A rather tastefully designed biscuit tin; stylish enough to lift it from the ‘naff’ and ‘tacky’ even with the addition of a wind up musical box that plays ‘God Save The Queen’.

Inside this glorious tin is a generous helping of an entirely new Fortnum’s biscuit, invented especially to celebrate our monarch’s Diamond Jubilee. Made with Cornish clotted cream, each digestive is half-dipped in dark chocolate and embossed with the Fortnum’s logo. The elegant tin is decorated with a parade of royal beasts, all dancing in jubilation – and if you wind the key in its base, it will play ‘God Save the Queen’. A deliciously royal experience.

The Jubilee Muscial Biscuit Tin is available from Fortnum & Mason for £12.95

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Celebrate the Diamond Jubilee with a handpicked hamper full of right royal treats from famous Yorkshire deli Hunters of Helmsley.

This medley of majestic goodies showcases the very best of British, including handmade chocolates from innovative brand Montezuma, biscuits from Yorkshire bakers Cookielicious and even a delicious jam based on the Cherries Jubilee recipe devised for Queen Victoria’s own Jubilee. With funky Union Jack packaging aplenty it makes you proud to be British!

An ideal gift or perfect to share with friends and family over the Jubilee bank holiday, the hamper contains:

• Butlers Grove Cherries Jubilee Jam
• Cookielicious Union Jack biscuits
• Cookielicious Bearskin soldier biscuit
• House of Dorchester 85g Chocolate bar
• Montezuma Lemon Meringue Pudding Bar
• Grandma Wild’s London biscuit tin
• Brewhaha British Teabags
• Montezuma Great British Pudding Truffles

Attractively gift boxed in blue with a Union Jack sash, UK mainland delivery is included for the price of £42.50.

For more information or to purchase a hamper visit www.huntersofhelmsley.com. Hampers can also be ordered in the store on Helmsley’s historic Market Place.

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Exquisite handmade chocolate maker Holdsworth Chocolates has launched a Union Jack chocolate box to mark the summer of celebrations in the UK.

The 240g box features delicious quintessentially British-themed chocolates, such as clotted cream truffle, praline cup, and apple and geranium cream. Designed to be re-used as a keepsake gift box, the Union Jack selection box has been created to celebrate both the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics.

Holdsworth Chocolates, which is based in the heart of the Peak District at Bakewell in Derbyshire, has a team of skilled chocolatiers led by creative director Genevieve Holdsworth. Each chocolate is handmade – not just hand-finished – and a number have been awarded gold star rating in the Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste Awards…the Oscars of the speciality food industry.

“Holdsworth Chocolates’ Union Jack Box is a traditional British product, filled with chocolates that have been made in the heart of the UK using the finest ingredients,” said Genevieve Holdsworth.

“It makes a wonderful gift or an indulgent treat, and of course the box can be re-used as a gift box as a reminder of the historic events of the summer of 2012.”

Available nationally in selected stores and directly from Holdsworth Chocolates via www.holdsworthchocolates.co.uk, the recommended retail price for the Union Jack Box is £14.95.

The company was created by Barbara Holdsworth in 1988. Spurred on by a passionate belief in making chocolates by hand, she developed her own recipes. Barbara handed over to daughter Genevieve in 2002.

Stockists of Holdsworth Chocolates include Harrods, Selfridges, Waitrose, Chatsworth House shop and Chatsworth Farm Shop and Ibbotsons of Ashford.

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Weeton’s of Harrogate is launching an historical hunt for the original carving implements used at Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Ox Roasting on the Stray – an event that the award-winning farm shop is painstakingly re-creating for the Diamond Jubilee weekend in June.

Weeton’s – and the Jubilee Committee – are calling for help to find 10 of the original 13 missing carving sets for a Jubilee roasting re-enactment, which first took place on the Stray in 1887.

The spectacular ox roasting and carving, which celebrated Queen Victoria’s Jubilee year, was originally performed with the 13 carving cutlery sets, and although two of the sets now reside in the Royal Pump Room Museum in Harrogate – and a set is owned by local historian and Freeman of the Borough, Malcolm Neesam – the location of 10 of the sets still remains a mystery.

“We want our Jubilee ox roasting to have all the pomp and ceremony of the original occasion and finding the specially commissioned knives and forks that were used at the Victorian event will ensure we can rise – and roast – to the occasion!” says Weeton’s operations director Jo Loftus.

While the blades of the carving knives are made from steel, the handles are fashioned from carved bone, with Neesam’s set inscribed with the words: “Specially made to carve the Jubilee ox, roasted on Harrogate Stray, June 21st 1887”.

In honour of this summer’s Diamond Jubilee event, Weeton’s will be donating an ox from its own herd of Red Polls, which has its own ‘royal connections’, as one of the herd is the offspring of Appleton Fourpence, who came from the Sandringham estate – the country retreat of HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.

The Queen has already given permission for a fire pit to be dug in the Stray – land that remains in the ownership of the Duchy of Lancaster – and plans are afoot for Jeremy Ravenshaw Fowler, top BBQ chef and grill master to mastermind all the cooking.

And while inventor, philanthropist and former Harrogate Mayor, Samson Fox, who donated the original ox and commissioned the 13 carving sets at his factory, The Leeds Forge, was master of ceremonies at the first roasting, in June, his mantle will be taken on by a Cabinet Member of Harrogate Borough Council.

The main spectacular will take place on Sunday 3 June, when the Mayor of Harrogate Borough lights the pit and a symbolic papier-mâché ox is set on fire. Revellers will then be able to tuck into delicious beef rolls from the real roasting, which Weeton’s will be selling directly on the Stray. All proceeds from the event will be going to St Michaels Hospice.

Tickets to the event, and for the food, will be on sale at Weeton’s and Harrogate Tourist Information Centre from early May. For more information call 01423 507 100.

So can you carve your place in history by discovering Harrogate’s hidden treasures?

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The nation’s favourite spread, Marmite, has been given a makeover to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The new look Marmite makes it the most appropriate kitchen table condiment for people wanting to toast the Queen’s 60th year on Tuesday 5th June.

“We wanted to pay a fitting tribute to the Queen – from one British institution to another. We just hope Ma’am loves it!” comments Nicola Waymark, marketing manager at Unilever.

Ma’amite, Marmite Jubilee Limited Edition, is available at all good high street retailers, nationwide – including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose, Morrisons and Co-op – as well as online at http://www.marmiteshop.co.uk from Monday 30th April. Ma’amite has an RRP of £2.72 – so grab it while stocks last!

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Michel Roux Snr, forever immortalised as the Godfather of the UK’s culinary revolution and founder of the Waterside Inn, the only restaurant outside of France to be honoured with three Michelin Stars consecutively for 25 years, has created an innovative range of fresh, delicious, wholesome and affordable meal-kits ready to be cooked from scratch in under ten minutes.

Designed for people who value the virtues of good cooking but are squeezed on time and refuse to succumb to the ‘ping’ of a microwave, the genius of Scratch lies in its simplicity. One box, containing premium pre chopped, washed and weighed fresh ingredients, no additives or preservatives and a simple set of instructions requiring nothing more than a wooden spoon and no more than two pots or pans.

Created to readdress the balance between our growing desire to cook and our ever-increasingly hectic and time-strapped lives, Scratch serves up healthy, hearty and balanced meals in minutes, the kind that makes your soul and your tastebuds sing, with zero stress, fuss or preparation combined with a sprinkle of Michelin Stardust, for that extra dash of je ne sais quoi.

From April 25th the range, comprising of Chicken Thai Green Curry with Bamboo Shoots (£3.95), King Prawn and Chorizo Paella (£3.95), Makhani Chicken Tikka Masala (£3.95) and Tagliatelle Pistachio Pesto and Cherry Tomatoes (£3.95) will be stocked in 60 Sainsbury’s Local stores across London, with a view to rolling out nationally across the UK later in the year.

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Finally, healthy snacking that tastes great! Made from real fruit and completely guilt-free, the Yu! range uses only the best natural ingredients without compromising on taste, offering the perfect solution to snacking on the go.

Whether you are out and about, stuck in the office or a busy mum packing the kid’s lunchboxes for school, Yu! is the most convenient, nutritious choice for everyone everywhere. Yu! products are made from real fruit and completely free from added nasties.

Sweet and tasty, Yu! offers a unique selection of products which include:
• 100% Jus Fruit – delicious bite-sized pieces of dried fruit, one of your 5-a-day and less than 90 calories
• Yogurt-Coated Fruit Pieces – tasty fruit bites covered in a creamy yogurt coating, containing real fruit and real yogurt
• Yu! Bars – 40% fruit combined with cereal in a gorgeously healthy yogurt-coating

Find the perfect healthy snack for Yu! with the dried fruit snacks in the home baking sections of Tesco and Sainsbury’s stores nationwide now.
For more information, visit www.yuhealthysnacks.co.uk

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It’s time to discover Wagon Wheels again! The iconic, much-loved biscuit brand is revealing a new and improved recipe, tasty limited-edition Caramel flavour, an exciting new look and a new mysterious advertising campaign.

From nostalgic memories of the famous ‘Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’’ ads, to the unique and out of this world marshmallow centre – everyone has a reason to love Wagon Wheels. For more than 60 years, we’ve had to ‘grin to get it in’ and now it’s time for the new generation of young biscuit lovers to discover the secrets within the Wagon Wheel.

The new and improved Wagon Wheels is truly ‘choccy, crunchy and marshmallowy’ and joining the existing Original and Jammie range, is a satisfying new Caramel flavour. Whilst on the outside, Wagon Wheels are sporting an adventurous new look, so there’s never been a better time to devour a Wagon Wheel.

The new Wagon Wheels will be on shelves this month, in all major supermarkets, selected independent and convenience stores across the UK.

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Rod and Ben’s Soup Club has voted two delicious NEW soup flavours on to the line-up of summer soups, which will be available from May 1st. A dozen members of its “Brotherhood of Broth” spent hours putting soups through their paces on Rod and Ben’s organic Devon farm near Exeter – and were ultimately bowled over by two exciting new Thai soups: Thai Chicken and Thai Vegetable, which will join the ranks of seasonal summer favourites such as Gazpacho, Tomato and Basil, Pea and Mint and Courgette and Tomato.

Rod Hall, Rod and Ben’s owner, whose 100% natural organic soups have won a host of Great Taste Awards, says:

“Thai soups are a new departure for us but as soon as the Soup Club tasted the two new contenders everyone was adamant that they had to be part of the Rod and Ben’s Summer Soup range. Thai flavours are light and delicious and lend themselves perfectly to a light summer soup – and who can argue with the decision of the Brotherhood of Broth?!”

Wheat and gluten-free, and sometimes dairy-free, the summer soup range is made using simple recipes so that the ingredient’s integrity – colour, flavour and texture – is preserved. The summer full line-up includes:

• NEW Thai Vegetable – wheat and gluten-free
• NEW Thai Chicken – wheat and gluten-free
• Carrot and Coriander – wheat and gluten-free
• NEW Gazpacho – dairy-free
• Tomato and Basil – wheat, gluten and dairy-free
• Pea and Mint – wheat and gluten-free
• Haddock Chowder – wheat and gluten-free
• Chicken and Vegetable – wheat and gluten-free
• Each month there is a soup of the month – a great way to taste the seasons!

Rod and Ben’s Summer Soup 2012 range is available from May 1st – October 1st from independent retailers (including Abel and Cole, Riverford, Planet Organic stores, Union Market, Selfridges and As Nature Intended), delicatessens and farm shops all around the country, South West Morrison’s stores and by mail order via www.rodandbens.com. Pots are 600g and have a RRP of £3.49 – £3.99.

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To eat is to enjoy… this years Hotel Chocolat Easter Egg, the Rocky Road to Caramel. Twelve delicious mixed chocolates encased in an extra thick shell.

Both half-shells are cast in our mellow 40% milk chocolate, with one half-shell studded with crispy puffed rice, cookies and chocolate chunks. The other half-shell with a layer of caramel chocolate over a base of milk chocolate. And inside the dreaminess continues – with praline with cookies, liquid caramel and silky smooth milk chocolate ganache along with solid bunnies and chicks cast in milk and caramel chocolate and more.

The Hotel Chocolat Rocky Road to Caramel Easter Egg is £26.

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The Foodie List - Foodie stuff from around the UK