Tried and tested: Booths party food

Our tasters sampled a few delights, ranging from party food to sweet after dinner treats.

Party food (selected items 3 for 2)

12 Oriental Selection with Sweet Chilli Dip £6

A selection of 4 x prawn toast, 4 x Panang prawn parcels and 4 x red Thai curry vegetable pastry balls. Served with a sweet chilli dip.

Our taster found the selection very nice. The prawn toast, with sesame seeds, was lovely and moist and the Thai curry vegetable pastry balls were fluffy and light.

12 King Prawn Selection £7

A selection of sweet chilli king prawns wrapped in filo pastry, king prawns wrapped in coriander filo pastry and king prawns in a tempura batter.

Who can resist a prawn at a festive party? They are the perfect finger food and here you can choose from tempura battered and filo wrapped varieties. Delicious dipped in sweet chilli sauce. Top party nosh.

8 Chicken Goujons with Garlic Mayo Dip £6

British chicken fillets coated in seasoned batter with a garlic mayo dipping sauce. The seasoned batter was light and crispy and the chicken was delicious with the garlic mayo sauce.

10 Goats’ Cheese & Red Onion Marmalade Crostini £6

These crusty baguette slices were smothered in a red onion and balsamic vinegar marmalade, topped with creamy Welsh goats’ cheese. They had a pleasant taste and were quite sweet.

12 Lancashire Cheese & Damson Jelly Parcels £7

Hand wrapped filo pastry parcels filled with traditional Lancashire cheese and Hawkshead Relish damson jelly

Looking for something tasty to satisfy the vegetarians at your festive party. This might just fit the bill....

Crispy filo pastry oozing with cheese and a delicious damson chutney for dipping. Maybe the vegetarians won’t get a look in!

12 Vegetarian Indian Selection £6

4 x vegetable samosas, 4 x carrot & coriander bhajis and 4 x spinach pakoras.

This spicy and delicious vegetarian Indian selection offers a tasty contrast to all those mince pies over the festive season. This mix, including bhajis and samosas crisp up nicely in the oven and the prefect compliment to a turkey curry.

6 Lancashire Rarebit Tartlets £7

Lancashire cheese with onions cooked in Riggwelter ale and mustard sauce, baked in a shortcrust pastry case. Made in Yorkshire.

The cheese was very tasty, even through there was only a smattering on them but the pastry was a little disappointing. It crumbled very easily but, as they would probably only be eaten as a nibble, it’s not a big deal.

16 Gloucester Old Spot Sausage Rolls with Red Onion Chutney £7

Hand rolled puff pastry with rare breed Gloucester Old Spot pork and red onion chutney. Made in Yorkshire.

Nice buttery pastry wraps a good meaty middle with no mush or gristle. The red onion chutney adds a distinctive note without taking away from the porky goodness. Great when they’re hot and perfect for any festive buffet.

6 Harrogate Blue Cheese, Leek & Bacon Tartlets £7

Shepherd’s Purse Harrogate Blue Cheese, buttered leeks and dry cured smoked British bacon mixed with free range egg and baked in a shortcrust pastry case. Made in Yorkshire. These tartlets were very tasty and had an even mix of cheese, leek and bacon.

12 Hot Smoked Scottish Trout & White Wine Tartlets £7

Fluted pastry cups filled with white wine sauce, topped with kiln roast Scottish trout and sprinkled with herbed breadcrumbs.

Cooking instructions suggest 10-15 minutes - make sure it is 15 minutes or they will fall apart in your fingers. Small as they are, the filling still doesn’t fill. They look cute in coloured pastry but otherwise disappointing.

12 Scottish Salmon Fishcakes with a Sweet Chilli Dip £7

Scottish salmon mixed with chilli, lemon and garlic, seasoned and formed into mini fishcakes, with a sweet chilli dip.

The salmon and chill were not too strong and mixed well, however, there could have been a bit more flavour.

Roasted parsnip, chestnut and butternut squash tart £7.50

Roasted parsnip and butternut squash with red onion marmalade in a rich butter puff pastry.

The pastry was lovely and flaky, giving a smooth taste. The caramalised onions and sweet chestnut worked well together, providing a sweet taste.

Pudding

Lathams Individual Dessert Selection £15

2 x lemon and ginger cream crunch, 2 x strawberry cheesecake, 2 x chocolate junkyard and 2 x banoffee.

The strawberry cheesecake had a creamy strawberry topping which combined well with the biscuit base; the chocolate junky yard was “extremely yummy” and very sweet and messy, as the name implies. The lemon cream crunch had a crumbly base and the topping melts in the mouth, It was also very sweet. The banoffee cheesecake was lovely, but could have done with some banana to add to the flavour and texture.

Lathams raspberry and lemon meringue roulade £12

A light meringue filled with raspberries, lemon curd and fresh cream.

The meringue was very light, fresh and zingy. Tasters loved the combination of flavours, which really do melt in the mouth. The roulade was more prominent than the meringue, but was still very tasty and sweet.

After dinner treats

Traditional Teatime Box £15

A selection from the Booths Christmas range offering a teatime array of sweet treats. Including All Butter Mince Pies, Stollen Slices, Christmas Cake Slices, Mini Yule Logs and Amaretti Brownie Bites.

The mince pies had a delicious filling, with a lovely pastry. The iced Christmas cake slices were very fruity, which is unusual for a small cake. It was very moist and the icing was not too sweet. The mini yule logs were brownie slices, with rich chocolate icing, offering a nice twist to traditional yule logs. The festive stollen slices were not to everyone’s taste, being a little too moist and not very sweet. The amaretti bites were an instant success. People loved the amaretti taste and loved the gooey chocolate. Another taster described it as “soft chocolate seduction” and was seen as more superior to the average brownie.

Mini Frangipane Mince Tarts £3.50

All butter shortcrust pastry case filled with brandy mincemeat, topped with an almond frangipane layer and finished with a light sugar dusting and almond flakes.

Tasters felt it was a fun combination of mince and almond paste. One described the tarts as “unusual and more exciting that the average mince pies. They were very moreish and the pastry was lovely and crisp. There was plenty of filling to give lots of flavour.