they were amazing! But people were nonplussed so sod that this year!

Might not exactly be a hamper, but there's something I used to sell in my cake biz, and it was easy to make.

I made boxes of brownies. I'd make 4 batches of brownies, each with a different flavour. One plain, one with orange zest, one mocha with coffee, and one with Christmas cake steeped fruits added.

I would then cut them into pieces and wrap them all in foil. Then each one in coloured tissue paper according to flavour. Christmas tissue is cheap in home bargains or Poundland. Or I prefer plain coloured tissue in jewel colours. So I might wrap the orange pieces in orange paper, mocha in Green, plain in red, and Christmas in purple. The fool shines through the tissue and looks SO pretty and decadent.

Then I'd pack a selection of flavours in a nice gift box, lined with more nice tissue paper.

I also added a little note, perhaps gold pen on black card, to explain the colour-coded flavours.

They were gorgeous! And not expensive or hard to make 4 batches of brownies. The extra deco touches made up a lot of the eye-appeal.

(Foil, not fool.)

They sound lovely pinkglitter

I'd love a hamper and some of these recipes sound amazing. Maybe I'll just make myself a hamper, tell the kids Santa sent it to me.

I'm hoping to be a lot more organised this year to make hampers. I got as far as making the slow cooker fudge last year and scoffed the lot myself.