What mince pie…

Any reason to abandon the Aldi pies?

Lidl and M&S pies taste exactly the same.

Waitrose are fairly nondescript.

Dunno about Aldi.

cook your own, 50-50 lard butter pastry any of the high brandy content fillings mmmmmmmmm.

some of last years

What mince pie…

All the mince pies.

All of them.

With a crumbly pastry topping at Pentland Plants.

Love the mince.

Tried them all and the exquisite collection from Aldi is hands down the best Ive tried. Has frangipane in it though so not to everyone’s taste.

monde – Member
Tried them all and the exquisite collection from Aldi is hands down the best Ive tried. Has frangipane in it though so not to everyone’s taste.

oooooooooooshit. Never spotted these before. Can see at least 10 boxes being bought 😯

jimmy – Member
With a crumbly pastry topping at Pentland Plants.

The cafe at the garden centre near Loanhead???

We have 2 boxes open at work so tested the Coop and Iceland version back to back, Iceland’s were a bit better – more content and thinner pastry.

However the Coop puff pastry ones we had here the other week were my favourite so far

What about brandybuttertrackworld?

All bought mince pies pale into insignificance against Mrs PPs home made ones. She makes the mincemeat too.
Properly awesome

Tesco finest today, not bad.

Morrisons premium (whatever it’s called) are pretty good, but go past their best quickly (rapid eating reqd) best in my area are Hobbs house (glos) but are pretty expensive. Off to Aldi now, frangipan plus the brandy butter I stick under the lid = most lush

Whereabouts are you. The ones Thomas’s bakery do in Yorkshire are really good. Not sure how spread out the shops are though.

go past their best quickly (rapid eating reqd)

How unfortunate!!

The ‘posh’ co-op ones, (£2 for 6) were rated as pretty good by my work mates. I had the Greggs baked in store ones this weekend. Presumably approved by this chap.

Booths used to do one with a Viennese whirl top, they were lovely. Can’t get them anymore though 😥

My DiL is a rabid cook and is making practise batches for Xmas.

I’m helping out as chief sampler.

By then I reckon I won’t be able to face another. 🙂

Cook these https://katedaviesdesigns.com/tag/mince-pies/

Yes they are on a knitting blog that my wife loves but they are incredible

Aldi Specially Selected all the way (not the frangipan abominations though).

Another fan of Co-op £2 ones. Tried a load and they’re the best. Considering buying a few boxes for the freezer, though my freezer’s tiny so I really can’t!

PS I did try a pack of the £5 Glenfiddich (or whatever whisky) ones at Dobbies and they were a bit pants. Save yer dosh

“Has frangipane in it “

Plans a detour tomorrow to pick up a stash

Frangipane is devil’s ejecta and deserves no place on mince pies, or anything else.

I quite liked the Sainburys Taste the Difference mince pie I had earlier, although I have hardly undertaken extensive testing across the market.

If you happen to be getting to the more westerly edge of the A590 in South Cumbria then I can thoroughly recommend the Bakehouse in Greenodd’s offerings. Epic good!

For the awkward squad, tesco gluten free are good this year and can be heated. Sainsburys are almost as good (and way less sugary) but fall apart if you heat them.

Really like the sainsburys shortcrust pastry ones from the in store bakery, must have gone through over 100 already this season, when I run out then Tesco finest is the back up but there nothing like the sainsburys one’s.

My #mincepiecount is currently 31

Make your own pastry, and grate in lemon and orange zest into the pastry mix. This year I’m going to add chopped pine needles too

Not sure on the actual count, but was averaging 3 a day at the start of December. Dropped a little since then luckily.
But here’s my take so far on readily available mince pies:

Lidl standard – pretty good. Nothing outstanding, but a decent enough pie.
Lidl posh ‘uns – I can’t remember if I’ve had this. I’m sure I have, but it can’t have been memorable.
Waitrose standard – awful. Not enough filling, lacking in taste
Waitrose full-bore-posh ‘uns – way too sweet, not filled enough, but nice hint of booze. Sickly if more than one is eaten.
Tesco’s standard – a good all rounder, decent filling and alright pastry. The supermarket winner for me.

🙂

Aldi Specially Selected here. Decent pastry, plenty of filling.

With a side order of the Stollen Bites with Jamaican Rum.

I will need to adjust my shock pressures before the end of the festive season!

We made two types of mince pie one with Tesco finest and one with coop filling. Tesco filling tasted like glue.

However our third set will be with Robertsons.

Co-op and Spar winning here by a long way, Spar for those who like a bit more pastry.

Asda very disappointing, filling very watery.
Tesco Awful.

Aldi, Lidl & Sainsbo’s mince-off tonight before bulk purchases at the weekend.

I love mince pies but can’t seem to find any without palm oil. No idea how to make my own. Even the mincemeat I checked had palm oil in it. Didn’t eat a single one last year.

This year I’m going to add chopped pine needles too

I do hope he means Pine nuts. 😯

Nope, fresh pine needles from a Scots Pine. Fresh growth…
Last year I made a ganache infused with Basil, another with Rosemary…nom nom nom

Aldi – had some pies but not the well reviewd ones.
Iceland luxury ones well reviewed and rather good… but what a place…
Best so far from Bachmann’s , Portsmouth Road, Thames Ditton.

Might try to make my own though… a bit of cream cheese under the top really helps…

Don’t want to be the ‘bah humbug’.
However, as a cautionary tale for the dog owners:

A week ago a relative arrived home to discover their dog had eaten a whole box of mince pies. As they contained raisins this meant a two-day stay at the vet and a VERY large bill (fortunately dog is now fine and was insured).

From the RSPCA:

“Grapes, raisins, sultanas, currants

Any quantity of these can be toxic. Cooking or baking doesn’t reduce the risk of poisoning.

Poisoning may initially result in vomiting and diarrhoea and subsequently in kidney failure (which may occur a few days after the initial effects).”

RSPCA Common dog poisons

Tesco Finest are our choice, after years of trying the various main brands. However I do love a home made mince pie. Just need to try and make them myself.

I bought mine(*) in Waitrose in Hampstead, and they are jolly nice (Heston Blumenthal lemony ones)

*By which I mean I had my manservant buy them, obvs

DrJ – yes – those are good… not sure they really are Mince pies though