I’m sure the rise of reality cooking shows has seen an explosion of gourmet foodies getting creative and artistic in the kitchen. I don’t have the statistics to back me up but I’m confident that this is the case. Many people are looking for something new and exciting to experiment with at home and it can be overwhelming when you first start to get more adventurous. What do you buy? What do you try? Where do you go? The questions are endless and they can make the task very daunting.
Little Box of Yum takes some of the guess work out of trying new things because the team have done all the hard work for you. They have checked out some fabulous, delicious Australian artisan brands and compiled them into a box of goodness delivered to your door.
Each box comes complete with a mini magazine called the Little Book of Yum which tells you all about the theme of the month and each of the individual products contained in your box.
Little Box of Yum is a gourmet food subscription box which aims to introduce people to exciting new artisan products they have never tried before. Each month your Little Box of Yum will be packed with hand-picked products to tantalise your tastebuds, products that can’t be found in the big supermarkets.
Talented foodies abound in Australia, there are amazing artisan products galore and the team at Little Box of Yum are dedicated to discovering them, and sharing them with subscribers to the box.Ā At this point, nothing in the box needs to stay fresh or cold because the aim is to keep it safe in transit. Little Box of Yum is about food discovery so the aim is to have products that you haven’t tried, or haven’t heard of. You can expect to find things like gourmet sauces, handmade chocolates, interesting chutneys and jams to name a few.
There are a couple of ways to indulge in Little Box of Yum, you can subscribe to a monthly box which ships automatically at the beginning of every month or you can opt for a single gift box. Now is also a great time to order a Little Box of Mum, the Mothers Day Gift Box.
Delivery is free and Little Box of Yum is an amazing opportunity to Support Local, these are all Australian products and the Little Book of Yum will direct you to where you can purchase more of these wonderful products.
For just $49 a month you too can join the Little Box of Yum foodie revolution.
Visit www.littleboxofyum.com for more information.
A selection of our members will be testing the the Little Box of Yum, find out what they think in the comments section below.
All of our valued readers at Beauty and Lace can receive 20% off their first Little Box of Yum when subscribing by using the code āBeautyAndLaceā.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews.Ā Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
I have received and read a book, and given a review, but where do I look for more trials to do?
Hi Betty,
All trial offers come out via email so keep an eye on your inbox.
This would be fabulous to try!!
This looks like a wonderful way to try new and interesting products, definitely a box of yum!
My April Little Box of Yum arrived and I was pleased to see that everything was packaged so well that all the contents were protected and even if the box had been knocked around a bit by the courier Im sure the products inside would have been perfectly safe.
My first product to delight over was from Puddings on the Ritz and it was a Sticky Date with Toasted Coconut and Almonds Rice Pudding. I was so excited to try this and opted to cook it in the microwave instead of on the stove. I followed the instructions and was then stunned to have the house smelling wonderful with the most amazing aroma from the pudding but the pudding had not cooked at all. I checked the instructions and I had followed them correctly so opted to give it 10 more minutes at a slightly higher heat. Still it didnt work and for a while I was very confused but then discovered that my 28yr old microwave (yes you read that right) had picked this moment to stop working and only half heat things. From there on no matter what I did it was a bit of a disaster. I was so disappointed but I can tell you that it smelt amazing and the concoction that I was left with did taste nice but was not what it was supposed to be and the texture was all wrong but sadly that was my fault and not the products. Thanks 28yr old microwave… *sigh* You can check this product out at http://www.thegourmetmerchant.com oh and as a side note this product is gulten free.
My next product was another dessert product but thankfully didnt require cooking. Chocolate Dessert Dukkah 2 Die 4 coffee Tea Fudge. I decided to venture out and buy some vanilla Ice Cream to try this with and it was really lovely. You simply open the jar and sprinkle some on your Ice Cream, Cheesecake or other selected dessert. Not super sweet but just sweet enough and it added a different texture to the Ice Cream and of course it added a wonderful flavour which would be fantastic if you were entertaining and wanted something very simple but something that your guests would comment on and ask you about. It had an amazing mix of flavours with chocolate and nuts of different flavours. You can find more information about this product at http://www.2die4coffeeteafudge.com.au This is another gulten free product.
My delight was the Kourabiedes (almond shortbread) which I shared with my daughter. Honest…I shared. Ok…so she had one and then some how I ate the rest. It honestly was not my fault. These wonderful creations tasted so amazing that I just couldnt stop. They were so full of melt in your mouth goodness. No preservatives but as they are almond shortbread they do contain nuts and dairy and gulten. Check out http://www.voulaskitchen.com.au for more info.
Then we moved away from the sweet stuff to something called a Fish Lovers Box which is a coating for fish but you can also use it for chicken, lamb, prawns or veggies. You coat you selected items and then bake them in the oven or if you prefer grill or pan fry. I was keen to try this with fish as I must admit im quite lazy and just tend to cook my fish as is with out ever using a coating. By using this product I ended up with a totally different type of fish experience and I must admit that it tasted wonderful and is something Im keen to do again as there is plenty left in the box for future meals. This product is Dairy free, lactose free, vegan (until you decide to coat meat with it of course), and Nut free. More information on this product can be found at http://www.gourmetmorsels.com.au
Then we move on to the Summer Mango Finishing Vinegar from http://www.nicholsonfinefoods.com.au.
I decided to cook up some chicken strips with some crisp stirfried veggies and then drizzle them with the finishing vinegar and give them a bit of a toss to mix the flavour though. It was a lovely and perfect for summer meal. Sweet yet tangy and it added a new dimension to stirfried chicken and veggies thats for sure. Gluten free, dairy free, lactose free, vegan, net free.
The last item was from http://www.rainforestfoods.com.au Davidsons Plum Sweet Chilli Sauce. Oh boy do I love this product. I made up a stir fried chicken, noodles and veggies dish and served it with some spring rolls which we dipped in the chilli plum sauce and it was the perfect enhancement to the meal. The really cool thing is that while you dine on this product you can be extra happy in the knowledge that Rainforest Foods donate a portion of sales to Rainforest rescue which supports the re-planting of the Australian Rainforest. That makes it even more of a wonderful product to spend your money on. What other Sweet Chilli sauce can say that? This product is gluten free, dairy free, vegan and is nut free. I havent tried it yet but i feel like this sauce would also be great as a sauce for a sweet chilli chicken or pork dish with stirfried veggies and noodles. This product inspires me to try some new creations.
I really loved receiving this wonderful Little Box of Yum. All of the products are great and I love that you get an information booklet that tells you how you can repurchase each item and shares with you the background story of how this product came to be.
I wonderful subscriber service that will introduce you to new products and new suppliers that you will sure to be delighted and inspired by.
So glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for such a thorough review, I’m sure it will help others when deciding whether to subscribe. I want to try the fish!
Its very yummy and there is enough in the box to cover several meals. š
I was lucky enough to trial the April Little Box of Yum and certainly yum it was!! I had up to date tracking on my parcel so I knew when it was going to be delivered. It came in a well packed package and I was very excited to open it up.
It came with a great little information booklet – Little Book of Yum, giving you loads of information on all the products, where they are from, the websites if you want to re-order (or check out other products). It also has all the information regarding if they are gluten free, nut or dairy free, as well as lactose or vegan and vegetarian.
First up was the Kourabiedes (Almond Shortbread) from Voula’s Kitchen. OMG these were unbelievabley delicious. I had never tried them before but LOVED these. I did share one or two with a couple of other family members but was pretty selfish and kept most to myself. I would definitely buy these again.
We then tried out the Chocolate Dessert Dukkah from 2 Die 4 Coffee Tea Fudge. We bought some plain vanilla ice cream and added this to it. It has a really nice spicy blend. I really want to make a cheesecake to add this as topping.
With a husband who is away for work a lot I took the next product to my parents house to share with them for dessert. This was the Sticky Date with Toasted Coconut and Almonds Rice Pudding from Puddings on the Ritz. I had never had rice pudding before and at first was bit hesitant, the toasted coconut and almond got me over the line to try it. How glad I am that I did. The smell was delicious and so was the taste. Served 4 people with ease (one going back for seconds). We used the stove top which probably takes longer than the microwave but I think it was well worth the time. Very easy to make.
I used the Davidson’s Plum Sweet CHilli Sauce from Rainforest Food’s Byron Bay by marinating some chicken. I don’t usually eat a lot of sweet chilli sauce but the plum flavouring takes of the real chilli taste and leaves it a bit more sweeter. I plan on using this for a few other receipes but haven’t got around to it as yet.
I actually haven’t used the Summer Mango Finishing Vinegar from Nicholson Fine Foods as yet but have had a little dipping taste. It is a very yummy sweet fruity mango flavour. Would be really nice as a summer dressing on a nice avocado and cucumber salad or any other summery salads.
The last product to try was the Fish Lovers Box from Gourmet Morsels. We simply crumbed the fish and grilled it . Added some fresh veggies and the kids gobbled it up in no time.
I really loved trying all the products and I think the Little Box of Yum is a great way of show casing products that aren’t on the market as much as your big name brands. I would definitely look at subscribing to a monthly box.
My Little Box of Yum arrived on 3rd May, and with great excitement I opened the box.
Inside, the items were packed in pretty pink tissue paper and packing straw, so everything was well protected. The little booklet enclosed described each product, with discount coupons if you wished to order from the businesses who provided the contents.
The May box had 6 items. The first one to catch my eye was the delightfully packed Carpe Koko chocolates. The box had 3 samples :
Maldon Gold
Mary Frambroise and
Saffron Sting
And they were delicious! I did intend to share them with hubby, but he went outside “just for a minute” and by the time he got back, I had, well, sampled the lot. I loved the booklets Serving Suggestion, it said “Who are we kidding…we bet you’ve already eaten them! Yep, they were right.
The next item was The Unexpected Guest’s Pancake mix with Wild Canadian blueberries. These were so easy to make, and tasted wonderful. Hubby really enjoyed these, and so did I.
We had a box of Wild Mushroom & Tarragon Rice Risotto from Thistle Be Good. This is the only risotto I’ve ever cooked that didn’t go all gluggy and sticky. It was fast and easy to do. Neither hubby or I like mushrooms, (I didn’t tell him what it was) and he loved it, but I found it a strong mushroom taste which didn’t suit me. The booklet shows 2 other flavours of Rustic Vegetable with Rosemary, or Green Pea, Lemon and mint, so I will purchase these ones and try them, as they sound more to my taste.
Next item was Biscuit Rose from Asterisk Kitchen. This was a real surprise. It looked and tasted like a meringue, but was low in carbs, sugar and kj. Suggested serving was with champagne, but as I didn’t have any, I had a glass of white wine, and really enjoyed this. The next night we followed the other serving suggestion of crushing them and folding them into cream. I sprinkled some shaved chocolate on top, and we felt very grand with our fine desert.
A new discovery (a now a certain favourite of mine) is Bacon Jam. Well this is just SOOOO good, I am looking for excuses to open the jar and sample another spoonful. Ideal to add to burgers, or a cheese toastie, or even serve with crackers. I toasted a breakfast muffin and spread it on that — it is GOOD. I will be buying more of this!
The last item in the May box was a pack of 3 soy tea light candles in a relaxing scent of Vanilla Bean. It made the house smell divine, and each candle lasted for over 4 hours.These were provided by Soy on the Hill.
I was delighted to be selected to trial this Gourmet Box. It has introduced me to products I have never seen before, and they all were easy to prepare and tasted great. The box is available on a monthly subscription from Little Box of Yum.
I give a Big Thank you to both Beauty and Lace, and Little Box of Yum.
We were lucky to be able to try the May Little Box Of Yum or as it was mother’s day month they titled it Little Box of Mum.
The box itself is a brown box with the Little Box of Yum stamped on it and as you know all good things come in plain packaging.
Opening the box you are treated to a little box of treasures enclosed in pink paper.
Inside is a little booklet with each item given a full page all about itself. There is information about where to order the item, how that item came to be made and how you could use the item as well as all the info letting you know it’s ingredients and also if it is gluten free, dairy free, preservative free, nut free, free of artificial flavours, vegetarian, MSG free, fat free, GMO free, basically everything is covered. It is a fantastic way to show each item in it’s glory.
The first item in the box we tried was the Original Bacon Jam by Bacon Jam.
Oh how I was looking forward to this I mean bacon what else do I need to say bacon.
I debated over how to try this so that I could get the full flavour first so I came up with bacon jam on toast. Not original (jam on toast) but I was thinking breakfast. I tried it thin graduating to a thicker amount. I ate the toast but I did not like it on the toast. So the next night when making burgers I put spread some on the meat patty. Wow what an amazing hamburger I had created. That was it I found out that for me I needed it as an extra to make ordinary extraordinary. I have been planning many different ways to combine this jam in my cooking. hey its bacon.
We were having sausages the night the box arrived so instead of having mashed potato and veg I decided we were having Risotto- Wild mushroom and Tarragon from Thistle Be Good. I have never made Risotto before as hubby is not a rice fan so I had no idea how this was meant to turn out. I chose the microwave option of cooking and it was as simple as put a tablespoon of olive oil and boiling water to the rice mixture and putting it in the microwave for 10 minutes. It does give serving suggestions on the side of the box as well as letting you know you can add some wine instead of just water.
My microwave is only 850watt so I set it 12 minutes and stopped a couple of times to stir it. The result was I felt like an amazing cook. The rice was cooked perfectly and even though I don’t like mushrooms I loved this rice it was so yum. Miss 12 asked us not to eat it all as she wanted to take it to school for lunch the next day. She ruins all my leftover lunches I plan for myself. lol
Ah the Chocolate Domes from Carpe Koko! I must first make mention of the packing of these chocolates. They come beautifully presented in a hard paper box the you open like a little pull drawer. Inside the box is a leaflet with a picture of each chocolate with the name a little bit explaining each flavour of chocolate and it’s ingredients. Now since Miss 12 had watched me open the Little Box of Yum and had seen what was inside there was no way I was going to be able to eat these chocolates my myself, so each chocolate we had to halves in. Each chocolate looked so pretty like little domes of colour with awesome flavours inside. We had three to try and these were Mary Frambroise- a raspberry ganache made with fruit puree and a hint of Frambroise liqueur; Saffron Sting – mangrove honey infused with saffron in a smooth ganache and lastly Maldon Gold – luscious caramel with cracks of Maldon sea salt. The Maldon Gold was favourite in our house but they all tasted sooooo delicious.
Bicuit Rose from Asterisk Kitchen was a little box of light yummy pink biscuits. The suggestion with these biscuits was to eat with champagne but as we didn’t have any champagne in the fridge was just ate them as they were. They are a little pink trick. You can smell the sweetness of them and the moment they hit your tongue you can taste it but then the sweetness is gone and yet it’s still sweet. These are so light in weight and texture. The second time we ate these was with our cup of coffee and they still tasted so good. There is a suggestion to crumble or crush and fold into cream, I added some icing sugar to the cream and also added some strawberries and it was a wonderful unique dessert. These have a familiar taste to them but I just can’t put my finger on what it is. I may need to buy some more so that I can work it out.
The last food item we tried was the Pancake Mix with Wild Canadian Blueberries made by The Unexpected Guest
I think I saved the best til last as this pancake mix is amazing. It is easy to prepare you just use one cup of pancake mix to one cup of milk so that means that you could add any milk you like. I would like to try this using almond milk or even coconut milk (oops sorry my mind and mouth wandered away from me there).
Miss 12 made these for us as she loves cooking and it is an easy thing to make. The mixture is runnier that I usually have for pancakes and I worried that they might not be fluffy but even though they weren’t thick pancakes they were so light and fluffy that I was stunned. The blueberries were just like an added bonus to a gorgeous pancake. There are lots of gorgeous small blueberries in the mixture and each pancake had plenty of tasty blueberries. We ate these plain as they tasted so good but they would be just as good with cream or icecream.
Lastly let me tell you about the 3 Vanilla Bean and Almond Milk Soy Tealights from Soy on the Hill.
The beautiful smell of vanilla hit me as soon as I opened the Little Box of Yum. It was as if someone had been cooking biscuits in the box on the way here.
The wonderful smelling candles were such an amazing way to end the box. I have been using these one at a time on the days I’m going out. I let them burn for an hour before I go out so that when I return my house has a yummy smell of vanilla to welcome me home. The downside is that I want cake when I get home but my house smells so good.
Thank you Beauty and Lace and Little Box of Yum for a wonderful treat.
This is a wonderful monthly subscription box showing special and new Australian products and companies.
I was super lucky to be chosen to review the June Little Box of Yum. It was a real delight opening the box and looking at all the goodies – everything was well packaged, and had a little booklet with recipes and more information too which was super handy, especially the allergy part down the bottom which easily lets you see what it is ‘free’ from.
In the June box I had the following:
Preserved Lemons by Lucy’s Foods. In the booklet it describes this product as being used in Moroccan and Middle Easter cooking. Our family doesn’t cook these types of cuisines, so we haven’t tried it properly yet, however I added a few small slices to a salad and it was super zesty and tangy! This was an entirely new product I have not seen before, so will be interesting to see what else I can use it on.
Milk Hot Chocolate Spoon by The Original Hot Chocolate. Essentially it is a small wooden spoon with a moulded piece of chocolate attached to it – so you stir it through your hot milk/water to create a yummy hot choc! It looks super cute in the packaging and would make a really cool stocking stuffer!
Leatherwood Honeycomb Chocolate by Kokopod – oh my this was so delicious I gobbled it up straight away!! The chocolate was so smooth and creamy, and the addition of handmade honeycomb on top was soooo good! I could easily see this as a beautiful gift too, it looks gourmet and high end and tastes fantastic too.
Shiraz Reduction by Pandora’s Palate. We have not tried this product yet as I don’t know what to use it on (however the booklet does give some great examples).
Roasted Australian Sunflower and Pumpkin Seeds by Mormor Food. On the packet it says these are flavoured with Vaxtkraft – this is a vegetable stock. I found that super interesting as I haven’t seen something like this before. I used some of it on top of some yoghurt but I don’t think I liked the flavours together, so I might add it on top of some baked goodies instead next time.
Club Cinnamon Chai by Bondi Chai – looked quite nice in its packaging! I don’t drink this sort of drink, so I passed it onto my Mum to try at some stage.
Rich Chocolate Mud Cake by Messy Jessy. Looks like this will be a great cake to make! It has no preservatives which is really good! Just need to get the right ingredients to add to the mix and I will be good to go!
It was really great to received a box full of gourmet goodies that I wouldn’t usually find in the supermarket to try out. What a lovely thing to look forward to every month when you are on a subscription. This would make a great present to someone, that keeps on giving! Thanks so much to Beauty and Lace for giving me the opportunity to trial the Little Box of Yum!
My June “little box of Yum” arrived some time ago and I have been testing the items out with friends. Well, except one that I kept for myself – the milk hot chocolate spoon.
Preserved lemons: These added a little tang to a tagine that we cooked. It was a nice change from our usual flavour. I have tried to make preserved lemons myself but failed desperately. But why would I need to when these area available. My guests couldn’t put their finger on the improvement to my meal, until I told them.
Milk hot chocolate spoon: The milk needed to be rather warm to get the best effect out of the milk hot chocolate spoon. It wasn’t a bad thing, tasty and rich but I prefer “luke warm” so not my “cup of tea” or should I say chocolate.
Leatherwood honeycomb chocolate: This was YUM! It was a shame to split it up. Rather than honeycomb surrounded by chocolate it was a layer of each. The honeycomb full of flavour and the chocolate smooth and creamy. My guests were also impressed, requesting seconds but I sneakily kept the last bit for myself.
Roasted Australian Sunflower and Pumpkin Seeds: These were great just to nibble as a snack. I also added them to a kale mixed salad. They added an extra bit of crunch and were a very welcome additive. Low in salt but high in flavour these felt a bit healthy but oh so tasty. You didnt need a lot to spice up a salad. This will likely become a staple in my house.
Club Cinnamon Chai: Spicy and delicious. I’m not always a fan of chai but this was just the right balance of sweet and spices for me. I do not drink coffee and so having a nice chai tea, expanding my options, was great. The sachets were fab cause I could take them with me to work or visiting friends. I shared a couple in my travels and the general consensus was that they were just so tasty. These will likely become a staple in my home too.
Rich Chocolate Mud Cake: OMG! This was so rich, so tasty and easy to share. You didnt require too much per share, my guests agreed. Not too dense, The request from my guests was to repeat this little dessert adventure again soon. I found the making of this cake a little more complex than normal packet mix cakes but I have to say it paid off with a delectable cake.
And
Shiraz reduction: Now normally I am not a fan of red wines or red wines in food. My sister says I have an immature wine palate. But this, my friends, is absolutely staying in my cupboard at ALL times. I used it to dress a nice roast meal, serving it to my guests. As men, they usually dont notice subtle changes in meals. They each asked what I had done different. A little sweetness to the meal, just a light difference and the full flavour of the meat was only enhanced by the reduction. I also used it to dress some roast vegetables on a second occasion. These too were a big hit. I like the lightness of flavour, the ease of use and versatility of this reduction.
The “Little box of Yum” made a great Splash in my house. So many people should have an opportunity to expand their palates and this is an amazing way to do it!!