Mince Pie Appreciation

@Stonehedge I am jealous of your life. The Bread Ahead ones looked best so not surprised they won.

Anyway, to business.

Aubrey Allen mince pie
Aubrey Allen is a famous butcher, baker and deli product maker in Leamington Spa which is very popular - picture of the queue attached for reference. They only stock one kind of mince pie at 60p each or a bag of four for £2.40 (so you effectively get some free plastic).

I'd characterise this one as traditional. Nothing surprising or unconventional about it at all. Excellent pastry which could conceivably be home made, mince tasty but could have a better texture. Overall I'd say a good solid mince pie but it didn't wow me. Incredibly flat top. 7.5/10 (but 9/10 on the @dbr pastry index).

2 Attachments

Sainsbury's Double Test
I work opposite a Sainsbury's so did a double test so you don't have to (and really there's no reason to, frankly).

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference (TTD)
£2 for six so work out at 33p each. Pale, anaemic pastry which when bit into crumbled in all the wrong ways. Mincemeat not bad at all and 'infused with brandy' but not a patch on Percy Ingle, although these pies feature the same offset lid. In this case that's clearly deliberate as they feel very much like something made in a factory: I wouldn't have been all that surprised if I'd found a note from Shanghai Qingpu inside asking me to contact Peter Humphrey. They did put a lot of effort into making them look festive with the star on top but honestly I just wish they'd put more effort into making them tasty. 5/10 (but 3.5/10 on the @dbr scale).

1 Attachment

Shit! I completely forgot to try Percy Ingle! Just walked past one too.

Sainsbury's In Store Bakery (ISB)
£1 for four. I used to work in Sainsbury's years ago so I know that the in store shorthand for anything made in the bakery is 'ISB', and if it says 'Misc ISB' on your receipt in means the checkout person couldn't find the right code for your baked goods. This code was also widely abused by checkout staff to discount things for their mates (#CSB).

Anyway, this pie is basically a less good version of the Percy Ingle baked-in-store pie, even down to the offset lid. It's better in every way than the 'TTD' (Taste the Difference) version and costs less, but is anaemic compared to the Percy Ingle offering and the mincemeat again isn't as good (although it's a hell of a lot better than the TTD version). Just like the TTD version they've sprinkled way too much sugar all over it which just makes a mess. If you're in a Sainsbo's I suspect they're the best option but I haven't tried their puff pastry ones or the deep fill yet. 6.5/10 and the same on the @dbr scale.

1 Attachment

Still my favourite so far but I need to try a lot more. I'm trying Morrisons 'The Best' which get good reviews this afternoon so will report back.

you're always going on about percy ingle, @Fox – let it go; you're never gonna meet him

What's that, £200 worth? :P

Fair point and they have actually rebranded as Ingles now, some of the shops have been redone:
https://inglesbakery.co.uk/

hang on, are you saying that sainsbury's asked the factory that makes its mince pies to deliberately calibrate their machines to offset the lids in order to disguise the fact they're made by a machine?

huge if true.

this could rock the scene to its core and will probably, for me, be a convenient exit point.

Aldi. Cheap, did the job, solid 5/10

£28 😂

12 for the Scouse family. 12 for me because they're not vegan. I'm so generous.

My wife was given the Wilding book for her birthday, as that is what she is intending to do with some woodland and fields.

Its also what Jeremy Clarkson has been spending millions of pounds of his money on over the last ten years or so, despite the carefully cultivated public impression that he doesn't give a fuck about the environment.

Made with.mince I bottled 2 years ago....

1 Attachment

I reckon most of these posts should go to the golf club bar thread
Lidl’s for me,,,,

What are they like? Tried to buy some last week but they only had mini ones when I was there.

Maybe he just wants firewood, or a perhaps it's a place to release poor people and cyclists into to shoot at, or maybe he needs a convenient place to bury management staff from the BBC?

mmmmm licks lips, pastry buttery, crunchy sugar on top, mincemeat savoury,,, 6 for £1.25,,, ticked all my boxes,,, not posh thread

morisons normal mince pie in a see thorugh pack best ive had this year 1/10

I dunno, but I get the feeling you've moved on from mince pies.

Yep, while fizzy has had a massive influence on the growth of the fixed gear mince scene, I'm now on the verge of the ignore button. The negativity is making me question my choices, and there is too much else going on in the rest of my life to allow it to seep into my pie life as well. 2/10.

fizzy out guys, see you in july :(

If you leave now i bet you an M&S red deck you'll be back before midsummer.

Gails this afternoon. An attractive pie, if a little small. Slightly caramelised brown sugar on top which was a nice touch. Closer inspection reveals fine ridges on the lower carapace that are the hallmark of a supermarket pie. Pastry is fine, a little thin and quite sweet. Mince was distinctly average with no booze element and small pieces. Overall I’d expect a lot more from a fancy bakery, especially for £2+ per pie. Wouldn’t have been surprised if it came out of a plastic tray of six.

6/10.

—

Thought BA would be over these by now but they had mountain. Will it beat Pavilion’s excellent showing this year? Stay tuned for unboxing and the ultimate face off.

2 Attachments

Pavilion wins. Thread closed until November 2020.