I do love a mince pie and each year I will always buy mince pies, but over those years I’ve tried a variety of them, and these days there are 3 tiers of mince pies seemingly in every Supermarket or baking brand, so this year whos mince pies were the nicest, I’m not a fancy foody, I’m not being paid for it, I’m just rating some mince pies simply.
I’m the only one n my house who likes Mince pies, I’m hoping when kids get older they will like them to share the amount I get, but luckily people at work are thrilled that I try these as they will get the leftovers lol, but this year I varied up my mince pies purchase, I stayed away from those £2 plus posh mince pies and tried to stay around that £1 mark give or take some pennies, I even got a special Plant chef version this year.
Table of Contents
Iceland
With its Star Shape Pattern on top, it looks quite flat in its design and does really overlap the foil, but the filling in this shape saw it fill the pie, the filling was quite moist and juicy though the flavour wasn’t overly their as it was quite mild, a buttery taste with the pastry, it was pleasant to eat with no thrills 6/10
Sainsbury
A weird Pasty in the sense it was a little crispy and almost that burnt effect and dry, not a great taste on its own, the filling was ok with a mild flavour and an after taste, it left it with a strange sweet after taste 4/10
Aldi
The pie was Domed so it left the biggest air pocket of the day, this also made it tough to eat as it was big for the mouth but broke straight away with the top falling off, however, the filling was very moist with a nice sweet fruity flavour. 7/10
M&S
The traditional same design and in essence nothing has changed from last year, very buttery and for some probably too much for them as it did leave that aftertaste more than the filling, the filling mostly filled it and had a little tang to it, almost peppery spice taking over, so the buttery pastry was trying to balance it. 7/10
Sainsbury Taste the Difference
A little it more money than the normal Sainsbury £1 version, the Brandy smell hits you straight away, it looks much larger than it is with the domed oversize top, the filling inside is very dry, Stodgy and dense, the brandy flavour dominates and takes everything away, if you love Brandy then this is for you. 4/10
COOP
Looks very small, almost homemade in finish and feels cheap and budget, the filling was simple, a little spice and sweetness but nothing really big, it does fill the pie but that could be because of the size of it, the pasty was soft but still a little crumbly. 5/10
LIDL
Comes in a box of 12, so more money but not really as you have double the amount of the rest, Randomly the most noticeable sugar on top, it does sit lower in the case, the pastry is soft though it doesn’t look like that at all, very fruity and the taste takes the center stage, it leaves with that taste of fruit and sweetness as it dominates the pastry. 7/10
Mr Kiplings
The look of it looks dry, it was a thick pastry and fell apart during the eating straight away, the filling was a little dry though everything was a little subtle, not big flavours of anything, the pie itself felt very different than last year even though it might be the same design ingredients. 5/10
Tesco Finest
Similar price to Sainsbury taste the difference, it held together very well in handling, though it as also Brandy, Port etc it didn’t hit you like the previous, the filling was still moist and did taste of the alcohol, but it was really strong, you could taste it but it didn’t hit you, the buttery pastry helped it also and kept it ok, again a brandy type person would rate this higher. 6/10
Tesco
Their Standard pie, looked an untidy finish to the pie, and a really thick top in comparison to the size of the pie, it was a little dry tough pastry, but the filling was pleasant but no thrills again, felt very forgettable 6/10
Tesco Pant Chef
A special pie, plant chef brand has become bigger in Tesco and for me its the first time trying the Mince pie version, it was soft but crumbly, it had a big air pocket domed, the filling wasn’t moist but still ok it left a peppery taste afterwards but the pastry was arguably the best of the bunch, it melted in the mouth and deserved the extra point because of it. 7/10.
Overall
None of the pies blew me away this year, none are 8 or 9, 7 was my top, there were some disappointments with Kiplings falling flat as I enjoyed it last year, likewise with M&S, though it’s still nice it didn’t wow me or massively improved, and the more special pies weren’t a massive jump in flavour as it seemed lots of brandy flavour was enough for them to carry it through. However, there were some good ones, both LIDL and Aldi were much better than last year and even though they’re simply still fine to eat, the Plant chef had the best pastry the weird spice and peppery aftertaste just ruined it from being higher, roll on next year!
