Today's contender for the 2018 Best Christmas Mince Pie is... 

🎉  🎊  PRET A MANGER   🎊  🎉   ( £1.40 EACH ! ) 

Damn this is a good mince pie. 

Pastry: It's so buttery! and a new approach here with a paper case. It's a tall fella and the paper has protected the pastry well. It's got a great colour, consistency is brilliant, holds together 'OK'. Sadly though, there was a huge shower of crumbs caused by the peeling process! Not a fan.

Filling: The filling is generous, slightly bursting out but it's baked down into a set jam. Not much booze but there is a bit of a zesty tang in it's place which work great. No wait...there's the booze. It's moist, the fruit in the mix is soft and there's a nice variety of flavour all in one bite. 

Presentation: There's no disputing that it's impressive, the thing looks like a frosted winter scene! It didn't separate easily, it's crumbly and I had a pretty serious case of sticky fingers! Bit of a mission to eat but it's worth it.

Summary: Sorry Greggs. You're fired!

Current Leaders

1st: M&S - Collection 

2nd: Pret A Manger

3rd: ASDA - Extra Special

Independants

1st: The Nightingale Patisserie

Monday / Wednesday / Friday!

Adam Cooke

Photographer / Pie Tester

Today's contender for the 2018 Best Christmas Mince Pie is... 

🎉  🎊  The Nightingale Patisserie    🎊  🎉   ( £1.20 EACH! ) 

Pastry: Quite delicate and thicccck! Not a bad thing in this case though since there's a healthy portion of filling to balance it out. Brilliant colour and homely roughness really make for a heartwarming look.

Filling: Very good! Not hugely boozy but the consistency is spot on...whole fruits bound together with jammy goodness that's spiced really well. There's some leaking but it's all self contained, no sticky fingers!

Presentation: There's no getting away from the fact that they're a bit rough around the edges with the knocked pastry, leaky filling AND an uneven application of powdered sugar (though this is much preferred in place of a caster sugar top). Hear me out though because in this case I don't think it's a negative! 

These pies struck a different chord with me. They remind me of home! Yes M&S will knock your socks off, yes ASDA deserve the high praise and of course Greggs are great (that's if you can find any left). What's tough is that these surprisingly expensive little pies are pretty close to what my Mum would make and it's hard to put a price on something which makes you feel warm and fuzzy. I can't recommend a trip all the way to Clapham South for you to buy some of these pies but if you're in the area...you're in for a treat.

Summary: Caught me off guard.

Current Leaders

1st: M&S - Collection 

2nd: ASDA - Extra Special

3rd: Greggs - Standard

Independants

1st: The Nightingale Patisserie 

Monday / Wednesday / Friday!

Adam Cooke

Photographer / Pie Tester

Today's pitiful entries for the 2018 Best Christmas Mince Pie are... 

🎉  🎊 CO-OP  +  PERCY INGLES 🎊  🎉   ( Not worth mentioning... ) 

Percy Ingles on the left + Co-Op on the right.

They're both quite poor. Crumbly, dry and minimal filling which somehow leaked out. Percy's tried to compensate with a heavily sugared top which only dried it out further - it's overbaked, just bin the lot. It's all rather upsetting, especially since Percy Ingles hold a dear place in my heart with their incredible Iced Ring Donuts.

Did we peak too soon? This is a desperate appeal to you all...have you had a decent pie that could rival Marks, ASDA and Greggs? This is a sad day for pies everywhere.

Hopefully something better on Wednesday!

Current Leaders

1st: M&S - Collection

2nd: ASDA - Extra Special

3rd: Greggs - Standard

Monday / Wednesday / Friday!

Adam Cooke

Photographer / Pie Tester