Holiday Gift Shopping Made Easy on the ‘Texas Foodie Trail’

New Canaan Farms

Photo: www.bbfdirect.com

Next, drive nine miles west to this small batch maker of Texas-inspired jams, jellies, condiments, salsas and sauces. Longstanding employees – many have been with the Dripping Springs company for two-and-a-half decades – still hand stir the 50 products made next door to the showroom, ensuring consistent high quality, according to owner Cindy Figer.

New Canaan Farms’ preservative-free concoctions feature unique flavors and fresh, local ingredients, such as peaches and blackberries, whenever possible. For holiday gifts, Figer suggests Jalapeno Jelly, Cranberry Pepper Relish (with Serrano peppers), Cranberry Chutney (with pineapples and oranges), Pumpkin Butter and Pepper Bacon Relish. The relish is a newer offering that Figer recommends with breakfast tacos, scrambled eggs, baked beans, quiche, sausage wraps, hot dogs, brats, leftover turkey and ham sandwiches.  Round out your shopping with gourmet spice blends, soup mixes, teas, scented candles, Christmas ornaments, tabletop decorations and dried wreaths. For more information, visit them online at newcannanfarms.com.

Chocolat

Photo: Chocolat

Enjoy the scenic 48-mile drive west from New Canaan Farms to Chocolat in downtown Fredericksburg. Walk through the door and instantly feel transported back in time to old world Europe. “Liqueur Pralinés,” or liquid-center chocolates, are the specialty here. Owner Lecia Duke, who studied under a Swiss Master Chocolatiér, uses a centuries-old European method to produce these elegant confections brimming with flavors selected for the American palate.

The three-to-five day process involves creating a very thin, crisp “sugar capsule” generously filled with alcoholic or non-alcoholic liquid. The capsule then is enrobed in a chocolate shell that’s less than 1/16^th of an inch thick.  Put the entire treat in your mouth without biting and allow it to burst for a transcendent experience. Chocolat carries about 35 flavors crafted with spirits and wines (some from the Hill Country), coffees and fruit nectars.  The shop also makes truffles, colettes, creams, silk fudges, nut clusters, barks and caramels. For more information, visit them online at www.liquidchocolates.com.

Fischer & Wieser’s Das Peach Haus

Photo: Fischer & Wieser

A five-minute drive from Chocolat, Fischer & Wieser’s Das Peach Haus combines Hill Country charm with culinary sophistication. A family business dating back to 1928, Fischer & Wieser is among the nation’s leading purveyors of specialty foods.  Known for breadth of selection and inventive flavor combinations, the company has won more than 10 sofi awards (the “Oscars” of the specialty food industry).

This compound includes a store, constructed with logs from a 19th-century German cabin, a bed-and-breakfast and a small pond rimmed by towering pines. Sample and buy any of the 100-plus sauces, jams, jellies, preserves, salsas, mustards, soups and meal starters.  Consider gift boxes featuring the Original Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce, Mango Ginger Habanero Sauce, Smokey Ancho Cherry Sauce, Smokey Mountain Whiskey Glaze, Cherry Balsamic Preserves, Savory Fig & Onion Spread, Mesquite Horseradish Mustard and Artichoke & Roasted Garlic Braising Sauce. For more information, visit them online at daspeachhaus.com.