Taste test: the best mince pies for Christmas 2014
Christmas isn’t complete without a towering plateful of mince pies. We assess the supermarkets' 2014 offerings.
In the latest of our arduous Christmas tests (it's tough work but somebody's got to do it), we’re out to find which shop-bought mince pies are the tastiest this year.
With pies from 10 different retailers lined up, we let loose our office blind taste testers. And this is what they thought.
The results
10th place: Asda Extra Special – 4.8/10
Poor form. The “pastry is rubbish” and several people said it was “stodgy". Others criticised it for being too floury and having a less than average filling.
9th place: Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference – 4.9/10
Barely beating Asda, an overpowering orange flavour was the problem with Sainsbury’s pies. “Tastes like Berocca” said one tester, grimacing, while many others found the citrus tang very offputting. A couple of people did really like this one, so if you’re a fan of oranges, this has potential. Sainsbury's won last year’s taste test, so this is quite a surprising turnaround.
8th place: Lidl Snowy Lodge – 5.5/10
“Good mincemeat” said one taster, but average and “pretty unexciting” was the general consensus. Decent enough but nothing to write home about, and the pastry didn’t get a great response from some.
7th place: Morrisons M Signature – 5.7/10
“Average” and overly sweet, the Morrisons mince pies had too much pastry and not enough filling, but a couple of tasters remarked that they were nicely “zingy”.
6th place: Co-op Loved By Us – 5.8/10
A little dry and light on filling (possibly the cause of the dryness). But not bad, not good. Unmemorable.
4th place (joint): Iceland Luxury Mince Pies – 5.9/10
“Good crumbly texture” and “quite nice brandy butter style filling”. Decent praise, but not enough to get it into a medal position.
4th place (joint): Aldi Specially Selected – 5.9/10
Aldi placed level with Iceland, for its “nice fruity filling and decent pastry”. But ‘decent’ is the key word here – they’re nothing special albeit perfectly enjoyable.
3rd place: M&S All Butter Luxury Recipe – 6/10
Although it won the chocolate coin taste test, M&S lets itself down a little here. “Way too much sugar masking the flavour” said one person. "Good flavour balance” said another while a third simply remarked: “average”. Still, the scores add up to a respectable enough total.
2nd place: Heston from Waitrose – 6.2/10
After his puff pastry pies came last in 2013, Heston Blumenthal is back on form with this year’s spiced shortcrust mince pies. They look rather different from a normal pie and come with a sachet of tangerine flavoured sugar for dusting.
This one really divided opinions. A couple hated it because they thought the flavour of the cloves was overpowering. One questioned whether it was even a mince pie! However, most really liked it, saying that it was “spicy and fruity – a great Christmas taste”, and “citrusy with plenty of spice.”
1st place: Tesco finest – 6.5/10
Despite being devised by a celebrity chef, Waitrose’s entry couldn’t beat this year’s winner – Tesco! “Good pastry” with a decent “sweet filling” followed by a sharp aftertaste. “Well made, good flavour balance. Very edible” said one taster, while another said it had “a good pastry to mince ratio.”
Not great though
When the ‘best’ pie on offer is only rated 6.5/10, you know we haven't had a great taste test. Even though all of these pies were from their respective retailers' upmarket ranges, that's a pretty mediocre top score.
If you have any suggestions for great-tasting widely available pies that aren’t a supermarket brand, please share them in the Comments below.
Or if you fancy making your own, here are our recipes:
Orange and cinnamon mince pies recipe
You might also like:
All of our Christmas recipes and features
Taste test: Christmas chocolate coins
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