Edible gifts are always going to please the recipient! Put a ban on the selection boxes this year and buy handmade or hand-selected products from a gorgeous range of local suppliers. Whether you gift these products, use them in your own curated hampers or have them as a treat on Christmas Day, there is something for everyone among our abundance of local suppliers. In this Christmas Gift Guide, you’ll find gifts you can eat straight away such as handmade chocolates, sustainable nut products, beautiful cheeses and healthy alternatives to chocolate.
Edible Gifts and Stocking Fillers
- Cheeky Cheesecakes
- The Chocolate Mill MK
- The Deli @ Castle Ashby
- La Vita Pazza
- Nutcellars
- Reemas Gourmet
- Schokokuss
- Urban Bee-lievers
- The Willen Ice Cream Co.
This guide is part of Sophie etc.’s Independent Milton Keynes Christmas Gift Guide 2022. Businesses have paid to feature in the guides, but the guide has been entirely curated by Sophie. We hope it inspires you to shop small this Christmas! Every effort has been taken to ensure the information in this blog post is correct. Please refer directly to vendor websites and social media pages for the most up-to-date information for Christmas delivery and products. If you do see an error, please email blog@sophieetc.com.
Cheeky Cheesecakes
If you haven’t tried Cheeky Cheesecakes yet, you MUST. Emma started this business during the first lockdown as a fun side hustle and it has been really successful. She offers a wide variety of luxury no-bake cheesecakes perfect for any occasion or even just a cheeky treat! Flavours include Biscoff, Terry’s chocolate orange and Nutella.
Christmas cheesecakes are available as a small (£10) or large (£35). They would make an excellent Christmas day dessert. Boxes of Christmas Cheesecakes are also available (Starting at £12 for a box of 4) Choose from Lotus Biscoff or Milk Chocolate. Each cheesecake is topped with festive chocolates and treats. Perfect for Christmas parties and gifts.
To order your cheesecakes, email info@cheeky-cheesecakes.co.uk or get in touch via social media.
Follow @cheekycheesecakes on Instagram | Follow Cheeky Cheesecakes on Facebook.



The Chocolate Mill MK
The Chocolate Mill is owned by Steve, a chocolatier who hand-makes every single chocolate truffle from his kitchen. The truffles are absolutely delicious and the flavours are very unique. You can pick up a box of 6 or 26 truffles, either from a premade selection or create your own custom box! From classes like Salted Caramel and Honeycomb to the festive delights of Christmas Pudding and Mince Pie, there’s something to suit everyone.
The premade selection features 36 delicious truffles (£29) and each one is different, perfect for the chocaholic friend in your life. Or if 36 is too many, you can get a box of 12 and 24 truffles. These come in either an alcohol-free or a boozy version with plenty of different flavours. The 24 box has two of each chocolate so is perfect for sharing. Or not!
Visit The Chocolate Mill’s website to order.


The Deli @ Castle Ashby
The Deli @ Castle Ashby is a family-run artisan delicatessen in the rural shopping yard in the idyllic village of Castle Ashby. The Deli specialises in providing carefully sourced and home-made produce which is the perfect addition to any festive hamper or spread. There is also space to eat and try some of their delicious produce.
They stock a large variety of ripe British cheeses from Neals Yard Dairy, handmade chocolates, organic and biodynamic wine, homemade sausage rolls, pork pies, scotch eggs and a unique scooping gorgonzola they assure you will be back for! This is alongside a wide range of products from all over the world including a range of Scandinavian and European goodies.
Their picks for Christmas include Dolce and Gabbana Panettone, Scooping Gorgonzola, Lakrids by Bulow, Organic Port and of course, their range of delicious British cheeses.
Visit The Deli @ Castle Ashby’s website. You can order online for Click & Collect up to three months before your desired collection date or they deliver within a 12 mile radius of the Deli.
Follow @castleashbydeli on Instagram.


La Vita Pazza
La Vita Pazza is the only dedicated Italian shop located in Milton Keynes, selling the best imported Italian products ranging from biscuits, pasta, fresh cheeses, fine wines and cured Italian meats. The full range contains more than 500+ authentic products. It isn’t Christmas in our house without a Panettone, and La Vita Pazza has some delicious ones! Prices start at £5.
For those who are trickier to buy for, why not treat them to a luxury Italian Christmas hamper? Each hamper features sweet treats, savoury products, a bottle of wine and much more all wrapped up and ready to go in a basket. Prices start from £30.
Visit La Vita Pazza’s website to browse the Christmas Collection. (FREE local delivery)
Follow La Vita Pazza on Facebook | Follow @lavitapazzauk on Instagram.


Nutcellars
Nutcellars is a Bedford-based macadamia nut brand comprising of brothers Tim and Nick and their Dad Andrew. They source our macadamias from smallholder farmer cooperatives in Malawi – Andrew was born in Malawi and has a long-standing connection with the farmer coops, chairing the Neno Macadamia Trust charitable organisation.
They have a delicious range of sustainable macadamia products, including macadamia butter, chocolate spreads, caramelised, roasted salted and raw macadamias. Their bestseller is the Cinnamon Caramelised Macadamia Nuts. Originally created for the Christmas season but kept in production all year round as they were so popular! They have a churros-esque sweet cinnamon flavour.
The spreads also make a great stocking filler for those with a sweet tooth and are free from any unnatural flavourings or palm oil. The Chocolate Macadamia spread is made from macadamia butter (73%), cocoa powder and date sugar. There is also a Crunchy Macadamia Spread which is one of the first products they made. It’s very versatile, with many and varied uses, from toast to smoothies, or even as an ingredient in meals such as curries or a vegan-friendly cream replacement.
Follow @nutcellars on Instagram | Follow Nutcellars on Facebook.
Find out more about macadamia nuts and sustainability.



Reemas Gourmet
Reemas Gourmet is a small family business, that started with a simple idea to offer healthy gifting options. Their naturally sweet gift boxes are an alternative to chocolates and high-sugar sweets, which is suitable for everyone and any occasion. Reema’s offers naturally sweet gift boxes of dried fruit dates filled with nuts and fruit. They are MK-based, but ship all over the UK.
The beautifully presented products are dates filled with nuts, dates filled with dried fruit, and dates filled with nuts and dried fruit gift boxes. The nut fillings include pistachio, pecan, hazelnut, cashew, and almond. The dried fruit fillings include orange peel, ginger, cranberry, apricot, coconut, coffee bean, and rose petals.
The gift boxes are suitable for vegans and anyone on a healthy diet. Available in different sizes starting from £11.95.
Visit Reemas Gourmet website to buy the gift boxes direct.
Follow @reemasgourmet on Instagram | Follow Reemas Gourmet on Facebook.


Schokokuss MK
Schokokuss means ‘Chocolate Kisses’ in German. This unique business is a small owner-operated business offering authentic Schokokuss. We import all our stock from the factory in Germany and offer individual or boxes for sale.
Schokokuss are sweets made from sweetened egg white foam on top of a wafer and covered in chocolate. They have a lovely fluffy consistency and are a decadent festive treat. Schokokuss are available individually or in boxes of 12. These are ideal to enjoy yourself or as a gift.
Individuals are £1.50 and boxes of 12 are £15. Choose from the following flavours: Milk Chocolate, Zebra (milk and white chocolate), White Chocolate, Cappuccino, Honey and Almond, Orange, Pink Gin, After Eight, White Strawberry, Hazelnut, White Chocolate Coconut or Milk Chocolate Coconut.
Visit Schokokuss’ website to order.
Follow @schokokussmk on Instagram | Follow Schokokuss MK on Facebook.


Urban Bee-lievers
Urban Bee-lievers is an exciting social enterprise finding ways to encourage, educate and inspire everyone in Milton Keynes to help make our city bee-friendly. Urban Bee-lievers is one of Milton Keynes Christian Foundation’s social enterprises supported by young people not in education, training or employment who gain essential work experience and qualifications as they help save the bees, process honey and make beautiful and useful products from precious beeswax.
The honey is totally delicious and is created by amazing bees in Wolverton, Cosgrove and Central Milton Keynes. It is then gently extracted and bottled to ensure none of the beneficial enzymes and amazing flavours that make raw honey unique is lost.
Each batch looks and tastes slightly different as the bees will have been foraging on different flowers depending on the weather and the time of year. The spring honey is from Cosgrove and has a high rapeseed flower content; it crystallizes quickly due to higher glucose sugars in rapeseed flower nectar. This makes the honey set more quickly and has a butter consistency. Summer honey is created from a mixture of flowers and is much funnier. £5 per jar.
Buy Urban Bee-lievers products online or find them at the Urb Farm market on Thursdays.
Follow @urbanbeelievers on Instagram.

The Willen Ice Cream Company
The Willen Ice Cream Company is a Milton Keynes-based, family-run business that manufactures and sells award-winning artisan ice cream. They’re passionate about bringing simple yet delicious flavours together. To create the highest quality ice cream and flavours around, they work with a range of local producers to use the best and locally sourced natural ingredients.
The Willen Ice Cream Company has received a coveted Great Taste star for ‘Simply Dairy’ ice cream at the Great Taste Awards – the world’s largest and most trusted food and drink awards. However, for Christmas, you could do worse than pick up a tub of their Christmas Pudding Ice Cream with Brandy-soaked fruits. Handcrafted using only the finest ingredients, this festive ice cream flavour will get your tastebuds tingling this December. This pure indulgence is the perfect accompaniment to any wintery pudding and is delicious on its own as a refreshing change to Christmas desserts.
Visit The Willen Ice Cream Company’s website to order, or find them at local farmer’s markets and events.
Follow @icewillen on Instagram | Follow The Willen Ice Cream Company on Facebook.


I hope this Christmas Gift Guide has inspired you to shop small this Christmas. If you do decide to support these businesses please let them know who sent you their way and share your purchases with my Facebook Community Group, Eat & Explore MK. You can also share your local finds on Instagram with the hashtag #EatandExploreMiltonKeynes.
What edible gifts and stocking fillers will you buy this Christmas?
Explore the other gift guides:
Pin it for later

