For years, egg maker Paul Sauder looked for a way to sell his hard-boiled eggs alongside a tiny packet of hot sauce. But even as the cool and spicy combination became more popular, he couldn't make the packaging work.

So this year, Lititz-based Sauder Eggs put the spice in the eggs.

The result is a Southwestern take on the traditional Pennsylvania Dutch pickled egg: hard-cooked eggs that soak inside a buffalo-sauce brine and slowly take on the taste and vibrant red hue of the juice.

Sauder, whose family has been selling eggs since the 1930s, had to be convinced that it could work but bit on the concept when his employees raved.

"I just didn't think it would have the wide-ranging appeal that it has," he said. "But with everyone who likes wings and all the restaurants with nightly wing specials … hot wings is a taste that is growing in popularity all over the country."

It's not just buffalo flavor people are craving. It seems anything hot, smoky or just plain spicy is on the minds of American eaters — and on their tables. In 2010, three brands of salsa, two hot sauces and a line of flavored mayos (complete with chipotle and hot-and-spicy versions) ranked in the top 15 condiments nationwide.

Even in Lancaster County, where traditional recipes favor cream and sugar over zing and zest, consumers are demanding flavors that pack at least a little heat. The spice is often tempered by a cooling agent that helps a less-adventurous eater make the leap to heat-seeking foodie.

"This area is such a meat-and-potatoes type of place," said Michelle Rondinelli, co-owner and managing director of Kitchen Kettle Foods. "But if you can introduce a quality product in a way that's familiar, people will experiment."

Late spring, Kitchen Kettle added two bold flavors to its extensive line of canned goods. Already, the pineapple jalapeño and cherry jalapeño jams are a hit.

The company's pepper jam, which is sweet, is its No. 1 seller. So extending the line to include a jalapeño version wasn't much of a leap. Today, it's a top 10 product. Rondinelli said the new hot-and-sweet jams evolved from those products, as well as a fruit salsa line that outsells all of her jams.

"For a jelly-making operation that's produced by Amish women, for us to roll out the salsa line, it's not really what you would have expected," said Rondinelli, who adds that letting customers sample products encourages sales. "What we're finding is that anything hot is really a big trend in the food service industry."

Turkey Hill Dairy took note of the trend in late 2009, when recipe developers began experimenting with a spicy frozen treat. Firecracker rolled out last year, featuring "hot cinnamon-flavored ice cream with hot cinnamon candies and a hot cinnamon swirl."

You get the feeling it might be kind of hot.

"You don't taste it and think it's on fire. It's more spicy," said Ashley Pluta, a public relations coordinator for Turkey Hill. "The combination of spicy and cool is a neat juxtaposition of two flavors that wouldn't necessarily go together. It works in a unique way, like sweet and salty."

Firecracker is available only at select ice cream shops that serve Turkey Hill ice cream by the scoop and at the Turkey Hill Experience in Columbia.

At the Experience, where visitors can develop custom flavors virtually, guacamole and salsa could end up in the sundae dish.

In reality, Plant Project Coordinator Ernie Pinckney said crafting and selling a new ice cream flavor can't be based solely on trends — though as the nation's No. 4 ice cream seller, Turkey Hill has a team watching what's happening in the candy and snack aisles.

Pinckney and his recipe developers have a little more creative leeway with smaller batches of 3-gallon containers sold to scoop shops with distinct audiences, versus the mass market containers shipped by the ton to grocers across the country.

Firecracker, said Pluta, has been a hit among the college crowd at Kutztown University and Messiah College. Whether it will catch on in Lancaster County, where Pinckney acknowledged diners like their ice cream "sweet and a little sweeter," still remains to be seen.

But Sauder and Rondinelli are moving full steam ahead on their next hot projects.

Sauder's whole hard-cooked eggs are available at Stauffer's of Kissel Hill and at local restaurants and golf courses, and the company may roll out a Southwestern deviled egg to accompany them.

Kitchen Kettle Foods, meanwhile, just put out a new Dijon mustard "with a kick" and habanero pepper bread and butter pickles are in the testing stage.

Try it, mix it

Tempted to try some of the new hot foods on the market? Use these ideas to spice up your menu.

• Fruit and Jalapeño Jams

"With the jam, you get the sweet with the hot," said Rondinelli. "You can do it with meats, over cream cheese spread on a cracker, or I like it on a sweet-potato chip." You can also:

Use the jam as a glaze to spice up baked pork or chicken.

Pour a half-pint jar over a wheel of Brie, top with toasted almonds and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Blend 2 tablespoons of jam with 2 tablespoons of white distilled or red wine vinegar and 3/4 cup vegetable oil to make a sweet-and-spicy vinaigrette dressing.

• Buffalo Hot Eggs

"They're really good with blue cheese dressing, and obviously a good cold beer," said Sauder, who recently enjoyed one on a hamburger salad at The Deck in Ephrata. Sauder recommends his eggs as a healthy snack alternative to hot wings, deviled or as a substitute in recipes calling for boneless buffalo chicken.

• Mix-Ins

TABASCO launched its Buffalo Style Hot Sauce this year. It's milder than original Tabasco, but to take it down another notch, you can blend it with store-bought ingredients you might have on hand. Add 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons to 10 ounces of hummus, 1 cup of mayonnaise, an 18-ounce can of baked beans or a 19-ounce can of tomato soup. For more recipes, visit Tabasco.com.