Mr Kipling have long been a British baking powerhouse, producing a whole variety of cakes and pies since 1967. Everybody knows the name and what they do. Their mince pies were very much below average last year. Lets hope they read my blog and made some improvements this year.
Presentation - 2
Keen readers of the blog will notice that the box is almost identical to last years entry. The changes that have been made are that there is now a background of stencil Christmas trees and snow flakes while on the left side of their name we now have 3 mince pies rather than one. The eagle-eyed among us will also notice that those three mince pies to the left are all identical. They have simply copied the image of the nearest mince pie and pasted it twice behind it making the final one a little blurry to give an impression of depth.
The Mr Kipling tag line of "Exceedingly Good" has been replaced with "Exceedingly Merry". I get the play on words, but was it really because even those at Mr Kipling HQ have lost confidence in their mince pie?
The pie itself looks like a mince pie. That's it. There is nothing more than I can say. The pathetic attempt at decoration on top in the form of Christmas trees has failed. If you think it was just that one, you are incorrect, the entire box was a mess.
Nutritional Content & Price - 4
Pretty standard on the nutritional front with 253 calories, 9.6g of fat and 21.6g of sugar per pie. There is a little less sugar than last year, but a fraction more fat.
I bought these pies at £1.79 for a box of 6. I think that's quite high considering its just a Mr Kipling mince pie. I understand that we are probably paying a premium for the brand, but I think they may have overstepped the mark.
Pastry - 11
As you can see from the picture the pastry did not keep it's shape after the first bite. The base and sides of the mince pie have completely absorbed the moisture from the mincemeat, leaving a very soggy base and sides which obviously don't help support the structure. The roof of the pie is far too brittle and crumbly which (from my limited knowledge of watching the Great British Bake Off) is likely to mean that the dough wasn't worked enough. As for the taste, it is quite bland. The base and sides just taste of mincemeat and the top tastes primarily of the sugar sprinkled on the outside.
Mincemeat - 15
A pet hate with mince pies is those manufacturers calling it "deep filled" only to bite in and realise I've paid for air too. Needless to say, we were already off on the wrong foot after the first bite. As I mentioned in the pastry section, the mincemeat's moisture has been soaked up by the pastry leaving the mincemeat dry and quite thick. However, from what I did taste, it wasn't all bad. The mincemeat is not too sweet and there is a very slight zesty flavour.
Overall Satisfaction - 3
I notice I wrote a lot about the presentation above. I do feel quite aggrieved by the lack of any inventiveness or creativity with the design and presentation. The use of the same picture of a half open mince pie as last year is just lazy. Their lack of enthusiasm continues into the pie.
After eating these mince pies I do now believe the reason why the tag line was changed to "Exceedingly Merry" was to avoid any misrepresentation claims brought by myself and the general public. These mince pies are barely good, let alone exceedingly good.
Here are the scores from my fellow Mincers.
Tester 1
Presentation (4) Nutritional content & Price (3) Pastry (14) Mincemeat (11) Satisfaction Level (4)
Tester 2
Presentation (6) Nutritional content & Price (6) Pastry (22) Mincemeat (24) Satisfaction Level (6)
OVERALL
45 / 100
Look at where these fit in on our leader board.
(Don't forget to follow us on twitter @TheMincePieBlog and on Facebook)
Presentation - 2
Keen readers of the blog will notice that the box is almost identical to last years entry. The changes that have been made are that there is now a background of stencil Christmas trees and snow flakes while on the left side of their name we now have 3 mince pies rather than one. The eagle-eyed among us will also notice that those three mince pies to the left are all identical. They have simply copied the image of the nearest mince pie and pasted it twice behind it making the final one a little blurry to give an impression of depth.
The Mr Kipling tag line of "Exceedingly Good" has been replaced with "Exceedingly Merry". I get the play on words, but was it really because even those at Mr Kipling HQ have lost confidence in their mince pie?
The pie itself looks like a mince pie. That's it. There is nothing more than I can say. The pathetic attempt at decoration on top in the form of Christmas trees has failed. If you think it was just that one, you are incorrect, the entire box was a mess.
Nutritional Content & Price - 4
Pretty standard on the nutritional front with 253 calories, 9.6g of fat and 21.6g of sugar per pie. There is a little less sugar than last year, but a fraction more fat.
I bought these pies at £1.79 for a box of 6. I think that's quite high considering its just a Mr Kipling mince pie. I understand that we are probably paying a premium for the brand, but I think they may have overstepped the mark.
Pastry - 11
As you can see from the picture the pastry did not keep it's shape after the first bite. The base and sides of the mince pie have completely absorbed the moisture from the mincemeat, leaving a very soggy base and sides which obviously don't help support the structure. The roof of the pie is far too brittle and crumbly which (from my limited knowledge of watching the Great British Bake Off) is likely to mean that the dough wasn't worked enough. As for the taste, it is quite bland. The base and sides just taste of mincemeat and the top tastes primarily of the sugar sprinkled on the outside.
Mincemeat - 15
A pet hate with mince pies is those manufacturers calling it "deep filled" only to bite in and realise I've paid for air too. Needless to say, we were already off on the wrong foot after the first bite. As I mentioned in the pastry section, the mincemeat's moisture has been soaked up by the pastry leaving the mincemeat dry and quite thick. However, from what I did taste, it wasn't all bad. The mincemeat is not too sweet and there is a very slight zesty flavour.
Overall Satisfaction - 3
I notice I wrote a lot about the presentation above. I do feel quite aggrieved by the lack of any inventiveness or creativity with the design and presentation. The use of the same picture of a half open mince pie as last year is just lazy. Their lack of enthusiasm continues into the pie.
After eating these mince pies I do now believe the reason why the tag line was changed to "Exceedingly Merry" was to avoid any misrepresentation claims brought by myself and the general public. These mince pies are barely good, let alone exceedingly good.
Here are the scores from my fellow Mincers.
Tester 1
Presentation (4) Nutritional content & Price (3) Pastry (14) Mincemeat (11) Satisfaction Level (4)
Tester 2
Presentation (6) Nutritional content & Price (6) Pastry (22) Mincemeat (24) Satisfaction Level (6)
"Nice but average. Probably wouldn't buy. Cheaper, tastier pies available."
OVERALL
45 / 100
Look at where these fit in on our leader board.
(Don't forget to follow us on twitter @TheMincePieBlog and on Facebook)
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