Mince Pie Appreciation

Fresh from the oven. Carapace is the Bread Ahead recipe suggested above, filling is the house mix from Casey’s Clapton that I was given a jar of last year. Been feeding it rum, orange peel and pecan nuts since then.

They’re heavy. Self-assessment to follow, though I may wait a week so I’ve got full taste and smell back.

1 Attachment

They’re the nicest things you’ve ever made

☺️😄😁😉😏

Why I oughta!

Trying these at my sister in law's. Excellent pastry, one of the best I've had, including Dunn's mince pies

Stingy filling though that's fairly mediocre.

Brother in law has just emptied the filling from the M&S Collections offering into the pastry from these and we think we've reached perfection.

3 Attachments

Brother in law has just emptied the filling from the M&S Collections offering into the pastry from these

That is some next level dedication.

Part due to circumstance (I live in Belgium where even trying to explain mincemeat that isn't actually meat utterly baffles the locals) and partly through acquiring moderation with years, I am past my pie-munching peak which I hit in my mid to late teens and when I'd put away 4-6 without much fuss. These days what I miss in bulk I try to make up for in flavour. This year I made it back to the UK in the final hours before the festivities so haven't managed to sample the supermarket selection – where I'd normally be a strong advocate of the mid-range offerings with none of the new-fangled aberrations (remember Heston's M&S creations with popping candy?).

I even thought that I might have missed out entirely on a Christmas favourite with a household of hungry brothers arriving at my parent's before me and clearing out the supplies. Fortunately my younger brother saved the day with what turned out to be some of the most satisfying examples I can remember. All was done with minimal fuss (as shows by the appearance) but the result was superb.

Regardless of the filling, I generally consider puff pastry superior to shortcrust – it really lifts the flavour rather than stifling it in a sandy or (god forbid) stodgy undercooked coffin. This one was the household favourite Jus-rol and swelled modestly but without stealing the show. It was the perfect vehicle for a jar of Women's Institute mincemeat.

In this part of Hampshire we're really blessed with some grandmasters in the field of preserves. I don't know their surnames but Joan, Geoff and Dot are knocking out some of the best pickles, jellies and jams in the constituency (no small feat in a part of the world strewn with vegetable gardens and an aging demographic). This year's edition was tantalisingly tangy and I suspect the sultanas had been left to soak before adding to the mix, possibly in brandy for added depth.

Best of all was the way the meat bubbled over and caramelised on the outside – the effect is sublime and it's taken all my self control not to slip back to my old ways and gobble the lot. My brother did add a slug of winter spirits and a squeeze of orange. No granulated sugar or dusting on top, pure rustic goodness. Worth making the journey home for.

2 Attachments

In-laws had these. Very good, comfortable 8/10.

1 Attachment

Brother in law has just emptied the filling from the M&S Collections offering into the pastry from these and we think we've reached perfection.

Ooh, I like your style!

Asda Extra Special Mince pies. Paid 87p for a 6 deck. Pastry fairly soft and crumbly, quite an undercooked taste and pretty cloying mouth feel. Filling a bit stodgy but with a pretty decent booze taste. Wouldn't bang again 6/10

Anyone else still powering through the mincers like it's December 2022?

Not quite like in December, but got a couple left to enjoy!

I'm going nowhere near the weight loss thread until they've all gone

Oh yeah. I made two dozen expecting a few family and neighbours to drop over and help eat them, then everyone got either covid or fear-of-covid. And my husband hates mince pies.

Ploughing through the reduced stock,
(£1 down to 50p), at Ruislip's Iceland.

Out of season update;
Coop South Ealing, on the way to meet up with @NorthLondonLight
for an evening meal, Giro highlights and conversation.
Would be mean not to take a dessert.
In the baked goods zone: Shortcrust Mince Pies, tray of 4 for £1.30.
(Note: they do contain Palm oil).
Eaten cold with an espresso.
Good texture, better than adequate filling to crust ratio.
2 each did not seem to be gluttony.

Mince pies in May.

My hero.

#bringbackrep

"can you cook mince pies in an ooni" - the greatest thread in the history of forums, locked by a moderator after 12,239 pages of heated debate

Ask not what the Forum can do for you ....

Only if also extended to @NorthLondonLight
who joined me in the antiseasonal tasting.

I just had a 'summer stopgap'....two microwave warmed Eccles cakes with double cream.

As good as any mince pie. And cheaper as well.

Love an Eccles cake

Love seeing this thread bumped. We had our Christmas party recently and I tried hard but ultimately failed to buy some mince pies. Will need to try the above as a stop-gap.

Found a jar of mincemeat in the cupboard, gonna make me some summertime mincers