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Tis the start of the season to pig out on Xmas fare, but the big question is which mince pies are best this year?
The ones I've tried so far either have nowhere near enough filling in them, over thick pastry, or are relatively tasteless.
Going to make my own at the weekend from Paul Hollywood's recipe for comparison.
Help me STW, life's too short to eat rubbish mince pies.
BTW tried Aldi, M&S and Tesco ones so far.
Waitrose.
Waitrose +1, in fact I shall be popping over at lunch and getting a couple I think.
I always like a basic mince pie, none of this luxury nonsense. Keep it simple I reckon.
Madame made a mince tart thing last year, man that was awesome with a glass of pinged wine
Brysons Brandy Viennese mince pies. No contest.
For slumming it Sainsbury's icing topped ones taste good.
Just the savoury ones ..any will do !
Aldi almond topped Mince Tarts are the best shop bought that I've ever eaten. they are superb.
I made some mince twists last night - just get two sheets of ready made shortcrust, make a mincemeat ‘sandwich’ with them, then cut into long strips about 3cm wide. Twist them, pop them in the oven for 15 minutes and serve hot with a dollop of cream. YUM!
Aldi almond topped Mince Tarts
That was the sort of thing Madame Kormoran made. Lush! 😀
Iceland, honestly. Get some 12% cider and a kebab pizza whilst you are there.
I did all this taste-the-lot last year. Unless the recipes have changed, here's my list from best to worst:
Lidl ftw!
Waitrose top-of-the-range ones. Expensive though.
Tesco
Sainsburys
Waitrose bargain-bucket ones. Just utter shite and not really bargain bucket priced either.
I would say any of the above with brandy butter and custard on.
So far I have been happily cracking on with Sainsburys made in store ones.
Experience has taught me to avoid anything at Christmas, particularly mince pies, that have Heston Blumenthal name on it.
BBC easy mince pie recipe
/thread
Quite a divisive topic, but we're all agreed that any variety, no matter it's source, preceded by the word 'Mini' will be shit? 😀
Custard!? CUSTARD!?
Morrison's bakery ones.
Any that come in a box rather than from the store bakery tend to be very inferior - the exception to this (which surprised me, since most things with his name on are awful) is Heston's ones at Waitrose.
From my current testing..
Coop - very average, mini ones nothing to them at all
Coop with flaky pastry - not bad. [i]And to upset the masses what is the difference between this and an Eccles cake, same thing in my opinion
[/i][b]Sainsburys - very average
Aldi specially selected with cognac - good
Iceland - best so far
Sainsburys usually do fresh baked flaky pastry mince pies and I usually eat quite a lot of them, with a lot of brandy butter
Costco ones are great; big and have a layer of frangipane on top of the mince meat. Cheap too.
Walkers Glenfiddich whisky mince pies are lovely
gluten-free offerings as rated by c_g
Sainsbury's - won't bother again.
Tesco - not bad, they have a star as a lid so that means less pastry.
Anyone have g-f recommendations? Northwind - can you help? Really missing puff pastry mince pies.
Morrison's bakery ones.
This. Simple but effective. No lah-de-dah posh peel, just nice bog standard filling in thin pastry.
I am forbidden from buying them because of the rate they disappear in my household.
Mince pies - the only thing I don't 'get' about Christmas. Odd - everyone else seems to love them.
Not impressed with Tesco Finest. Nice enough pastry and filling, but not enough filling. You bite into it and half of it is empty space.
Morrisons The Best are going down down well here. Some might think a little thick on pastry, but I really like pastry.
Second the Costco ones, very nice but different
Just eaten some Mr Kipling ones (BOGOF offer), not impressed tbh, fairly bland.
Asda ones were better.
Just sample from elsewhere this weekend.
What's the standard beverage to accompany a mince pie?
Big mug of tea is the standard beverage to accompany two/three mince pies.
Mrs M makes the best mince pies.......FACT.
Aldi Sloe gin ones but they seem to be out. Waitrose are nothing special.
Make your own. Piece of piddle.
Unbelievable easy mince pie recipe on BBC.
I've just had some sainsburys deep fill ones and they are fairly gopping. It's that nasty floury chemically pastry. It's not hard to make nice pastry.
I like making em and have the weekend lined up for it along with doing the tree, mulled wine etc etc. The only prob is I make loads and therefore eat loads.
I'm currently trying to stick to a resolution not to waste Xmas calories on sh1t mince pies and cr@ppy Quality Street type chocs. If I'm going to get fat, better make it worth my while.
Home made, top with icing rather than pastry.
Cup of tea FTW
bad. And to upset the masses what is the difference between this and an Eccles cake, same thing in my opinion
Honestly Weasel, don’t be a heathen! Mince pies are made with mincemeat which includes spices, Eccles Cakes are made with dried fruit. No taste comparison!
Fans of the Costco mince pies in our house. Took 4 trays of them into work for everyone last week , I was very popular and now have to go back before Christmas buy them for half the Postie's at the office.
i have them with custard or cream, even ice cream or nude. cup of tea. daily intake of everything but i only eat about 10 a year.
In case you want to trust someone else’s view... http://mincepiereviews.co.uk
I’ll eat a mince pie, but call me a heretic if you like, I much prefer stollen.
Made my own this weekend from a Paul Hollywood recipe in the Christmas Bake Off book.
OMG so good. Will be making these again.
The addition of finely diced apple and tangerine zest and flesh really added to the mincemeat, and the pastry was lovely and short.
howsyourdad1 - Member
Iceland, honestly.
He's not wrong. My Mrs bought the Iceland ones based on a magazine review and they're great.
Any with cheddar cheese snuck under the top pastry apparently? Anyone heard of such a thing. Must try it. I think
The cheese thing sounds good. I've had mince pies on a cheese board before and it's very nice. They're also very good with Christmas pud.
Aldi 'Specially selected' ones are winning in our household. Too much of an air gap between the pie lid and mincemeat, but the mincemeat is very nice as is the pastry.
Cheese always with mince pies, they're just not quite as good without, regardless of make. Especially those with really short pastry.
As with Christmas cake.
Think it's a regional thing (Yorkshire here) as I often get strange looks...
(Or maybe I just deserve strange looks.. ) 😉
EDIT - Although Wensleydale not cheddar for me
Aldi frangipane for me. Delicious!
Waitrose essentials here. Bonus that they contain no animal fat, eggs or dairy either 🙂