My mince pie odyssey

[Copa]

I didn’t know what a mince pie was until I was in my 40s. My English partner brought some home and I put tomato sauce on it. The taste wasn’t what I was expecting at all!

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Tonight's offering was Morrison's classic mince pie. The pastry was really soft, lovely texture and the filling was tasty but maybe not quite as flavoursome as the Aldi equivalent and also not quite as big. Overall, not a bad one.

----------

1. Cooplands Brandy

2. Thomas the Baker

3. Cooplands Classic

4. Aldi Deep Filled

5. Morrison's Classic

6. Iceland

7. Aldi Iced

8. M&S Classic

9. Tesco Classic

[Spidey]

I despise Mince Pies but love this thread. Keep up the good work

[The Hallucinating Goose]

For my pudding this evening after a lovely plate of fish and chips, I have enjoyed two Morrisons Iced mince pies.

The icing wasn't quite as chewy as the Aldi ones which is a good thing although I didn't think there was as much flavour to the icing. However, there was plenty of flavour to the filling which combined with the better quality icing elevates it just slightly above the Aldi equivalent.

------------

1. Cooplands Brandy

2. Thomas the Baker

3. Cooplands Classic

4. Aldi Deep Filled

5. Morrison's Classic

6. Iceland

7. Morrison's Iced

8. Aldi Iced

9. M&S Classic

10. Tesco Classic

Edited October 10, 2024 by The Hallucinating Goose

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Today's offering was Greggs mince pies. The pastry was solid and crumbled very easily and was nice and soft, complimented well with the sugary dusting on top. They weren't particularly deep mince pies though and the fillings was actually too flavoursome, very sharp taste that reminded me of pickle. 

------------

1. Cooplands Brandy

2. Thomas the Baker

3. Cooplands Classic

4. Aldi Deep Filled

5. Greggs

6. Morrison's Classic

7. Iceland

8. Morrison's Iced

9. Aldi Iced

10. M&S Classic

11. Tesco Classic

[The Hallucinating Goose]

I have tried two different mince pies today and so will review them in separate posts.

This morning I tried Coop Bakery mince pies. They were quite shallow and not massively well filled but the filling was very flavoursome. The pastry was a little hard for my taste but not as hard as some have been.

------------

1. Cooplands Brandy

2. Thomas the Baker

3. Cooplands Classic

4. Aldi Deep Filled

5. Greggs

6. Coop Bakery

7. Morrison's Classic

8. Iceland

9. Morrison's Iced

10. Aldi Iced

11. M&S Classic

12. Tesco Classic

[The Hallucinating Goose]

This evening I have tried Asda mince pies. They were deep and well filled with one of the tastiest fillings so far. The filling had a pleasant creamy aftertaste. The pastry was soft and crumbled nicely. I think they slightly edged Aldi's deep filled ones to become to tastiest supermarket ones so far.

------------

1. Cooplands Brandy

2. Thomas the Baker

3. Cooplands Classic

4. Asda

5. Aldi Deep Filled

6. Greggs

7. Coop Bakery

8. Morrison's Classic

9. Iceland

10. Morrison's Iced

11. Aldi Iced

12. M&S Classic

13. Tesco Classic

[Futtocks]

Were the Co-op ones the Irresistible Luxury range mince pies or the regular ones?

I've had a few people recommend the former.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

8 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

Were the Co-op ones the Irresistible Luxury range mince pies or the regular ones?

I've had a few people recommend the former.

They were a clear pack of 4 and said Coop Bakery on them. I asked in the shop if they had any other ones but they didn't yet, though they are due to get all the other ones in soon.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Tonight I have had a couple of Mr. Kipling mince pies and I have to say I was not impressed. They were well filled but the filling has very little taste to it compared to some of the others and I also found the filling to be very dry. The pastry was quite hard and had a gritty texture in my beak. I think they may actually be the worst so far.

------------

1. Cooplands Brandy

2. Thomas the Baker

3. Cooplands Classic

4. Asda

5. Aldi Deep Filled

6. Greggs

7. Coop Bakery

8. Morrison's Classic

9. Iceland

10. Morrison's Iced

11. Aldi Iced

12. M&S Classic

13. Tesco Classic

14. Mr. Kipling 

Edited October 14, 2024 by The Hallucinating Goose

[The Hallucinating Goose]

I couldn't resist having a second variety tonight so as well as Mr. Kipling I've now tried Spar mince pies as well; the pastry was soft and creamy, a very nice pastry I thought. They weren't as well filled as some have been and it was cheap mince meat, you could tell because of the amount of peel in it, but it still offered a strong flavour. I really enjoyed Spar's offering!

------------

1. Cooplands Brandy

2. Thomas the Baker

3. Cooplands Classic

4. Asda

5. Aldi Deep Filled

6. Spar

7. Greggs

8. Coop Bakery

9. Morrison's Classic

10. Iceland

11. Morrison's Iced

12. Aldi Iced

13. M&S Classic

14. Tesco Classic

15. Mr. Kipling 

[ivans82]

Can`t go near a mince pie until brandy sauce comes into the shops .

[RoyBoy295]

I always lean towards Asda and Aldi mince pies. For supermarket produce they are both the best of the rest of the large retailers.

[unapologetic pedant]

2 hours ago, ivans82 said:

Can`t go near a mince pie until brandy sauce comes into the shops .

This raises the question of hot/cold contrasts. And which way round is best. I'm assuming hot brandy sauce over cold mince pies.

Many moons ago I was served hot apple crumble with cold single cream in a café. Seemed to mutually enhance all the flavours. Prompted us to try similar combinations at home. At Christmas for instance, warm mince pies with single cream.

There must be some chemical rationale. Pertaining to how molecules break down. Akin to the science of dunking.

[Futtocks]

2 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

This raises the question of hot/cold contrasts. And which way round is best. I'm assuming hot brandy sauce over cold mince pies.

Many moons ago I was served hot apple crumble with cold single cream in a café. Seemed to mutually enhance all the flavours. Prompted us to try similar combinations at home. At Christmas for instance, warm mince pies with single cream.

There must be some chemical rationale. Pertaining to how molecules break down. Akin to the science of dunking.

The combination of temperatures can be fun. Hot Christmas pudding goes well with chilled brandy/rum butter. Then there's an Affogato - vanilla ice cream with a shot of hot espresso poured over it.

[unapologetic pedant]

2 hours ago, Futtocks said:

The combination of temperatures can be fun. Hot Christmas pudding goes well with chilled brandy/rum butter. Then there's an Affogato - vanilla ice cream with a shot of hot espresso poured over it.

I was surprised by the success of hot apple crumble with cold single cream. Ascribed it to the fact that apple crumble doesn't become less appetizing as it loses heat. As opposed to cold apple crumble with hot custard. Not much fun towards the end when the custard has gone cold.

Your hot pud option sounds fine.

[redsi42]

I’m sure I once read that cheddar cheese was a good addition to a mince pie 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Tonight's offering was a traditional mince pie from Lidl and I have to say I really liked it. The pastry was very soft and moist which is just how I like it. While they were not the deepest in the world, they were well filled with a flavoursome but not overpowering filling. One of the better supermarket ones.

------------

1. Cooplands Brandy

2. Thomas the Baker

3. Cooplands Classic

4. Asda

5. Lidl

6. Aldi Deep Filled

7. Spar

8. Greggs

9. Coop Bakery

10. Morrison's Classic

11. Iceland

12. Morrison's Iced

13. Aldi Iced

14. M&S Classic

15. Tesco Classic

16. Mr. Kipling 

[Stirlin]

18 hours ago, redsi42 said:

I’m sure I once read that cheddar cheese was a good addition to a mince pie 

Of course , xmas cake has always been a good combo with cheese , the filling in mince pie uses similar ingredients so I think I will give it a go this year.......once Hg has finished filling his beak with all the available offerings. 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Well tonight I have tried Sainsbury's Taste the Difference, ie the posh ones from that supermarket.

The pastry is harder than some of the others and it collapsed when I bit into it because the casing wasn't filled right up. I found the fruit very chewy and the filling was quite dry and almost overpoweringly sweet, Mrs. Goose in fact said it was overpowering. Not impressed.

------------

1. Cooplands Brandy

2. Thomas the Baker

3. Cooplands Classic

4. Asda

5. Lidl

6. Aldi Deep Filled

7. Spar

8. Greggs

9. Coop Bakery

10. Morrison's Classic

11. Iceland

12. Morrison's Iced

13. Aldi Iced

14. Sainsbury's Taste the Difference

15. M&S Classic

16. Tesco Classic

17. Mr. Kipling 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Dum. Dum. Dum. The latest mince pie I have tried is from... Waitrose! 

It was pretty average, not bad but nothing special. Not deeply filled, a bit of space in the casing and the filling wasn't massively flavoursome. The pastry was okay, not as hard as tesco, not as thick and chewy as M&S but not soft enough for my taste either. Pretty average mince pie from Waitrose.

------------

1. Cooplands Brandy

2. Thomas the Baker

3. Cooplands Classic

4. Asda

5. Lidl

6. Aldi Deep Filled

7. Spar

8. Greggs

9. Coop Bakery

10. Morrison's Classic

11. Iceland

12. Waitrose

13. Morrison's Iced

14. Aldi Iced

15. Sainsbury's Taste the Difference

16. M&S Classic

17. Tesco Classic

18. Mr. Kipling 

[metallithrax]

On 04/10/2024 at 15:52, Futtocks said:

Traditionally, the "mincemeat" filling actually contained meat. Does anyone actually sell the traditional kind? I'd be fascinated to try one, whether I liked it or not.

A few years back I was helping a mate on his stall at Knaresborough Christmas market and the stall next to us did traditional mince pies amongst more normal modern ones.  Didn't try them though, but I do wish I had.

[HawkMan]

3 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Dum. Dum. Dum. The latest mince pie I have tried is from... Waitrose! 

It was pretty average, not bad but nothing special. Not deeply filled, a bit of space in the casing and the filling wasn't massively flavoursome. The pastry was okay, not as hard as tesco, not as thick and chewy as M&S but not soft enough for my taste either. Pretty average mince pie from Waitrose.

---

I have a premonition that your odyssey will end with a different type of filling,  as recommended by your dentist.

" Well Mr Goose,  that's two fillings and an extraction for you, £200 please."

BTW- Jack's mince pies from Budgens ,a subsidiary of Tesco, are poor.

Edited October 20, 2024 by HawkMan

[The Hallucinating Goose]

18 hours ago, HawkMan said:

I have a premonition that your odyssey will end with a different type of filling,  as recommended by your dentist.

" Well Mr Goose,  that's two fillings and an extraction for you, £200 please."

BTW- Jack's mince pies from Budgens ,a subsidiary of Tesco, are poor.

There won't be any danger of that, the Hull area is the worst in the country for getting an NHS dentist, can't get one for love nor money round here. As a result my teeth rotted away a long time ago.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

I've had a cold the last week and lost my sense of taste as a result so I've taken a break from the mince pie odyssey but my sense of taste returned yesterday and so the quest continues.

The latest offering was the Tesco Iced mince pie. It was better than the Tesco Classic with the pastry being much softer. The filling didn't have much taste to it though the pie was quite full. The icing was better than the icing I've tried on other pies with it being much more solid and not anywhere near as gooey and chewy as the others. Not a bad offering from Tesco, of course maybe I just enjoyed it cos I haven't had a mince pie for a week!! 

------------

1. Cooplands Brandy

2. Thomas the Baker

3. Cooplands Classic

4. Asda

5. Lidl

6. Aldi Deep Filled

7. Spar

8. Greggs

9. Tesco Iced

10. Coop Bakery

11. Morrison's Classic

12. Iceland

13. Waitrose

14. Morrison's Iced

15. Aldi Iced

16. Sainsbury's Taste the Difference

17. M&S Classic

18. Tesco Classic

19. Mr. Kipling 

Edited October 30, 2024 by The Hallucinating Goose