Mince Pies are great! I have had them for years, ever since I was little where I would warm them up and put sugar on top. (times change). Every year I look forward to eating them and this year was no different, but what was different, as I was restricting myself to just December! Which you might think is odd but normally I tuck in the way before then.
However with so many mince pies available and myself have had so many few years, what are my favourite ones available. Now I have had some delightful ones through the years, one was warm, with a layer of custard, in a shortcrust cage kind of thing, it was the best I’ve ever had, but this was at a function and you couldn’t just get that in any old supermarket.
So I decided to try one from several major retailers, I wanted to keep a simple budget, try to be no less than a £1 but also no more than about £2.00, some shops have a deluxe Mince pie and I don’t think that’s fair when you compare it to the average mince pies, and in my judging, I certainly take into consideration the price for those that are nearer £2 compared tot hose hovering around a £1
Table of Contents
Mr Kiplings
Arguably the biggest Brand in mini cakes at Shops? and one of the biggest brands when it comes to mince pies. They are often in offers so paying near £1.75 is a little pricey, but often you can shop around and get them around £1 or 2 for £2. The Pattern on it is a snowflake and what’s noticeable is no Inside is visible, its the classic shape much like there Apple pie during the year, the pastry and top are pretty cooked so not very crumbly for transportation.
Inside the filling is quite wet and juicy ut there is a noticeable gap between the dome and the filling. With this, all said it makes the pie-eating very easy with the juicy filling and surprisingly light pastry, there is not lots of sugar which for someone who doesn’t have sugar, means it’s not overly sweet as the filling itself is still sweet enough. The fillings isn’t an overly strong flavour which for some would probably be a letdown.
I would give it a 8/10
Onestop/Tesco
Essentially these are the same mince pies, these ones were from One-stop a convenience store should you need to pop to your local shop last minute for some for a £1. The pies themselves have not got a lot of height, resting just under the foil lip, a little pastry star sits on top into the crust. Lots of sugar on top and you can feel the granulated texture of them as you eat.
There isn’t lot of filling and the thickness of the top with the star and the flattish top. There feels more pastry to fill while you eat it so it’s not dry, but compared to the Kipling one a very noticeable difference. But the pastry is relatively flakey and ok to eat.
I would give this a 6/10
Lidl
Straight away the size stands out with a much larger and taller dome, again. a different star on top with the pastry overlapping the foil around the sides, not that much sugar on top but a crispy bite. There’s still a lot of space between the filling and the top because of the size and is almost difficult to eat. The filling is a stronger flavour compared to others, almost alcohol-like and not as wet, which makes for an ok pie but not great, and not exactly as cheap as I thought it would be.
I would give this a 4/10
Sainsbury
A crusty edge overlooking the foil tray shows some height but not huge, its design has a Xmas tree on top and just a very faint sprinkling of sugar. It looks far more like a Mini pie with its shape etc than some of the other mince pies. Its filling is fairly moist and fills most of it, the pastry is crumbly but dry, I was almost searching for a drink after one bite.
It’s filling quite a subtle flavour but I found it quite difficult to eat, I needed to have a smaller bit and crush it more before I swallowed. they have a more fresh option on offer but this was there more bog-standard and compatible price.
I would give it a 4/10
Aldi
A tall pie overlapping the top foil but with a star that doesn’t cover the whole top, so you can see the mince pie, it’s a nice idea but it looks a little sloppy and messy. A Powdered sugar finish to look like snow I assume adds a little difference, to bite was weird, to be honest, almost a little crunchy/chewy also, and harder to eat both the filling and pastry. It didn’t melt, and the taste was unpleasant, but I think like I was working for it, to eat it.
It was sweeter in a way, perhaps because of the powdered sugar on top, the filling was ok but much like a couple of the others an after taste, though weirdly the after taste stronger than when I had it overall nice but just felt a little weird.
I would give it a 5/10
Marks and Spencer
M&S has more than one version (obviously) and high standards we’re expected even in there more bog-standard, especially being more expensive than most of the others. The pie was almost a dome shape with a star hole in the centre of the middle. There was lots more sugar on this compared to some of the others, and the edge looked far more crusty as it overhung the foil. It was the softest to eat and the pastry thought still crumbled did go down very easily.
The filling filled most of it with just some room when the pie had doomed, the sugar was a little unpleasant and use could clearly taste it and feel it, but the filling was still moist enough with the taste of butter still going throughout, that it was still more enjoyable than the sugar distraction. It felt a flavoursome pie but also felt like I had eaten something unhealthy, I know they aren’t the best but still, you almost felt sugary, buttery, sweet food had just been eaten, it would be a higher score, bar the taste and feel afterwards alongside the amount of sugar on top.
I think its an 8/10
Greggs
Greggs Pies on paper should be more fresher, they come in there paper/plastic packaging like the other products. The pie itself is significantly wider than any of the other pies, this meant isn’t wasn’t a tall as the others but it certainly looked big as it overlapped the foil tray. This was then really easy to eat as it was flatter, the small sprinkling of icing sugar was a replacement of sugar.
The pastry taste and felt more homemade, it was crumbly and pleasant, the filling didn’t fill to the top but then it had lots more wider pastry to fill, again this meant every bite was fine, the filling itself tasted a bit simple, but that’s not a problem at all as the flavour was subtle and complimented it well.
I think its also an 8/10
Overall…
Overall a good selection of pies, The Kiplings one being wet really did help eating the pastry and like the M&S one as soft and easier to eat. I expected more from LIDL and Aldi but I was disappointed, LIDL was quite a strong flavour and for others they would probably like this for that reason, Aldi may have just been the quality of batch I had, but it was nice just a weird eat.
Greggs is possibly my favourite, it was bordering on 9, the flavour wasn’t strong or as some of the others but all round it was a very pleasant eat, I do concede that some people don’t like that traditional pastry taste and might prefer the sweeter feel thus, not a 9.
