Mince Pie Appreciation

yes, please drop box me 12 also thank you very much

Good overall but the mince mix was a little tart for me. The pastry was good and the sugar crusted topping was definitely the stand out feature. It was a decent size for £1.20 or 4 for £4 - 6/10

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First of the season for me. E5 Bakehouse. London Fields.

I couldn't figure out exactly what flour the shortcrust is made of, it's probably a mix of flours, but whatever it is, it really brings it to the party. It has some notes of buckwheat, but it's as flaky as white flour. The buttery texture reminded me of my nonna countrystyle crostata. This doesn't mean the mince is a secondary player in this pie. The mince has that perfect granularity. It's not a mash, you can see the distinct pieces, but it's not dry either. Very subtle, but elegant notes of brandy. Not as good as the crust, which is a miracle on its own, but still good. Maybe I am biased, because it was the first MP for me after almost two years, but it was 4.5--5 stars for me. Of course, the catch is the price. I don't know exactly how much I paid for it, because I bought other things along with it, but it was around 5£ for 2 small pies. The Sugino DD2 of mince pies. Expensive, but worth it.

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Burn the heretics?
https://crumbscorkscrews.com/mince-pie-brownies/

Iceland LUXURY All Butter Mincer. I wasn’t going to bother with the Iceland ones, casually writing them off as being, well, Iceland, but we actually have a surprise contender here. Pastry is ok, a little under baked maybe right in the middle. The filling is tangy, slightly gooey and absolutely stacked with spice. I’m like 10 minutes after eating it and my tongue is still tingling with spice and citrus. Well worth a try. As with the ASDA ones, I’m going to have to side-by-side one of these tomorrow with a couple of others to put it in the ratings.

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I had a "brakes" catering one today. As bland as anyone could make them really.

Thanks for adding pictures!

I had my first at the weekend, from Choclatine Bakery on Wood St. in Walthamstow (£2).

I rate them anyway so would have been disappointed if they were crap, but they were great! Pastry which looks super thick but melts in the mouth and really excellent mince, sweet vs. tart ratio spot on and the kind of mince where you can identify each individual fruit (the icing sugar helps you see this in the picture - check out that definition!). I almost felt like I'd had one of my five a day by the end as they have a deceptively deep filling.

The butterflies on top are obviously controversial. Perhaps deliberately so. But I think these disprove the non-solid lid/star on top doubters (cough @Eejit cough). My Mum's have stars on top too and share a lot in common with this pie.

Not sure about star rating yet as I've got nothing to benchmark but my commute takes me past Pavilion...

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Is there much debate in here for hot vs cold?
Sorry, I’ve done no research.

Cold yes, warm yes, piping hot no.

Pavilion this year: excellent pastry, wife reckons more refined this time around. Lovely and short, excellent crumble without falling apart. The filling was pretty meh though. Not much tang, no booze. At least it wasn’t mad sweet.

Gonna try them cold tomorrow but for now, SHOUTY CAPS are winning.

Bows or butterflies?

I was thinking about trying an apple crumble with mince in it! :)

Nuked for 15 seconds and served with double cream? Yes please A+++++ mincer gr9 comms would mince again,,,

Do it & report back.
You might become a thread hero,
or,
ostracised forever.

Ever wished your chocolate digestives tasted strongly of cloves?

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Interesting - they gave us some of their test batch free last week but look to have now cracked the recipe. It’s a solid bakery so expect nothing less. Might pop down for one tomorrow

It’s also only a small detour from the Essex loop for those who ride bieks

It's like one of those psychology tests...

Tried Pavilion. I would say very good but perhaps not great. I would agree with @dbr - the pastry is excellent, filling merely solid. Choclatine mincemeat is better, for me, good tang. Maybe without the hype if someone said "Here, have a mincer" and it was this good I'd think great, but...

As @EstelleGetty says £2.50 is not sustainable for eating in volume.

I noticed today that Rinkoff's do mincers, so these will be getting tested. Probably on Thursday.

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Need a review of this pls.

"Boris Johnson hasn't ruined Christmas this time it was Asda and
their half a mince pie."

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/asda-shopper-left-fuming-after-22370969

Coop "irresistible" Bourbon & Bitter Orange just picked up. Report to come later.

I'll try the Asda shallow ones too when I can. Could be a highly sought after collectors item after all the press though.

I added a review to my post.

Brace yourself, the mince pie flavour craft beers are coming

I will happily join the efforts to drink 37 million cans of that in order that zero mince pies reach landfill. This is an important cause.