Mince Pie Appreciation

My girlfriend chipped her tooth on a Gregg's mince pie the other day. Downside is she needs to see a dentist, upside is she got a £15 voucher to spend on more mince pies so swings and roundabouts really.

feel like the dentist is going to cost more than £15 so net net that's a bit of a shiter

“It’s fun, they all just taste like mince” says the wife.

They are tasty. Seems to be four or five styles, though as she says they’re not that different. Nice little pies, good flavour. Got a craving right now though. Tesco is the only option right now. Worth it, or hold out for better tomorrow?

Secret COOP to the rescue

Label doesn't lie - good deep fill. Nice pastry. Filling could be a bit chunkier, seemed to be only raisins. Hard to assess the booze content as it was drenched in brandy butter.

1 Attachment

Coop free from are not great.

cream liqueur sales doubled as festive drinking kicked off at home

Oof that's starting early :o

M&S Food 'Collection' mince pies

I think these are the ones @dbr had?

Pretty good looking for a supermarket pie - with that tantalising hint of mince and an unevenly baked top which suggests a less automated baking process - but with a strange substance on top that was neither sugar nor icing sugar. Odd but not bad odd. Competent enough pastry.

The filling let these down though - if you look carefully at the cross section you can see there's a huge gap! They claim to be deep filled - I felt robbed tbh. The filling is also VERY sweet. I don't mind this but other's might. Overall it was fairly satisfying though.

6/10

3 Attachments

Gregg's standard mince pie

I don't get the fuss about these either. I didn't chip any teeth but this looks flat and sad, like the unfortunate road kill of the mince pie world. Filling nice and tangy but ungenerous. The real let down is the pastry though: pale, undercooked and stodgy (in a bad way). Nope.

5/10

2 Attachments

Dusty Knuckle mince pie

Definite POTY contender for me. It may look a bit like a pork pie with icing sugar on top, but don't be fooled by appearances! Or at least bite into it and have a gander at that fill level - PHWOAR. All kinds of mincy goodness crammed in there, I'd challenge anyone to cram a single extra piece of fruit in.

The best bit is that this is crammed into a pastry case that looks hard and horrible but in fact explodes into delicious crumbly shards as soon as you look at it. So a bit messy to eat, but really good...

8/10

2 Attachments

Ruislip, of course, is the spiritual home of Bailey's.

Which, in my ignorance, I always thought of as a 'Ladies' drink',
until an episode of Groundforce, when the large builder Tommy,
revealed his tipple was a pint mug full of ice cubes brimmed with Baileys.

Topmost picture appeared to show your POTY sitting in a pool of Creme Caramel liquor.
Lower picture clarifies by showing the quality of the glaze on your crockery.

Ooh I will have to try the Dusty Knuckle offering.

Esters's mince pies look really decent on their Instagram, going to try and pick a couple up this week.

You know you're in trouble when you starting seeing cream liqueur mirages.

Thank you all for your service.

Esters look bangin.

I hear tell Snackbar x Lyles pies have actual meat in them, as well as mincemeat. Could be good...

I’ll be done by Borough tomorrow, gonna get a Bread Ahead in.

Agree with the review - the MnS “basics” in the red box are less sweat, and broadly a better option despite being at the manufactured supermarket end of things.

Woah, thanks for the hot tip on the Lidl Speculoos mince pie. Added to the shopping list. Mental.

I tried a Pret mince pie a few days back. Don't be tricked by their short and stout little appearance. Make sure you've got a proper plate to hand, sugar and pastry crumbs will spray absolutely everywhere. Not bad but it didn't get me humming jingle bells.

@Cazakstan - Any idea on Konditor vegan mince pie shelf life? I'd like some for Christmas Day but will probably struggle to pick any up during the week before Christmas. They do post so I was thinking of ordering on the 21st but that might be cutting it fine.

Dusty Knuckle

Have to say that looks banging

Ah well they keep for much longer so you're golden. I bought mine a week ago and was helpfully informed that they'd last in to January if stored in an airtight container.

I asked this because there's two of us and I bought 12. We wanted to make sure they'd last until Christmas and wouldn't go to waste.

We have two left.. I need to go back.. 🤣

I asked this because there's two of us and I bought 12.

One day or maybe two days worth of mince pies for two people surely!

My Lidl was out of the Speculoos already. Not sure if they do any restocking between now and xmas. Will have to try and keep an eye out.

Had a mincer from Gails bakery ... decent pastry ... filling could have been boozier.

Bit disappointed, Pavilion have changed their recipe. Good size and fill but not quite the ambrosia of 2019. Bread Ahead were also a bit disappointing. They're hench - £3 a pie doesn't seem unreasonable, packed to the deep rim with tasty filling, good mix of texture but sadly not a hint of booze. Same with Pavilion actually. Maybe it's a political correctness gone mad thing. Straight edge gen Z rejecting Yuletide brandy.

Must get a Dusty Knuckle this weekend.

£3 a pie doesn't seem unreasonable

things golf mince skidders say

My wife had to spread it over two sittings, so not bad value really.