Mince Pie Danish Pastry (The Co-Op)

Hurrah, It's Christmas Eve!!! Before I start with the review, I just wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope you have a lovely celebration, manage to avoid killing the pesky uncle, and enjoy lots of yummy food. 

So..

I often wonder why Bert puts up with me. He's a very good egg and all my friends and family love him too. Not only has he stuck by me through thick and thin but he continues to show more faith in me than I have in myself -I have an awful lot to be grateful for. One of the many ways he supports me is through this blog; many-a-time he's persuaded me not to give it up when I've felt like it, and every evening he waits patiently for me to take photos of my treats for instagram or reviews. I think I almost took the biscuit this week though when I called him at work just before he was due to leave, and asked him to make a detour round grid-locked Hereford to find me a Danish Pastry.

That bleeding orange & cranberry Danish had rekindled my affinity towards the buttery bakery treats -damn you Waitrose!- and since then I'd spotted the ultimate festive pastry creation that I couldn't bear waiting until Christmas morning for: The Mince Pie Danish*. Well, that's not exactly accurate, for I'd seen the price sign in the Co-Op, directing me to where they should have been. I'd since popped into my local branch three times to check if they'd received any, until the manager got sick of me pestering and informed me that they wouldn't be having any more until next Christmas. Boo. 

*Lightbulb moment!* There's a bigger Co-Op the other side of town (where I found the pb&j ice cream and apple crumble doughnuts), and they might have some festive pastries left...
Poor Bert agreed to my mission, and off he pootled to the Co-Op on his way home. He was successful (even snapchatting me the below image to ensure he's got the right pastry!) but it took him an hour (instead of 10 minutes) to get back. The Mince Pie Danish had better be worth it. 

Whereas the Waitrose Danish was a snail/whirl shape, this was cushion style, complete with a generous mincemeat centre and icing drizzle. The oily residue left in the paper back indicated how much greasier this was than the Orange & Cranberry version. 

Texture wise it was softer, but also almost raw. Mary Berry would certainly not be happy with the soggy bottoms here, but I'm a bit partial to under-cooked pastry (and Yorkshire puddings for that matter). The rawness didn't stop there however, for the pastry had large unattractive lumps of suet floating about in it. This was a shame because the flavour of it was good and the combination of super-rich pastry with mincemeat could've been wonderful -after all Eccles cakes are a gift to mankind. I still enjoyed it though, but it wasn't a patch on Waitrose!

So far my experiences with the Co-Op's bakery has been distinctly unsuccessful. Have any of you had better luck? Is there anything you can recommend?

Sorry for the goose chase Bert. 

6/10 

*Yep, still loving the mince pies... 

NEW! Frangipane Mince Pies (M&S)

Are you sick of the mince pies yet? No of course not, I'm sure you've been much more sensible and waited much longer before giving into to the festive treats.

I'm obviously not either, given that this is the fifth review so far this season -and that's excluding yesterday's mince pie ice cream! I'm not sure I'll be up for the Twelfth night mince pie tradition promising of a full year's happiness come Christmas itself though (please let me know if you have the stamina after all the festive feasting and brave it)!

Of course so far we've seen the disappointing individual pie, award winning pies, chocolate orange pies and the salted caramel pies. Today marks the turn of M&S' frangipane mince pies -yes it's yet another twist on the classic! What will they think of next year? I do love a good frangipane tart, but don't buy them often as I find them too moreish and  could easily devour 2 or 3 in one sitting. I knew I'd regret not trying these mince pie versions though, so I stumped up the comparatively pricey sum of £2.50 for 6 (although they are on a 2 for £4 offer). 

"All butter shortcrust pastry cases filled with mincemeat and topped with almond frangipane and flaked almonds."

They looked much smaller than the other mince pies I've tried this year, but I knew I wouldn't mind if the taste was up to scratch. They were attractive too with their smattering of flaked almonds. Helping matters further was the combined bakewell-esque aroma mixed with the mixed spices emanating from the mincemeat within -to me the fusion was utterly enticing.

The instructions refrained to mention whether or not it was possible to heat the pies in the microwave, but the box did say "heat to eat" and informed me to bake them in the oven for 8-10 minutes (gas mark 4/180c). The wait was excruciating, especially as the pies started to fill my house with the most heavenly scent. Mmm. 

After 8 treadmill-like minutes, the wait was up and I retrieved my almond topped pie from the oven. Both the pastry and frangipane was soft and crumbly, which made it rather messy to cut into -especially as the mincemeat oozed out simultaneously. I can't mark M&S down for this though, as I can't imagine many people cut into their pies unless they're silly and photographing them.

The pastry was thin but deliciously buttery, and I imagine it would make for a good traditional lidded mince pie. The mincemeat was well spiced, whilst the currants, sultanas and raisins were plump and juicy. We've heard this story before of course with the Iceland mince pies. Could the frangipane edge the M&S offerings into the extraordinary level of Christmas scrumminess?

Yes, it did. The frangipane was sheer perfection, and complimented the mincemeat and pastry wonderfully. I was pleased to find that the almond tasted completely natural, and shone through despite the spiciness of the filling. It was moist too, which can often be the stumbling block of lesser quality and/or long life frangipanes. The trouble is, I've already mentioned how my self-control is lacking with frangipane tarts -and that I can easily eat multiple mince pies in one go- so I think I'm going to have to ask my fiance to lock these away from me!  

Bravo M&S, true ingenuity! It's another well deserved 10/10 from the premium supermarket this Christmas from me.

10/10

NEW! Specially Selected Mince Pie Ice Cream (ALDI)

This Mince Pie ice cream has been giving me the run around for weeks now. I kept seeing it pop up on instagram, but my local ALDI (which is a bit of a pain to get to from my house) has been pretty rubbish at maintaining stock of their new Christmas lines (such as their flavoured mince pies). On my third attempt, I finally got lucky, and decided to pick up both of their new festive ice creams. The other flavour -Gingerbread FYI- was reviewed yesterday by One Treat, and she gave it such high praises that I couldn't wait to get stuck in. The 480ml Christmassy Ice Cream Tubs cost £1.99 each, which isn't too bad considering Sainsbury's charge £2.85 for theirs. 

"Cream ice cream with brandy flavoured sauce, fruit conserve with brandy and biscuit pieces."

In my desperate attempt to get hold of this ice cream, I cycled across Hereford with my insulated lunch bag complete with freezer block -this was before I did the ASDA shop and was collected by my fiance. I'm explaining this because it was about 90 minutes between purchase and getting home. By the time I retrieved the ice cream from my lunch bag, the ice cream container gave slightly, and I worried that I'd ruined it. 

Opening it up a few hours later didn't seem to have damaged it in the slightest however, and I was met with a creamy coloured, easily scoopable ice cream. It wasn't as ridiculously soft as the Pizza Express Tiramisu Gelato or the likes of Carte D'Or, but my scoop gathered ice cream effortlessly, revealing some biscuit pieces and a few stray raisins. 

Just as One Treat found with the gingerbread version, the ice cream didn't melt instantly, and behaved itself long enough to survive being scooped into a waffle cone, then being photographed, before finally being enjoyed. The taste was that of super cold double cream (unsurprising considering double cream accounts for 20% of the ingredients) and it reminded me of the no-churn style ice creams that I've made in the past. A lovely warmth came from the Brandy sauce, which was eminent throughout, but occasionally popped up in stronger pockets. 

Now I've moaned before about companies giving the impression that their ice cream contains pastry *ahem Apple Tarte* when in fact they contain biscuit pieces, but I didn't even realise that this tub was devoid of real pastry until I read the description to write this post. The little chunks were certainly very sweet shortcrust pastry like, and my only query during consumption was how ALDI had managed to keep them so crispy -although I'm still baffled by this as surely biscuits should go soft when embedded in ice cream? 

My only real moan is regarding the lack of fruit pieces, after all the mince filling should be the pies raison d'être. Apparently 10% of the ice cream is the 'fruit conserve with brandy' but only 36% of that is made up of actual fruit pieces. I enjoyed the soft, plump, alcohol infused raisins and sultanas that I did find -but wasn't keen on the single hard piece of citrus peel I found in my 1/3 tub serving! 

Still, moans aside, I really enjoyed this festive ice cream from ALDI -and no I haven't got completely sick of the mince pies yet...

8/10

Sweet Mince Pie (Greggs)

I've already reviewed the winners of this years' prestigious Good Housekeeping Institute's prestigious Mince Pie taste tests, and today it's the turn of the 2015 runners up -made by Greggs. For those of you who, like me, live in non-mince-pie eating households, it's always handy to be able to buy a single pastry without committing to a whole box. Unfortunately traditional British bakeries offering freshly baked bread and cakes are somewhat on the decline, but most high streets do offer (at least one) Greggs. In fact their mince pie was the first I tried this season -before I thought sod it, and bought three 6 pack boxes to eat to myself. Hey, it's Christmas, it's traditional to be more stuffed than the Turkey throughout (November and) December, right?

"It's that time of year when you can enjoy our sweet mince pies! 
Deliciously crumbly shortcrust pastry, filled with a sweet mincemeat, made with vine fruits, Bramley apple and candied orange and lemon peel - YUM!"

This was a fairly wide and shallow mince pie, much more akin to the ones I used to make with my Grandma every year (I miss doing that so much) than most of the deeper shop bought varieties. The pastry was a light golden colour and there was a fair amount of caster sugar gracing the top. So far, so good. 

Unfortunately, the taste wasn't fantastic. At the time I wondered whether my tastes had changed (yet again) and I'd just gone off mince pies, but I've since tried Iceland's fabulous luxury versions and ALDI's wacky flavoured offerings, and realised that Greggs just haven't done a great job. The case to filling ratio was off, and the sheer amount of pastry made it rather claggy to eat. Unfortunately it wasn't buttery or shortbread-esque like Iceland's either, which made for a rather cumbersome eating experience. 

Please excuse the nibbled edges - I was eating this on the train!

The mincemeat was pretty standard, on the plus side it was quite heavily spiced but it hadn't been cooked for long enough, resulting in globs of unattractive suet permeating the filling. Humf.

Perhaps this is why the Greggs Mince Pie dropped to number 17 out of 24 in the Good Housekeeping's Taste Test this year. C'mon Greggs, more effort next year please!

5/10

Award Winning Luxury Mince Pies (Iceland)

Ok, I admit it. Despite my current marketing undergraduate status I recently  fell prey to the first trick in the book: the advert which promises that the product is the best and tastiest on the market. I was a bit dubious of the claims that Iceland have outshone both Harrods and Selfridges with their luxury mince pies however, so I undertook a spot of research. But indeed, it's true, Good Housekeeping magazine have lauded the budget frozen supermarket's festive offerings as the yummiest this year, saying that they "look for a homemade taste with an authentic yet impressive look – the fruit-to-pastry ratio is crucial and it has to have festive flair!"

That was certainly enough to persuade me to buy a pack anyway. At £1.50 for 6, they were slightly cheaper than the chocolate orange and salted caramel flavoured mince pies from ALDI, but would they be as special?

"All butter shortcrust pastry mince pies filled with a fruity mincemeat containing vine fruits and brandy."

I loved the design of them; the star on top and dusty coating of icing gave the pies a wonderfully Christmassy feel that I approved of. They also smelt good too, although they were slightly smaller than ALDI's funky versions. Slicing them in two revealed a good amount of filling, but there was still a slight gap between the mincemeat and the lid.

The pastry was every bit as delicious as i'd hoped following Good Housekeeping's recommendations. It was crumbly, rich, buttery and sweet -almost shortbread-like in it's decadence. The mincemeat was more delicate than I expected too, and I'm sure I could detect a spiced pear flavour -although I must've been imagining this as there was no mention of pears in the ingredients. Sometimes mincemeat can be on the heavy side but I didn't find this to be the case with these pies. This might not be a benefit if you're watching your weight because it means that that they are easier to eat and therefore tempting to enjoy more than just one -or is that just me?

I found that the mince pies were equally tasty at ambient temperature and warmed up in the microwave or oven. Of course I also enjoyed one with Morrisons' fresh salted caramel custard and can highly recommend that strange sounding pairing if you want to try something slightly different for dessert.

All in all, I am pleased that I was the advertising schmuck this time because Iceland really have produced some excellent mince pies, although they still don't beat the fresh ones I used to make every Christmas with my grandma -but then I don't think any ever will. They might not be as creative as ALDI's pies, but then sometimes traditional is better, don't you agree? Which supermarket do you think make the best mince pies? I'd love to know!

9/10

Christmas Muffin (Greggs)

Hurrah, another festive treat to tick off my 'wish I'd tried in 2015' list -one of the last I might add! The Greggs Christmas muffin just didn't make it to my mouth last year, but I've often wondered if it was as good as it looked. I owe a big thank you to Dan on Twitter for alerting me to their return, and of course I didn't hesitate to buy one as soon as I spotted them peering at me so longingly from behind heir £1 sign in Greggs.

"Who doesn't love cake and custard?! That's why we've combined the two for you. A mixed spice and sweet mincemeat muffin, filled with a custard style filling and topped with a fondant icing and sugar decoration."

This year the high street bakers have apparently improved the recipe, and they certainly looked the part with their rosy red wrapper and sweet gold star atop snowy white icing. The sweet festive scent also gave the impression that I was in for a treat, and I carefully carried it to uni with me so that I could enjoy it on my late evening return home.

As a side note, anyone who follows me on Twitter and saw my muffin post last night may have read about my grumpiness caused by the train being on time for once (a strange sounding complaint, but I explained why in the comment). I really hoped that appearances wouldn't let me down with this train dessert as they had in the past with the utterly disappointing apple crumble doughnut.

I went to slice my muffin in half but it totally fell apart -this is one cake not made for eating on the go! I then started to wonder what had happened to the custard that was supposed to fill the muffin. Sure there was a little pocket of it at the very bottom, but not anywhere near enough to to enjoy cake and custard together in every bite as hoped.

Not wanting to give up on the Christmas muffin before I'd tasted it, I picked up the largest chunk and dug in. The cake was wonderfully soft and the spices were mellow, reminding me of carrot cake -without the carrot of course! The flavour was delicious and I really enjoyed it, although I'd argue about whether or not it was 'mincemeat' considering that there were only two raisins (or sultanas, I can't tell the difference) in the entire muffin. As for the custard, it was the same delicious innards used in Greggs' Caramel Custard doughnut, which actually made my heart sink a little because it was so good and I JUST WANTED MORE OF IT.

I really hope that I got a bit of a duff muffin, and that others contain both more fruit and custard filling. The flavour and texture of the cake was delicious but it was ruined by the lack of proportions. That said I would like to try it warmed up with a big mug of tea. Please let me know if you've tried Greggs Christmas muffin yet and whether you've had a similar or entirely different experience!

7/10

NEW! Chocolate Orange & Salted Caramel Mince Pies (ALDI)

A few nights ago when enjoying my mince pie and fresh salted caramel custard, I was informed about some rather delicious sounding mince pies by fellow instagrammer Amy. She had tried ALDI's new salted caramel flavoured versions, and promised me that they were "amazing". I wondered whether they were the same salted caramel tarts that came out last year -as an alternative to mincemeat for the people who can't stand the dried fruit filling- but no, apparently not, they were mincemeat and salted caramel pies.

Amy also dropped the bombshell that the discount supermarket are also selling chocolate orange flavoured ones too, and that was all a I needed to hear. The very next day I cajoled Bert into taking me to our closest ALDI (on Specialbuy Sunday I might add) but the store had completely run out. Unperturbed I trekked to the branch in my uni city on Monday (yes, In that torrential rain) and eventually found both flavours, priced at £1.59 per six pack.

Admittedly I cursed Amy that afternoon for tempting me with the curious sounding mince pies, especially when I turned up to my lectures drenched through to the skin (hence the rain damaged boxes) with my big 'nuttier than a fruit cake' ALDI bag. Can you tell I'm the cool kid in class? I really hoped that the mince pies would be worth the effort, and that I'd be thanking Amy instead later...

Chocolate Orange

"All butter shortcrust pastry cases filled with an orange flavoured mincemeat, topped with a chocolate and hazelnut filling."

That very evening I tucked into the chocolate orange mince pies. I mean, I love chocolate and often forget how much I like chocolate orange, but would this be a step too far? The pack said they could be enjoyed warm or cold, so of course I tried half and half.

Slicing into the very attractive mince pie revealed an off centre smattering of chocolatey paste stuck to the inside of the lid. There wasn't as much of it going on as I hoped there would be, but the shop assistant in ALDI was glowing with positivity about the deliciousness of these pies so I hoped the chocolate would be more potent than appeared.

The first non heated half was good, but nothing to write home about. The pastry was sweet and crumbly, whilst the mincemeat was zesty and not overwhelmingly rich -but the chocolate was barely distinguishable. There was a little there, but it just felt a bit lacklustre. Humf.

Admittedly the second half was the side with the most chocolate in, and I deliberately chose to heat this side as I tend to prefer mince pies warm anyway. 10 or so seconds in the microwave later and I could see the steam emitting from the pastry.

Wowzer! This side really was chocolatey. The cocoa orange came through in full pelt, so strongly that it completely overshadowed the mincemeat. The texture of gooey chocolate and fruits however was divine, and I found myself delighting in the sheer decadence of the combination.

It's a shame that the chocolate wasn't better spread out, but I still can't wait for my next chocolate orange mince pies. I did wonder how I would get through the 18 mince pies that I've bought in the last week (to myself, Bert hates mince pies) but now I realise that there's no chance I'm giving these babies up.

9/10

Salted Caramel 

"All butter shortcrust pastry cases filled with fruity mincemeat of vine fruits and mixed peel, topped with salted caramel."

Now I realised after my concoction last week that salted caramel and mincemeat shouldn't be a feared combination, but instead heralded for it's scrummy-ness. 

Again, I decided to try half warm and half ambient, so sliced the pie in two. I soon wondered why the pastry was only half filled, and then realised that quite a bit of the caramel had bled into the casing. My head filled with thoughts of Mary Berry disgracing the soggy sides.

The ambient half was first to make it to my mouth. It was good but, as with my first experience of the chocolate flavour, a bit non-committal. The second portion suffered the same quick blast in my microwave, and I kept my fingers crossed that the same sort of taste transformation would occur. 

Sadly it didn't, and whilst the caramel offered an extra sweetness to the already rich mincemeat, it wasn't special enough to stand out. It was still delicious, and an ingenious twist on the classic, but nowhere near as mind-boggling as the chocolate orange. 

8/10

NEW! Graze Merry Mince Pie Flapjack (Tesco)

Mid October I posted a review of Cadbury's new Winterful Layers of Joy pots, and received a comment from 'Eball TheWay' which concerned not using the 'C' word until "at THE VERY EARLIEST November." I imagined that Cadbury wasn't the C word and so I've been biding my time, trying to wait as long as humanly possible (for me anyway) before publishing my first CHRISTMAS themed post. There. It's done now. I've uttered the magic words. Not that you can ignore it anyway! My local Morrisons has been stocking mince pies since August bank holiday weekend -that's not an exaggeration. August is too early -even for me- but it's Bonfire Night today, and seeing as our ASDA has a 10ft Christmas Tree in its foyer proudly displaying the number of sleeps left until the big day -only 49 FYI- it's high time to embrace the festivities!

Graze's new Mince Pie flapjack got me in something of a tizzy this week. Emma is a brilliant (non blogging) snack hunter, and posted a story onto her Instagram account a few days ago of this new treat that she found in boots.

Mince pies? Love them! Flapjacks? Love them! Graze? Love them!

Winners all round. Except, could I find them anywhere? Could I heck. Cue the daily searches (and pestering) in the local Boots, Tesco, Sainsbury's, WHSmith, ASDA, and Tesco Express. I was on a mission. After three days of non-stop hunting, I gave in yesterday and asked my sister to buy and bring me one from Cardiff (we're meeting up for lunch today, I'm not quite that obsessed).

Lo and behold! I then spotted them only an hour later in the larger out-of-town Tesco whilst looking for the new Red Velvet filled Muffins to serve as a consolation prize. Hurrah! I might've squealed a little with excitement (much to my mince pie hating fiance's bemusement).

"Rustic rolled oat flapjack with dates and festive spice."

Dates are the only fruit in the Merry Mince Pie Flapjack, which I find a little odd considering that mince pies usually contain a plethora of dried fruit including sultanas, raisins and currants as well as Bramley Apple and candied peel. Still, I hoped the 2% 'festive spice mix' would be all the Christmas I needed.

As usual, the Graze flapjack comprised of three chunks. The texture was perfect: crumbly but with just enough moisture to hold the oats together. The spices were evident both from the colour of the flapjack and strong festive scent.

Biting into the flapjack I entered mixed spice heaven. The mixed spice Schwartz shaker in my rack is well used -I just love it on baked apples and in plum porridge. The abundance of the flavours permeated through the flapjack, giving a slight Mince Pie edge. There were also some sizeable date chunks embedded within the oats, which pleasantly broke up the texture every now and then.

Whilst I enjoyed every last morsel of Graze's Merry Mince Pie Flapjack, I'm not sure that it's the most accurate representation of the traditional Christmas Pastry. It has got my cogs going however and I'm left wondering whether I could recreate a better likeness by incorporating pastry chunks and real mincemeat into a classic flapjack recipe -I shall keep you updated!

As for Graze flapjacks, lemon drizzle is still my absolute favourite (a definite 10/10) and I implore you to try it if you haven't already. 

8/10. 

Mr Kipling Winter Whirls

It's got to that time of year where I'm a little bored of the standard mince pies. Didn't I say that would happen when I reviewed Tesco's Mince Pie Cookies just over a month ago? Anyway, I've seen the Winter Whirls on the shelves for a while now and as I was visiting my sister this weekend (who's also a Christmas maniac) I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try Mr Kipling's variation on the classic festive treat. 

Winter Whirls, for anyone who hasn't seen or tried them are 'Scrummy shortcake swirls filled with rich buttercream and Christmassy mince pie-flavoured filling.' The box cost £1 from the Co-Op and contains six whirls. 

The biscuits are just as crumbly as I recall -although admittedly I can't remember the last time I bought Mr Kipling's standard Viennese Whirls. The biscuits melt in the mouth with a delicate butteriness that I remember fondly. The buttercream filling is very sweet and soft, and would probably be more enjoyable refrigerated. My gripe however was the mince pie element, which was just a mere smudge of jam flavoured with the traditional Christmas spices*.  The whirl could've benefitted from a better filling ratio, as the jam was almost completely lost against the decadent biscuits and rich buttercream. 

It's such a lovely idea, and it feels like a lovely dainty Christmas treat. It might be one for those who aren't so keen on the richness of mince pies, or who like the flavour but not the raisins! 

7/10

*I Read the ingredients later and realised that it's in fact just a spiced apple jam- how misleading...

Tesco Bakery Mince Pie Cookies

Its only 42 days to go. In 6 weeks time It'll be Christmas Eve and I shall be looking forward to watching The Snowman and eagerly anticipating the joy of watching people open their pressies! Please tell me you're excited too? If not, Bah Humbug.

By then I will probably be sick of the sight of mince pies, but at the moment they still fill me with delight. One of the festive activities I most looked forward to as a child was spending the day with my grandmother making buttery pastry cases and filling them with gooey mincement before carefully watching them turn golden brown in the oven. 

 I was overjoyed when Kev (@Kevsnackreviews) posted a picture on Instagram of Tesco's mince pie cookies. They produced them last year too, but sadly I didn't have the opportunity to try them- so I had to make sure I didn't miss out this year. 

Just to be clear: they are mincemeat filled cookies, not mincemeat flavoured cookies. They've also released 'Melting Snowman Cookies' which have white chocolate centres for anyone who is not a fan of mince pies. Each cookie is slightly smaller than the regular bakery cookies, but they each have a decent sized bulge in the middle. Unfortunately the filling had seeped through the cookies making them all somewhat sticky.

The cookie was typically sweet whilst perfectly soft and chewy. The mincemeat was delicately spiced and full of lovely plump raisins- however the combination of sugary filling and outer biscuit resulted in an overwhelmingly sickly cookie. It turns out that Granny knows best and good old shortcrust pastry is a better vehicle for mincemeat. 

I'm not sure I've made up my mind about these cookies. I like the idea, and I really want to  love them, but I think they're just too sweet for me.

6/10