REVIEWS / MINCE PIES
A doublestardesignonthelidseemslike
an odd choice for a Christmas product.
There’s the star of Bethlehem, but then
what’s the other one? Was it a tribute to the
flag of Panama? Sadly the pie itself was
unremarkable. There’s a strange,
almost a savoury flavour to
the pastry and the filling is
disappointingly bland too.
You can get better pies for
this money elsewhere.
M&S’additionofpuffpastrytothemincepie
formulaworkedforsomeofourpanel.Thepies
tasteokay,andthepuffpastrywithitscrustof
sugaris quitetasty(it’shardtogowrongwith
bigchunksofsugar).However,thelackoffilling
madegettingthroughthepie
a lotofwork,andit endedup
feelinglikethemincemeatand
thepuffpastrywouldhavebeen
happierelsewhere.
TheCo-Opstandardmincepieis a buttery
yet bland pie. Again, its star-topped lid
makes it look like the standard Morrisons
and Sainsbury’s pies, but it tastes different.
It’s still one of several thoroughly ordinary
efforts in our test, but its pastry has
notably the most buttery taste
of these pies. If you’re a big fan
of unimpressive pies, but you
want your unimpressive pie to
be buttery, this is what you want.
Thesebafflingheavyweightsbarelyqualifyas
mincepies,butthat’snotnecessarilybad.Witha
spicy,cinnamon-heavyflavour(youcanbarely
tastethelemon)anda reallytastycrumbly
topping,ratherthana traditionallid,thesehuge
odditieswerea massivehitwith
somejudges,butnotwithothers.
They’reexpensive,butthey’re
amazingif youlovecinnamon
andyou’refeelingadventurous.
Thispiebroughta deep,crunchypastrycaseto
the table, which went down better with some
judges than others. Opinion on the filling was
more unifying, but unfortunately, because
nobody was very impressed by it. These pies
look like they’re going to be deep and satisfying,
but the filling’s consistency was
off, being gooey and almost
runny, and it looks weirdly
shiny too. Nobody signs up
for that with a mince pie.
Thesnowflakemotifonthelidofthispieis a
goodstarttowardsmakinga pieChristmassy,
buttheMrKiplingpiestartedgoingoff-piste
earlywithanunevenpastrytexture,aswell
asa slightlychemicallytastetothefilling.
There’salsoanaftertaste
thatoverstayeda welcome
thatit didn’treallyhavein
thefirstplace.Definitelynot
exceedinglygood.
WAITROSE BUTTER
ENRICHED /£1 .90 for six
M&S PUFF PASTRY
MINCE PIES/£2.50 for six
COOP MINCE PIES
/£1for six
HESTONFROM WAITROSE
SPICED MINCE PIES WITH
LEMON/£3 for four
COOP TRULY
IRRESISTIBLE BUTTER
ENRICHED /£1 for two
MR KIPLING/£1.75 for six
5/10 4/10
8/10
3/10
5/10 4/10
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