16 gifts for cooks and entertainers to use at their next dinner party

Wine is a very personal taste, so how better to enjoy a tipple than with this personalised wine cooler from Beysis? It’s coolly minimalist, it comes in a couple of delightful muted colours, and crucially it’s non-slip for when you’re reaching for that second or third top-up! With a stainless steel construction, it will keep your wine chilled for up to six hours – mean you’ll also be extra-chill as you unwind with an end-of-day drink.

This lovely cookbook featuring 50 dessert recipes will make you a sweet sensation with your loved ones or housemates. In her second book, author Nadine Ingram (of Sydney bakery Flour and Stone) incorporates fruit, spice and aroma into a set of original recipes and gorgeous flavour combinations that pay tribute to her own cooking experiences and popularity of the scrumptious pastries that made her name.

C’est bon bon! The season just wouldn’t be as festive without some mouth-watering morsels to follow the turkey and trimmings, and Haigh’s has a well-earned reputation as superior chocolatiers – as the December queues out the doors of their stores can attest! In their seasonal red and pink foil and cute Christmas cracker packaging, these sweet little treats are confection perfection.

If the sugary good cheer of Christmas gets a bit cloying, you can cast a cocoa cloud over events with these dark chocolate delights. As you’d expect from Haigh’s, they come beautifully packaged, with the teal marbled bauble tin providing eye candy as well. And as all Better Homes and Garden aficionados will know, presentation is half the joy when it comes to your seasonal table or tree.

A portable Bluetooth speaker is a must-have seasonal accessory, meaning Yule be able to get the festive party started any time, anywhere. It allows up to 30 hours of playback without an external power source, and also serves as a pack to let you charge your phone. This Grundig model is so nifty and flash in its bright orange cladding, you’ll be singing “All I Want for Christmas is You” right along with Mariah.

If sparkling wine is for everyday, champagne is for special occasions. You can’t get much more special than this vintage Brut from one of the most storied names in French wine-making. The balanced Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier blend makes it a great compliment to that central element of any Australian Christmas menu: seafood! So go ahead and add some refined fizz to your festivities.

There’s something fun and spontaneous about an instant camera in our digital world. So while you have your favourite people around you this year, seize the (Christmas) day and make those memories tangible with photos produced on the spot. Don’t fret – it comes with a selfie mirror! It’s colourful, features easy-to-use modes and makes things so wonderfully tactile that you won’t be able to put it down.

Australia is ground zero for a hot Christmas, so lean into our sunny Santa seasons with a side plate that says summer. This example from the Domayne range is porcelain, pretty and pineappley – a perfect trio which makes it hard-wearing, attractive and thematically appropriate for end-of-year gatherings. It comes in a lime version as well, meaning festive fruit salad never looked so good.

It’s not enough to bake a perfect Christmas cake – you’ll want to exhibit it in style too. This Domayne high-gloss stand made from soda-lime glass offers classic appeal and means everyone can admire your handiwork before you divide it up among drooling guests. It comes in Storm and Honey colours as well as Blush, so we think that has all the potential moods at family gatherings covered!

While away summery days with this traditional game of simple strategy and a dash of luck. It’s portable and durable, so appropriate for indoor and outdoor use, and will provide an easy distraction for kids of all ages that keeps things social rather than seeing everyone focus on their phones. You might say it will help everyone ‘connect for’ a day.

Another classic game that will keep everyone amused after dinner is Tumbling Tower, available in a set of four fun, chalky colours. Remove a plank, add it to the top and see just how long your seasonal structure can stand. Adairs has other games available, too, so if you’re a fan of noughts and crosses or bean bag tossing, you’re sure to find something to occupy languorous Christmas hours.

Music geeks traditionally love vinyl, but this cute powder-blue Fenton record player makes record nerds of all of us. It plays at three speeds and snaps up into a handy suitcase for portability. In an age when streaming is at our fingertips, this chic piece of hardware lets you appreciate the large album artwork, put the needle on it and get into the groove like it’s ’78 all over again.

Gin is the ideal tipple for the festive season – drunk straight or as the base for punch or any number of creative cocktails. Farmer’s Wife marries traditional gin-making techniques to the distinctive flavours of Australia’s native flowers (including rare sugar bag honey produced by local stingless bees), resulting in a boutique creation that captures in a bottle the spirit of Christmas Down Under.

Ice cream and gelato are delectable counterbalances to those summer days when the mercury jumps into the 30s and 40s. This playful Neopolitan-coloured coupe will bring a helping of whimsy to your dessert, with the Maison Balzac star logo on its base adding a stamp of quality to the most deliciously messy treat the family can enjoy together.

A rosé by any other label may not taste as sweet as this Winton Road  pale pink variety with aromas of raspberry, strawberry and a hint of white petals. The grapes come from Australia’s celebrated Barossa Valley, and the delicate colour means the full bottle will look just as inviting on your Christmas dinner table as your guests will look satisfied once it’s been drunk.

Who can resist the resolutely indulgent sound of a cheese knife against a wooden board, especially come Christmas time? This shiny stainless-steel and rattan set – including a cheese spreader, a pronged knife and a chisel knife – will make short work of your cheddar or camembert while bringing polished elegance to your seasonal occasions. A matching jug and salad servers are also available.