Best Luxury Mince Pie Taste Test 2018

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How the best luxury mince pie taste test worked

Six members of the olive team conducted a blind taste test to find the most flavoursome luxury mince pies. We tasted eight mince pies from various brands. The group choose two joint winners, a runner-up and the best alternative mince pie. We then listed other mince pies that we tried.

The results for the best mince pie taste test

Joint winners

Betty’s

About the mince pies: All-butter pastry filled with a mincemeat made from vine fruits, golden cherries, almonds, stem ginger and spices, all soaked in sherry.

Comments: These were the most traditional mince pies, with a juicy, gently-spiced mincemeat and good ratio of filling to crisp pastry. We loved the decorative finish.

Price: £10 for a box of 12, bettys.co.uk

Hobbs House Bakery

About the mince pies: Hobbs House Bakery have been making mince pies for over 30 years, and these ones are filled with mincemeat, currants, citrus peel and mixed spice.

Comments: These mince pies had a crunchy, shortbread-style pastry case with a plump, juicy fruit filling and pleasant citrus notes.

Price: £5.25 for a box of 6, hobbshousebakery.co.uk

Runner-up

Dunn’s Bakery

About the mince pies: Dunn’s bakery have been baking in Crouch End since 1820. These mince pies have a shortcrust pastry and a sweet mincemeat filling, using a recipe that has been passed down through the generations.

Comments: These are perfect for those with a sweet tooth as they have a sugar coating. While these mince pies didn’t have very well-defined layers, we liked the spice and citrus notes of the mincemeat.

Price: £1 per mince pie, dunns-bakery.co.uk (in-store only)

Best alternative mince pie

Brick House

About the mince pies: A mince pie/eccles cake hybrid made with flaky butter pastry and a currant-based filling spiced with allspice, nutmeg, orange zest and rum.

Comments: This isn’t your traditional mince pie, however if you’re looking for an alternative it’s a good option, with crisp puff pastry encasing a rich, Christmas pudding-style filling.

Price: £2 each, or £7.50 for a box of 4, brickhousebread.com (in-store only)

Brick House Bread mince pies — Credit: Joe Woodhouse

Other mince pies we tried

Selfridges

About the mince pies: These mince pies are filled with sticky fruits, candied peel, spices, brandy and have an almond topping with orange marmalade.

Comments: These mince pies were a little too sweet, with a crumbly pastry and mushy filling.

Price: £9.99 for a box of 6, selfridges.com

Selfridges selection traditional mince pies

Riverford

About the mince pies: Organic mince pies filled with apple, vine fruits, spices, candied peel, flaked almonds and a splash of brandy.

Comments: We found the pastry to be a little claggy on these mince pies and the filling had a strong spice.

Price: £5.25 for a box of 6, riverford.co.uk

Daylesford

About the mince pies: These organic shortcrust pastry mince pies are filled with a mincemeat made with apples, raisins, sultanas, crystallised gingers, currants, flaked almonds and citrus peel.

Comments: The pastry on these mince pies was very soggy.

Price: £7.99 for a box of 6, daylesford.com

Abel and Cole

About the mince pies: Made by the Authentic Bread Company is Gloucestershire, these mince pies have a mincemeat filling made with apples, dried fruits, cognac, almonds, mixed spice and the zest and juice of oranges and lemons.

Comments: The pastry for these mince pies was dusty and crumbled in the hand resulting in a dry texture overall.

Price: £5.75 for a box of 4, abelandcole.co.uk