Co-Op Finest (or whatever). Mincier than Dale Winton.
What are the best mince pies ? I'll probably get mr Kipling as usual or are there any better brands I should be looking at?
Last edited by Karl; 27th November 2012 at 23:20.
Co-Op Finest (or whatever). Mincier than Dale Winton.
"Bite my shiny metal ass."
- Bender Bending Rodríguez
Posted twice somehow
Usually get whatever's on offer (2 for 1 etc). Unless you want to go upmarket I'd say Tesco own are as good as Mr Kiplings.
Unusually I haven't had one yet this year. Would have had one (or two) for breakfast, tea break and perhaps supper - I'll leave them closer to Christmas this year. My father would always insist my poor mother made her own on Christmas eve (and this became a bit of a ritual). To be honest I prefered the bought ones!
Heston mince pies from Waitrose with the puff pastry & pine sugar dusting combo. Their epicness can be enhanced with vanilla Haagen Dazs.
Greggs' have got them for the past 6 years.
The ones in Sainsbury's in the clear plastic box. Four of 'em. Butter rich, not luxury or velevety smooth or anything else, just the plain normal ones. £1 a pack, I think £1.60 for two at the moment.
"A man of little significance"
My mum's are the best. 1/2 mincemeat 1/2 cheesecake mix :-) but there's only enough for me! ;-)
Heston spicy open ones from Waitrose with mandarin dusting sugar best I have tasted in a long time.
The ones with alcohol in :D
As long as they're served with brandy butter and custard together I'm not too fussed.
I object to mince pies on moral grounds... mince should be beef, pork or lamb - using fruit is a cruel thing to do to a man.
If anyone's around Manchester way, try Martyn Jackson's mince pies from their shop in Gatley. I live on them between now and Christmas.
Malc
The ones my girlfriend makes.
M&S Finest. Yum!
My favourite mince pie? Whichever one's in front of me.
We get ours from local Fair's: church, village, Christmas, etc. Home-made by local ladies, they invariably taste far better than any commercial manufacturer's - never underestimate the competitiveness of middle-aged ladies when it comes to baking ;-).
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Tesco's puff pastry mine pies are the only ones that I eat. I hated them as a kid and never ate them for years, then I tried one of these a few years ago and it was...nice! I have since attempted to eat a Mr Kipling...but it was horrible. Might have to give these Waitrose puff pastry ones a try now :)
nicest ones I ever had was when young Joyce (bless her - she was 60 if she was a day) used to bring them into work just before xmas.
But Joyce's big secret was that she used to make them with puff pastry, amazing, and add a dash of brandy to each one, just a half thimble-full.
That was 30 years ago........but they were the best I've ever had.
That's clear as mud then!
I'm off to WaitroseTescoMiddleagedladies'houseCostcoChurchfai rJoyceAlditrisdg'sMumAldiSainsburysGreggsiml'sgf
Last edited by scarto; 28th November 2012 at 17:04.
I guess everyone's got their favourite pie (and people do prefer different styles) and various w/e magazine supplements etc. do reviews around Christmas of course.
Did a quick Google search and found this site http://www.pieclub.org.uk/league_table_2012.php which appears to have done some very thorough testing. Current standings in the group stages(!) put Tesco Finest at the top.
Last edited by Kingstepper; 28th November 2012 at 16:45.
My wife, as well as being hot as fook, into watches, rides a motorbike and does all the gardening, is also is a keen baker. Every year she bakes bloody hundreds of mince pies and friends we haven't seen all year suddenly appear out of the woodwork to come round and eat MY mince pies! The b'stards!
Quite intrigued to hear Costco have good ones...seconded too....might give them a go.
My wife makes great ones as well as Chrimbo Puds. Both are recipes based on Bettys Café Tea Rooms in Harrogate.
" The ones in Sainsbury's in the clear plastic box. Four of 'em. Butter rich, not luxury or velevety smooth or anything else, just the plain normal ones. £1 a pack, I think £1.60 for two at the moment."
+1
Mr Kiplings appear to be filled with agricultural slurry. There's certainly no sigh of any fruit.
My mother's are undoubtedly the best in the world even if she is a bit deviant by opening up the ones she eats and tucking a bit of stilton in.
Lattice topped for me, as you get a better pastry/mincemeat ratio.
The ones with icing on the top do offer another level of sugar rush too! but technically not a mince pie, probably.
Last edited by KavKav; 29th November 2012 at 09:01.
Liz bought some from Aldi yesterday - very good.
Rod
The ones I get when I go to other people's house, as I know all mine are safe and sound at home...
Purely in the interests of scientific research I have this afternoon selflessly undertaken a comparison test between Mr Kipling's (which proudly proclaims to be "Britain's favourite mince pie") and Mr Heston Bloominghell's Puff Pastry Mince Pies with Pine Sugar Dusting.
My conclusion is that Mr Bloominghell's mince pies are nicer than Mr Kipling's.
Mince pies can be improved if accompanied by a large Glenfiddich.
No need to thank me.
Regards
Ian
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
If Heston's mince pies are anything like his Hidden Orange Christmas Pudding that people were once paying a small fortune for on eBay then Waitrose can keep 'em, we tried the latter last year and it was disgusting!
Currently undertaking extensive mince pie taste testing at work with our 11 o'clock cups of tea. So far we have tried 12 varieties and the M&S ones are coming out top.
'The Crusty Cob Shop' is a small chain of bakers in Doncaster. They have a range of 5 mince pies.
Pastry lid with sugar.
Pastry lid with icing sugar.
Viennese topped.
Brandy butter and shortbread star topped.
Icing topped.
They're all fab and when I'm working in Doncaster centre they get my pennies. Cup of tea and a mince pie, yum.
Can't stand the bloody things - work of the devil I tell you.
Pete