Valt Vodka Scottish Single Malt Vodka

We just took stock of our first scottish vodka and it so good we though it deserves its own Blog post!

Valt Vodka is the worlds first Scottish single malt vodka produced and distilled right here in Scotland  in traditional copper pot stills with Scottish malt barely and soft highland water from the River Spey. The Vodka is quintuple distilled using a charcoal and chill filtration technique developed especially for Valt. To Add to Valt’s Scottish Credentials the first distillation took place on St Andrews day 2006 and first bottled on Burns Day on the 25th January 2007.

The flavour of Valt is complety distinct from other vodkas sweet mellow and creamy. You can now buy this super premium vodka at http://www.scottishhampers.co.uk/item.html?id=459 and http://www.scottishfood.com/i/Valt-Vodka-Scottish-Vodka.html

Christmas Hamper Sale – Buy Online Today From £19.99!

Be sure and check out the Scottish Hampers Christmas sale!

You already probably know a hamper makes the  perfect christmas gift idea -  but look no further than our luxury christmas hamper selection.
Read more

Scottish Corporate Hampers

With the growing demand from businesses for our hampers and gift boxes we have introduced a full new section to our site – Corporate Hampers.

Buying gifts for employees, colleagues or associates can be a tricky business but bland and boring gift vouchers needn’t be your only option. Take the pain out of office present buying with Scottish Hampers’ corporate delivery service, which offers a vast choice of hampers that can be made to suit different tastes as well as different budgets.

We have a dedicated Corporate Order Enquiry Form and down loadable Multiple Address Spreadsheet to make sending your corporate gifts out all your staff / customers addresses much easier.

Corporate Employee Discount

Another way we can help you reward loyal and hardworking employees is to take advantage of our completely free Scottish Hamper Corporate Employee Discount offer.

How does it work?
It’s simple. Scottish Hampers will create a unique discount code that employees can use to make generous savings on our complete hamper range. All your employees need to do is log on to the Scottish Hamper website, fill up their shopping baskets as normal and then insert the unique discount code when prompted at the checkout.

see our corporate discount for details

Over 30 New Products Added

We have been very busy over the last few weeks extending our product range to bring you more of the best food and drink Scotland has to offer, in total we have added over 30 new products with  more in the coming month . Highlights include

loads more chocolate goodies from Kschocolat

A new selection of Border Biscuits

Amazing Berry Scrumptious Chocolates

There is also two brand new sections

Scottish Soups

A range of luxury Scottish soups from Scotlands favourite baxters

more scottish soups here

Scottish Classics

a fun selection of scottish modern classic sweets including cult classics like the the Wham bar and Tunnocks Tea cakes

more scottish classics here

Scottish Gift Boxes

After a long time  designing and planning we now have in stock our range of modern luxury Scottish gift boxes – Many customers have asked for this option instead of the more traditional wicker hampers and after selecting the perfect boxes we can now offer them alongside our existing hamper range. They come in three sizes; single bottle size , medium and large. Each box is finished in luxurious black with our emblem foil blocked on to the front. The boxes also feature  concealed magnets which hold the lid shut

For Corporate or larger orders we can also offer customization of the logo on the front of the box to add that extra special touch to your gift hamper

The gift boxes are only available via our all new make your own hamper service at the moment but we will be launching a range of hampers in the near future all featuring the boxes

Please visit our make your own hampers page for more details on our gift boxes

Make Your Own Hampers

We have added a new feature to the Scottish hampers site this week and its our favourite yet!  Our fully interactive “make your own hamper” service and its ready to test drive  here . You can now choose the hamper basket or gift box of your choice and add all the Scottish goodies all on the same page without having to go in and out of our shopping cart as previous customers will remember. As well as making it easier to navigate the food menus and add items to your custom hamper, we have add a “hamper space meter” which shows you at a glance how full your current hamper is, making it easy to add the right amount of Scottish produce to your hamper .

As you add items to your hamper or gift box they will appear in the left column along with a running total you can change the the quantities of items you selected or even remove them if you wish – at any point you can change to a different hamper especially useful if you need extra space !

Once you are happy with your make your own hamper selection then click the “checkout” button and proceed throught the checkout process as normal simple!

We have tested the service on all major browsers and everything appears to be working correctly but if you have any problems with the service then please do let us know.

Happy Hamper building!

Make Your Own Hamper Here

Raspberry and Drambuie creme fraiche tart

Serves 6

Although this is perfect served in the summer when Scottish raspberries are in season, it is also good during the dark winter months, using frozen raspberries.  When I go berry-picking at my local pick your own farm, I always buy masses extra, then, once jam is made and tummies replete from over indulging in the freshly picked fruit, the rest are frozen for winter.

Ingredients

50g/ 1 ¾ oz and 3 tablespoons of golden caster sugar

125g/4 ½ oz ground almonds

125g/4 ½ oz plain flour, sifted

125g/4 ½ oz butter, diced

1 medium and 2 large free-range eggs

1 x 200ml tub of crème fraiche, plus 4 heaped tablespoons to serve

4 tablespoons Drambuie

250g/9 oz raspberries

Method

For the pastry, place the 50g/ 1 ¾ oz sugar, the almonds, flour and butter in a food processor, and process until it resembles breadcrumbs.  Add the medium egg, and process.  Gather the mixture into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 1 hour.

Roll out the dough to fit a 23cm/9 in deep tart tin.  Prick the base then chill for several hours, preferable overnight.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5.

Line the pastry case with foil and baking beans and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.  Remove the foil and beans and cook for a further 10 minutes.  Remove the pastry case from the oven (leaving the oven on) and allow to cool.

Beat together the remaining sugar, the 2 large eggs, the 200ml of crème fraiche and 2 tablespoons of the Drambuie.  Pour the mixture into the pastry case.   Arrange the raspberries in a single layer on top.

Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes or until just set.  Allow to cool in the tin.

Beat the remaining crème  fraiche with the remaining Drambuie and serve with the tart.

Scotch pancakes with Inverawe smoked trout and sour cream

Serves 8 (24-30 pancakes)

If you make the pancakes a couple of days in advance, wrap then in clingfilm and store them in the fridge.  When you come to use them on the day of serving, however, they need no reheating and can be served just as they are.

Make this size (dessertspoon) for canapés or use a tablespoon to make larger pancakes to serve on plates as a first course.

Smoked salmon is a good substitute if you cannot find the Inverawe cold-smoked trout.

Ingredients

125g/4 ½ oz self raising flour, sifted

100g/3 ½ oz wholemeal self raising flour

2 large free range eggs

300ml/1/2 pint milk

A pinch of salt

2 heaped teaspoons horseradish sauce

Butter, for greasing

1 x 284ml tub soured cream

Freshly ground black pepper

1 x 400g pack of Inverawe cold smoked trout

Snipped chives or dill fronds to garnish

Method

Place the flours, eggs, milk and salt in a food processor, add 1 teaspoon of the horseradish sauce and process until smooth.  (or whisk by hand with a balloon whisk)

Place a large, heavy-based frying pan or girdle (griddle) on a medium heat and lightly butter the surface, using kitchen paper.  When the pan is sufficiently hot (test by dropping a teaspoonful of batter on to the surface: it should bubble within 1 minute), drop 1 dessertspoonful of batter into the pan and repeat three times to make 4 pancakes.  After 1-2 minutes, you will see bubbles: this is the sign to flip the pancakes over.  Cook for a further minute or so, until batter does not ooze out when lightly pressed with your fingers.

Remove to a wire rack and cover loosely with a tea towel.

Continue making the pancakes until the batter is all used up.

For the topping, mix the soured cream with the remaining horseradish and some salt and pepper.

To serve, spoon some of the cream mixture over each pancake and garnish with some smoked trout and chives or dill.

Scottish Oatmeal Bannocks

Makes 4 large bannocks

These bannocks are lovely soft, thick cakes made of oatmeal and flour.  They differ from oatcakes which are thinner and more crispy.  They are wonderful served warm with a warm bowl of hearty soup.

A girdle is traditional for making bannock; you can use a large heavy frying pan but it is rather more difficult to flip the bannocks unless you use a bendy spatula which can push down the sides of the frying pan.

If you cannot find buttermilk, you can use sour milk made by adding 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to regular milk and leaving it to stand for 5 minutes.

Ingredients

175g/6 oz plain flour, sifted

200g/7 oz medium oatmeal

1 teaspoon salt

25g/1 oz butter

1 rounded teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 ½  teaspoons cream of tartar

250ml/9 fl oz buttermilk or sour milk

Method

Mix the flour, oatmeal and salt in a bowl.

Over a gently heat, melt the butter and honey.

Stir the bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar into the milk, then tip this, together with the melted butter mixture, into the flour.  Stir to combine.

Meanwhile, lightly butter a girdle (griddle) and heat over a medium heat until hot.  Tip the mixture on to the girdle and spread out to form a circle, about 25cm/10 in diameter.

Leave to cook for about 5-6 minutes until the underside is set, then cut with a knife into quarters.  Now carefully flip the quarters over.  Lower the heat to medium – low and continue to cook until done – about another 7 -8 minutes.

Remove the bannocks to a wire rack to cool slightly.  Serve warm, split and spread with butter.

Squashed ham sandwich

Serves 2

This is a sandwich, but not as most people know it………

What could be more homely and simple than a mustard-enhanced ham sandwich?  But because most of us travel to picnics by car, this one also requires the diner to sit on the sandwich to help everything blend together, the butter melting seductively into the bread and the mustard an ham blissfully uniting.  It is not simply a gimmick – although the kids love it when you ask then to sit on their lunch – it also tastes wonderful.

The idea for this sat- upon sandwich is from American food writer M.F.K Fisher’s ‘Railroad Sandwich’ (from her words, ‘a serene onlooker), preferably one of ample girth, to do the sitting.  Timing is not crucial but, depending on girth and corpulence, I advise a minimum of 20 minutes.

Ingredients

1 short, wide French loaf (about 30cm/12 in long

55-75g/2-2 ¾ oz butter

Edinburgh Preserves Honey & Whisky Mustard

About 115g/4 oz quality cooked ham, sliced

Method

Slice the loaf horizontally into 2 halves.  Remove some of the soft bread inside to make more room for the filling.  Spread both cut sides generously with the butter, then smear mustard on to one side.

Place the ham slices along one half, then top with the other half, pressing down firmly together.  Never consider adding extras such as tomatoes or lettuce, unless you want a perfectly squashed sandwich with judiciously measured filling to end up a slimy disaster.

Wrap the loaf in foil, then in a plastic bag and finally in a tea towel.  Ask the chosen sandwich -squasher to sit on the  loaf (gently but firmly) for about 20-30 minutes.

Before eating, carefully unwrap the sandwich, cut in two and devour.