an annual review of mince pies that i buy locally in east london to accompany my lunch at the workshop.
all mince pies are eaten cold, as found.
Above: Albion (the albion cafe) £2.00 each.
the most expensive and best looking mince pie in my selection yet very disappointing to taste. a real let-down as everything else from the Albion is normally fantastic. a design classic like your gran used to make. great deep-filled appearance but the pastry is too thin, filling too meaty. needs to be eaten warm with custard.
Anderson's Bakery, Hoxton Street 3 for £1.00.
rather dry and stingy with the filling, i much prefer the Anderson's mince puff-pastry pies but they are better warm. i like the homemade look, you could pass these off as your own if you bake them a little longer.
Beigel Bake, Brick Lane 50p each.
loads of sugar, loads of butter, slightly crispy pastry with moist filling,
rather flat but solid shape. great all-rounder at a fair price.
Greggs, Hoxton Street. 6 for £1.20.
very sweet moist generous filling and weak pastry that crumbles in your fingers as you try to eat it.
the only mince pie in my list that has a dusting of icing-sugar. good contrast between outer case and inner filling, cheap and tasty.
Sainsbury's in-store bakery, 4 of £1.00.
i only include a major supermarket mince pie as it used to be my favourite, but in recent years the ingredients and baking process of the 'in-store' mince pie has changed. the appearance is not great as it has the slightly 'rippled' texture to the top, a tell tale sign of a mass-produced mince pie with no human love in the creation.
and the winner is...
1. Beigel Bake
2. Greggs
3. Sainsbury's
4. Anderson's
5. Albion
i had hoped to feature 50+ of my favourite mince pies in detail but with time running short, sadly this is not going to happen this year. please email me or send your mince-pies to me to review next year, thank you.
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