Putting Mince Pies to the Test

 

It's early December and around this time my mind turns to mince pies. Thoughts of a warm mince pie and a drizzle of cream occupy my head as I get on with other things. Val also loves a mince pie and we've decided this year we'll make our own. I ordered some mincemeat to come in the shopping but before it arrived I succumbed and bought some mince pies from Aldi. Then to justify this unnecessary purchase I decided to make more unnecessary purchases and turn it into a blog post. So, 3 more boxes of mince pies later, we're ready to test them and see which is the best.

We decided to judge them on 5 qualities. Value, moistness, taste of mincemeat, pastry and appearance.

Aldi's mince pies have a nice snowflake pattern and are the best value at 85p for 6. I found them a little dry but Val loved them.

Sainsbury's also look nice with a tree design and are reasonable value at £1 for 6. These scored solidly with us both.

M&S mince pies look good too with a nice fluted edge and cut-out. Also £1 for 6. These had the best pastry, nice and crumbly and soft. I liked the mincemeat flavour but Val thought it was a bit too citrussy. 

Mr Kipling's pies had very solid pastry but were also good value at £1 for 6. We both thought they were a bit dry too.

Overall they were all pretty good mince pies. I felt a bit ill after eating 4 in a row, so that's Christmas ruined now, haha! I'd thought beforehand that the mince pies would all be very similar but they were quite different with a clear favourite for us.

You can tell this is official because I used a clipboard!

Results:

Aldi - 43/50

M&S - 41/50

Sainsburys - 39/50

Mr Kipling - 30/50

So if you fancy a lovely mince pie this Christmas then we recommend Aldi. The best value and the best taste overall.

Maybe next year when I feel like eating a mince pie again, we'll review some more brands!