[Closed] #TOTW The important Mince Pie thread.

No home-made artisan farmers market craft-pie nonsense thank you very much.

that's not the STW way!

In terms of easily available I like the Greggs ones more than any supermarket pies, though I'll still eat any.

My brother gets some amazing pies from a farm shop near him, 6 different styles in a pack, but it's a bit far away for me.

Best I've had so far this year have been the posh Tescos range. Aldi have been disappointing this year, and a smaller range than usual too.

Not within the rules, but if you live near Derby, Croots Farm Shop outside Duffield is the place for mince pies.

Oh, and warm, with clotted cream for preference.

So far I’ve had a box of M&S, Waitrose, Coop and Asda plus a no name local corner shop version. M&S a nose in front so far, served warm with cream in the evening and cold during the day. I’ve got a bit of a problem. Last year I think I had something like 90.

Had 4 Morrisons ones earlier on

Avoid the Heston ones from Waitrose too. Garbage. Tried to mess with a classic and turned them in to vile little gobfuls of nastiness.

I’ve got a bit of a problem. Last year I think I had something like 90.

Username checks out...

Serious though. Respect! I get through them in an almost obscene fashion.

Agreed about the Heston ones, original is best. Waitrose have been the best so far for me but need to give M&S a go.

Sainsbury's do some frangipane topped ones which are amazing. Their gin and Clementine ones are bit weird though.

Had two icing topped mince pies served with Christmas pudding icecream earlier. The icecream unfortunately was knife-bendingly frozen solid 🙁

6 Morrisons and 6 Aldi so far.

Morrisons in the lead.

Only had Sainsbury's TTD which came out tops in the Grauniad.

Is there such thing as a bad one?

Last second grab of some Waitrose essential ones, 6 for £1, as I hit the checkout today.

Not especially big, not especially good, but just had a warm one with some thick Greek Yoghurt and it was OK. I think the Aldi ones I have a few weeks back were better

Mince pies are mingin'.

Proper Christmas cake is where it's at.

Is there such thing as a bad one?

I wouldn't have thought so either, but first box of the season were some cheap tesco ones. Crap. Maybe they were last year's stock.

Mince pies are mingin’.

Proper Christmas cake is where it’s at.

Wut?

Christmas Cake can get in the sea. Christmas pudding maybe... mmmm...

co-op's poshish ones (irresistible ?) are best I've had so far this year

I used to bloody love some that aldi sold but not seen them for the past couple of years

Edit:  Warm, with thick cream

Wife’s. ****ing legendary. Pics on here next week.

Pukkka minced beef and onion...

@scuttler pics of wife or pies? Clarification needed.

Co-Op ones that look like they're baked in store. Nice crisp short crust, good tasty filling.

Lidl’s Dairy Free with homemade brandy-butter . Sorted. Bishbashnosh. Although last year got a few boxes of Greggs mince pies (also veggie/dairy-free) and they were the bombiggetty also

@scuttler pics of wife or pies? Clarification needed.

Both?

Are we allowed to say ready rolled pastry and then the Waitrose mince pie filling? I'm always annoyed at the lack of filling in most.
I'll be doing the same this year and leaving out for postie and delivery drivers.

Heston ones were awful! Who wants caraway pastry?! Need to try the Aldi ones.

Only tried Aldi this year, not bad. Hot with homemade ice cream, which I'm developing an unhealthy addiction to. 😬

I like the Aldi 75p boxes of mince pies. Judging by the number of boxes in my local store that are going to be past their sell by date on the 15th of December I reckon they will be down to 50p a box very soon 🤣

Only had the standard Co-Op ones so far and they were underwhelming to say the least.

Morrison's weren't bad. Apparently the M&S ones are v good this year.

I've only had Harrods (Occado sell them :p ) and M&S fancy ones so far, both disappointing (especially the Harrods ones). I usually just stick to the Tesco fancy ones, they don't get much love but seem the best to me.

@jimmy and the verdict on the recommendation by the Grauniad? Minus points for only half a job.
Some of the cheaper ones are under filled in my experience. The Frangipane ones sound good though.

@sandwich maybe I should have been clearer.

It was decent. Crumbly pastry, would like more filling but overall verdict was

Is there such thing as a bad one?

I saw a pack of these off with a mug of tea, I daren't buy any more

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/all-christmas/sainsburys-mincemeat-puffs-x8-200g

I really love the terrible supermarket ones with the iced tops. Deliciously disgusting and sweet. Back in the day (prior to chubclub shenanigans) I could easily do half a packet with a big mug of coffee. Yes, there's 1,350 calories per box..... yum yum yum

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I almost miss mince pies. Will have to look for some in th shops here. Maybe Lidl has some.

Sainsbury's were my first purchase this year and the pastry just fell to pieces, definitely not worthy of winning any awards

M&S ones - the cognac smothers the fruity tang of the mince, so it’s a no from me.
Greggses ones are the best I’ve had so far

Had some last year that had a crumble topping instead of pie pastry. Oh it were luverly.

Might have been t'aldi

-1 for Greggs. Bought a pack at the weekend. Shallow and soggy/greasy. Very disapponted.
Only had the cheap Aldi ones otherwise so far. As every year, they will be my go to standard - cheap and just down the road so I can get through plenty of them without any supply issues. Need to find some icing topped ones in the very near future though.

Warm, take the top off, big ol' blob of brandy butter, top back on.
Topping of your choice.

You can thank me later.

APF

Warm, take the top off, big ol’ blob of brandy butter, top back on.
Topping of your choice.

The professionals have arrived.

Just realised it's probably a fortnight since my last mince pie. Need to fill the car up tonight, may go via M&S....

Sadly they're not a thing in Spain, although last year I did manage to get some in my local SuperCor - think they were Mr. Kiplings, and they were better than nothing.

But I'm off to the coast this weekend, and with all the expat community there it shouldn't be too hard to get hold of some 🙂

Are we allowed to say ready rolled pastry and then the Waitrose mince pie filling?

Which pastry?

Warm, take the top off, big ol’ blob of brandy butter, top back on.

Your order's wrong. Move "warm" to the end.

Morrisons The Best warmed through in the even. Very pleasant!

As Sainsbury's is walking distance and the TTD were recommended and they were on offer at £1.50 a box it would have been rude not to.
Verdict so far is good for supermarket mince pies.
Aldi ones will be tested once a trip there becomes unavoidable. Only eaten cold so far as I'm too lazy and tight to turn the oven on for one pie and no one else in the house eats them. Yes I eat all the pies.

Probably get flamed for this, the m&s puff pastry ones are great

Probably get flamed for this, the m&s puff pastry ones are great just wrong

I think was what you meant

Morrison's The Best are leading do far this year.

This is based on a sample of 1.

Disappointing. Sounds like Greggs dropped the ball this year.

Booths.

Morrison’s

Morrison’s name is ringing out! Both on the street and on here. My nearest one is a drive away so what am I looking for exactly? Own brand type thing or baked in store vibes?

EDIT

The Best

Missed this. Right, now to fill my boot with pies.

I was briefly in competition with a friend from work for who could eat the most mince pies. After troughing thirteen in four days, each, in November, we decided to call it off! We'd lost the meaning of mince pie, only looking for the glory 😆.

Tesco finest ftw, warm with brandy butter or clotted cream depending on the time of day.

After troughing thirteen in four days, each, in November, we decided to call it off

Pretty sure I can binge a pack of six a day this time of year. I may have issues with food, to be fair

Absolutely 😆  it was more the fact that we weren't even into December yet!  3 a day for the warm up rounds was a recipe for disaster come peak season!

This year I’m partial to the Morrisons baked in store ones this year. Warmed with brandy butter is a preference but I try to leave that to nearer the day.

I used to make Mince Pies - as a food technologist at Mr Kipling ...

Not had any this season so far.
A combination of being the only one in the house who eats mince pies and a dairy intolerance I've steered clear of them.
Although I may need to seek out the Greggs veggie and dairy free ones.
Thanks for the heads up.

Parsons bakery, are best ones I've had so far.
Agreed on the Heston ones, awful.

warm with a heaped teaspoon of brandy butter, mmm

The very best shop bought mince pies are Iceland's luxury range.
The very best home baked are my friend Rod's, from the Paul Hollywood book.

I shall be making my own this year from Paul Hollywood's recipe with good quality shop bought filling. Oh and I may even make proper custard (egg yolk and vanilla pod type) not Ambrosia.

Agreed on the Heston ones, awful.

FIGHT! 😠. Outside now and anybody else with a complete lack of taste. Fantastic modern take on the sugary junk that pretends to be a mince pie.

Felt compelled to buy some today whilst in lidl.
Speculoos and Almond mince tarts.
Very nice, only downside I may need to share them with my mince tart hating OH!

First one this week. A Greggs, good start

I used to make Mince Pies – as a food technologist at Mr Kipling …

*Waves to fellow RHM escapee
Though I would be careful about the link to Kipling Mince Pies, they are almost a cooking food crime!

As for Heston it's all too try-hard. Do the basics really well without mucking about works for me.

I think Aldi have really let the side down this year. Their normally excellent standard mince pies seem to be full of brown mushy pulp, not the usually very tasty mince filling.
In my experience so far this year it has to be Morrisons baked in store well above Aldi in the list but they're the only 2 I've had the chance of trying so far.

Just finishing off another 8 mincemeat puffs from sainsburys.

Yes that’s 8 in one go

I had a box. Yes, a box of Sainsbury's 'The Best' or whatever they're called last night. Very nice 7/10.

Still on zero mince pies and couldn't be happier.

Sadly i am still on zero christmas cake aswell.

Tesco standard issue 6/10

Trip to the coast has paid off, and now have Good Housekeeping Institute all butter mince pies, plus some cheaper Iceland mince pies. Purely for scientific reasons, to allow a quality cross check. All fine so far 🙂

Just had an M&S Collection pie. Nice deep filling, pastry held together, would happily smash again.

Need to get some custard next time out.

I got some Heston B pies the other year, came with a sachet of 'pine sugar'. Tasted like something you'd clean the loo with.

all butter mince pies

They can't be "all butter" or what you'd have there wouldn't be mince pies, it'd be a pat of butter.

had a box

A box is the standard portion size. Warmed in oven for 10 minutes transforms most standard supermarket pies to something special.

I like to make own though, ready-made pastry and a jar of mincemeat. Hot out the oven, they're a world apart. Add a spoon of clotted cream to them whilst hot, heaven!

For some reason at work we ended up being given many many boxes during xmas a couple of years back. I set myself a challenge of eating a box of 6 a day for the whole of December. I completed the challenge with ease though i don't remember being able to pick out a favourite. Didn't seem to improve my performance on the bike either!

TL;DR - which is the best supermarket mince pie this year?

I've not had one yet but going shopping on Thursday

They can’t be “all butter” or what you’d have there wouldn’t be mince pies

Welcome to the wonderful world of 'marketing'!

Take the top off, lump of blue cheese, top back on and warm.

If you're serious.

I just calculated that Ive now consumed 48 of the normal Lidl ones and six of the luxury ones (testing)....which is rather embarrasing! However, its clear that I like them a lot and frankly think they are amazing value for money. I put one in the microwave for ten secs, which heats the interior and slightly warms the exterior, without soggyfying it. yum!

Have we done McDonald’s festive pies yet? Not a true mince pie, but probabl The best thing Ronald has ever put his name to

TL;DR – which is the best supermarket mince pie this year?

No clear winner yet, but Morrisons best have had a lot of votes. Not tried them personally yet as I'm limiting myself to a box per week, and I've already had Sainsbury's best on Sunday. Which were very good.

Being from Huddersfield/Brighouse the the ones from Merrie England have regularly topped my list, the long awaited (5 yrs?) return of the festive pie from McD's did briefly put a shadow over the flaky beauties but having consumed a few, I found the outer casing of the festive pie to leave a slightly greasy after taste.
BUT, a recent trip to York saw me having a munch in Bettys. Having taken a box of their 12 mixed variety back home my world was rocked, their's a new kid in my mince pie town, I reckon I could smash the full box in 2 sittings. £14 for 12 mincers? I'd pay double!
BTW, Starbucks, too big & pastry too soft. Costa, it's a tart so in-admissible i'm afraid.