Four pies good, two pies bad

With the nation in the midst of a cruel cold snap, I thought it was high time to fire up the oven and get tasting mince pies. What could be a better food to snack on when the mercury starts falling than a combination of pastry and sweet fruity goo. In such a climate it is more important than ever to heat the pie through before eating.  And please, stay away from the microwave – soggy pastry is not satisfying.

I have opted for a slightly different format for this round of the evaluation.  A return visit to Budgens in Hampstead yielded a pack of eight assorted mince pies, provided by a Dunn’s Bakery in Crouch End.  The price tag on this box (It was £8.30, though on ‘special offer’ at £4.99) demonstrated that this particular set of pies would not be budget. But pricey is not always synonymous with delicious. What intrigued me more was the presence of a wholemeal pastry pie amongst the selection. This seemed almost too healthy to be true. There was also a puff pastry pie, a thin pie, and a deep pie. With such a wide range of mince pies in this single box I thought that there was easily enough material for a one-manufacturer taste test. Which I did for breakfast on Saturday. However I realised that this is a tad exclusive of the majority of people who may not be able to access Dunn’s bakery. So a second pie from a more mainstream source was in order. I had a luxury booze-soaked mince pie from Marks and Spencer’s. Brandy and port to be specific. Unfortunately the box was at work so I can’t recount the exact wording of its name, and there is no photo. They come in a purple box.

The Dunn's pies came stacked two deep, and without the plastic tray - most pleasing!

Eating the pies for breakfast made me appreciate different aspects of the flavour. To be honest they were in general a little too rich to eat straight after waking up, but I did manage with a little help to eat most of all four different Dunn’s pies. The first one I tried was the puff-pastry pie. This was in my opinion just an Eccles cake. Though I suppose that really all Eccles cakes are just puff-pastry mince pies. It was a little greasy, in the way that puff-pastry always is, but not unpleasantly so. My glamorous guest-taster proclaimed it to be her favourite pie, but she also didn’t know what an Eccles cake is.

Next the thin pie. This had a high pastry to filling ratio, which is something I like – provided the pastry is good. And it was good: crunchy and very short, though the whole pie fell apart when I bit into it owing to the lid not being attached to the base. The filling was very hot, probably because I had left them in the oven whilst I had a shower. It had a particularly fruity orangey taste. This was nice in small doses.

Moving on to the deep filled pie. This was hard to eat because the large quantity of filling spilled out when my teeth puncture the pastry. There was too much filling really, but this was to be expected given it was deep filled. I also thought that it was too sweet and too orangey. At this stage it was pointed out to me that all the pies had the same filling.

Finally, the wholemeal pie. This was the same format as the standard deep pie. I quite like wholemeal, and was excited by the prospect of this one. But too much sugar had been put on top, with the result that the wholemeal pastry tasted like very chewy normal pastry. As my guest-taster eloquently put it, “it tastes wrong”.

I think that it is appropriate to name a winner from the different Dunn’s, to go forward to challenge other manufacturers. It has to be the thin pie, which benefited from not having too much orangey sweet filling. It also had normal, shortcrust pastry. Puff and wholemeal was not quite right in my opinion, although I have noticed that several supermarkets stock puff varieties, and so a dedicated puff round may be in order.

The tasting of the boozy M&S pie occurred the following day. Which probably means that it is not a fair comparison, but this isn’t meant to be fair, it’s meant to be up to me. In a token gesture to keeping other variables constant, I chose the same drink to accompany both Dunn’s and M&S, namely a cup of tea (preferable to red wine, especially for breakfast).

Note the attractive snow flake motif on top

M&S luxury pie was deep filled, with similar pastry to the standard offering. The filling was indeed boozy tasting. To be honest, I don’t think that this added much to the flavour. Also it was on the whole a little stodgy.

So in the showdown between Dunn’s and M&S we have orange pitted against booze. Neither variation of mincemeat really made me salivate, so the contest comes down to pastry (as so often it has in this evaluation). And in this analysis it is Dunn’s that comes out on top. You really can tell the difference between factory made and bakery made pastry.

I promise to include more readily available pies next time!

The next episode

Today I worked up an appetite doing some gardening in the park. Pitching in with the ‘Friends of Brockwell Park’, I was engaged in first in clearing out a woodland walk then in planting bulbs. The former activity was the better; I particularly enjoyed sawing through branches. Bulb planting in contrast involved a lot of digging and had no immediate reward. I shall return to see that in March.

Anyway, enough preamble about my activities, this blog is about mince pies. I went to Herne Hill after said chopping/digging to source the festive snacks. The hole in the wall outside Sainsbury’s was broken, and the cashier inside would only give me £30 in cashback, because “there isn’t much money”. Which was a flagrant lie, the till was chocker with notes when she opened it. This experience made me start with a prejudice against Sainsbury’s Deep Mince Pies (£1 for six), although generally I do like 'deep' versions of things. I continued my shopping at the bakery, purchasing a mince pie from Ye Olde Bakery (50p each) on Railton Road (a stupid name I know, but it is a very good bakery, I recommend their multiseed loaf).

Note the elaborate serving suggestion from Sainsbury's - contrast the simplicity of the paper bag.

Today I had neither tea nor red wine to wash down the pies, this was probably a mistake because it’s important to have something to refresh the palate between competing mincemeat flavours. I was also without an assistant, so no photo of me mid-tasting. Nonetheless I pressed on with the important task, because I was very hungry.

Ye Olde Bakery on the left

I started with Ye Olde Bakery. The first thing I have written on my tasting notes is “mmmmmm”, so it is fair to say I was impressed from the outset with this one. It was thinner than Sainsbury’s (presumably because it was not 'deep'), and the pastry was in two separate pieces – base and top. I rather like this format for mince pies, it allows the filling to bubble up during the baking, and leave little tongues of colour on the pastry. And what pastry! It was crunchy and delicious, very short shortcrust, with sugar on top. This is my favourite type, and it also had not gone at all soggy in the base. The filling was very sweet, and I detected a slight spiciness. My ignorance of what ingredients should be in mincemeat means that I cannot name this spice.

Sainsbury’s was going to have to put on quite a performance to better that, but again quoting my tasting notes I have written “quite nice”. This indicates that although it was tasty, it lacked that special something which could have propelled it to the giddy heights of scrumptiousness that Ye Olde Bakery inhabits. The addition of a pastry holly leaf and berry on top added an extra frisson of festivity. It was a sturdy, almost stodgy pie, with a hint of soggy bottom. I was pleased that the depth referred to in its name was fully filled with mincemeat. I dislike pies with an air space between the filling and pastry lid. I also detected a hint of orange flavour, which pleased me as it makes it sound like I know something about food rather than just wanting to witter on about pastry shapes.

But really this round had been won as soon as I bit into the first pie. Ye Olde Bakery gets a big thumbs up form me. I realise that recommending a pie made in a specific shop in south London may not be very useful to readers living anywhere else in the country. Though perhaps it is a little arrogant of me to think that anyone would actually follow my mince pie tips.

Round two

After two days with no pastry and raisin based seasonal fare, I was very much in the mood for another taste test. It was very tempting to pop into the Marks next to the hospital to get some that I could count on. But the point of this evaluation is to try many different mince pies, not simply to eat lots and lots of the ones I really like. That can wait until after I have selected the winner.

In this spirit of adventurous consumerism, I wandered down Haverstock Hill and called in at the BP garage. Here I found a packet of Mr Kipling mince pies (8 for the price of 6, £1.89), nestled inbetween the antifreeze and flowers. The next stop was a bakery called “Euphorium”. The chap behind the counter said they did not sell mince pies. As I strode out in disgust he had the cheek to offer me an Eccles cake! Finally I came across Budgens, and bought their deep filled mince pies (6 for £1.29). I was slightly concerned that “Budgens” shares most of its letters with “budget”, but I suppose equally it could be named after a budgie.

Red seems to be the colour of choice for packaging this year. As it is every year.



Round 2 of the great mince pie evaluation included a new addition to the standardised testing procedure (previously (1) heat, (2) eat). The two packets were stowed in my bag, and carted around town for a few hours. This test was completely unintentional, but was certain to highlight any differences in the sturdiness of both packaging and pie. In this category the clear winner was Budgens. Most of the Mr Kiplings had all but disintegrated into crumbs and dust, which cascaded onto the worktop when I opened he packet. In contrast, Budgens were secured in a polythene wrapper within the box, and they had maintained pastry integrity.

To briefly revisit the subject of how to eat mince pies, it is important to remove them from the foil cases before putting in the oven. Failing to do this means that the pastry inside the case becomes a little soggy, and you will scald your fingers trying to remove the pie when it is ready. Here they are, having been extracted without too much digital damage.

Budgens on the left. Note the Mr Kipling looking worse for wear after its ride in my bag.

You get to make a wish with the first mince pie of the season that you eat. Unfortunately I was only told this about 20 pies down the line, so a wishless xmas is in store for me. Don’t forget to make your wish if you still can. On to the testing – starting with Budgens. First impression from my glamorous assistant was that it had “good pastry”, swiftly followed by “but it has a cheap feeling about it”. Combined with the distinct lack of an ornithological element, this suggested to me that the derivation of its name was indeed budget rather than budgie. I thought that the whole assemblage was a little flimsy and the lid came off (though it did have a nice star on top). The filling was quite tasty, but made the pastry soggy.

Next up was Mr Kipling. First impression from me: salty and chewy. Yes, salty. Although a savoury pie is one of my favourite foods, this is not what I expect from a mince pie. This was an immediate failure. Forcing myself to get past this initial let down, the filling was not bad; it tasted very raisiny. The pastry was too crumbly, which I already knew because of the disaster of the transit test. In conclusion Mr Kipling was not an exceedingly good mince pie.

Cheers!

So the winner is (grudgingly) Budgens. I recommend checking back here when I next try some good ones.

Which is the best mince pie?

I really like eating mince pies. It is a particular delight to sink my teeth into that first festive snack, usually in early October every year. In a way my infatuation with the mince pie is a little peculiar. I am not normally put out if there is no pudding, I never decry the lack of a dessert – but without mince pies at this time of year I would be most aggrieved.

There is a wide, and quite frankly bewildering array of mince pies that the discerning British consumer has to choose from. From deep fill to puff pastry, from iced to boozy, we are faced with some pretty tricky decisions in our mince pie purchasing. I can see only one fair and scientific method for making this choice – a taste test.

So that is precisely my intention for this blog. I shall in a selfless gesture to benefit festive food lovers around the country taste all the types of mince pies available from shops. Or at least all those available from shops near Brixton. Hopefully this rigorous and methodical devouring will reveal the ultimate mince pie. Which information I shall share with the web, and spread the love of mince pies far and wide.

I thought long and hard about the optimum format of the evaluation, so as to minimise bias, random error, and inter-person variation. Then I bought two packets of mince pies and ate one from each. So henceforth the great mince pie evaluation shall take the form of a series of ‘head to head’ contests. After trying as many as I can, I shall have a series of knockout rounds of the winners of each heat. And maybe include the highest scoring losers. Such details as the number of heats, knockout rounds and criteria for choosing entrant shall be pretty much random.

Round the first: “M&S classic butter rich” vs. “Waitrose all butter”

With no pre-evaluation seeding I started off with this clash between two brands that like to be known for quality, tastiness, and being exclusive. Although exclusivity is usually down to a larger price tag, the M&S offering was on offer at £2 for 12, and Waitrose at £1.29 for 6. But this evaluation isn’t about mercenary matters; if you care about how much you pay for your mince pies you are missing the point. I suggest that anyone of a parsimonious disposition stop reading this directly and eat raisins on a digestive biscuit instead.

The packets of M&S and Waitrose

There are several methods for consumption of the mince pie. I have seen them ripped out of the packet and devoured almost in one bite. I have seen the more demur diner, eating delicately, as if showing any more gusto would offend then sanctity of the mince pie. I have seen them eaten upside down with cream on top using a spoon. My preferred method is to place the pie on a baking tray and heat in the oven for 5 minutes. This length of time is enough to render the pastry crunchy and delectable, but not so much that the insides become hotter than the sun. You may choose to eat them otherwise, if so you are wrong.

Anyway, back to the taste-off. Here is a picture of the two fresh out of the oven, M&S on the right. You will note immediately that the Waitrose is an apologeticly anaemic shade of beige, whereas the M&S has a hearty glow of colour at the edges, and an attractive incision on the top.

Fresh out of the oven

First down the hatch was the Waitrose. My first impression was that despite its unprepossessing pallid complexion, the pastry was lovely. I do like good pastry. The mincemeat was very boozy; I detected brandy amongst a cornucopia of fruits. And in fact it was the constellation of fruity flavours which was the undoing of the pie. I found it too sweet. It was also a very dense filling, almost verging on dry, which added to the cloying taste of all that sweet fruit (which turned out to be cherry).

Next up for my gnashers was the M&S. This had a delightfully crunchy shortcrust pastry. I really enjoyed the extra crisp texture, accentuated by the granulated sugar on top which added even more snap. Inside there was an altogether more moist mixture than Waitrose. One might even be tempted to describe it as saucy (a benefit of the heating is that it really awakes the filling of a good mince pie). This had a fresh, tangy flavour, with a hint of citrus amongst the raisins. Delicious.

Deep in contemplation

So to the verdict. This was an easy decision, and I awarded the round to M&S. Which is reassuring because I had already eaten a fair few of these pies prior to the contest. Everyone likes to back the winner!

I do hope that you check back in for the next installment of the great mince pie evaluation. Until then, I hope that you keep your food festive!