My sister was originally sent on a mission to bring back some of Waitrose's own mince pies, but when she also brought back the Heston Blumenthal mince pies, these were set aside. They are now back, but will they be overshadowed by its more famous step-brother?
The Facts
Very few mince pie makers are confident enough to stick a window through the box so you can see the very mince pies you will be eating. I hope Waitrose are as confident of their pie as they are of their presentation. The box says these are "Individual all butter mince pies with rich mincemeat filling containing apricot, glacé cherries, almonds and brandy". This is another average pie on the nutritional front; 238 calories, 23.4g of sugar, 8.9g of fat per pie.
First Impressions
They look awfully dull if you ask me. Even their over-protected tray, (where each mince pie is entirely secluded from each other in their own little section) is brown in colour. I think Waitrose have gone for the modern minimalist Christmas style with just a frilly edge to the pie and nothing on top. Leaving a clean surface with a light sprinkling of very fine sugar granules.
This looks like a decent sized mince pie and they all look well filled and well cooked all around. It was so well filled that it even took some effort getting them out of the foil cups; it was like there was a vacuum in there.
The Bite
If you like a lot of butter in your pie, join whatever club this pie is a member of! The box says that 15% of the pie is butter and you can certainly taste it. However, despite the large amount of butter the pastry has a good crunch to it and it would crumble in your mouth. It does seem to have a thick pastry lining, but there is also a large amount of filling to balance it out. In fact, the box says there is an exactly even split of pastry and mincemeat.
The Facts
Very few mince pie makers are confident enough to stick a window through the box so you can see the very mince pies you will be eating. I hope Waitrose are as confident of their pie as they are of their presentation. The box says these are "Individual all butter mince pies with rich mincemeat filling containing apricot, glacé cherries, almonds and brandy". This is another average pie on the nutritional front; 238 calories, 23.4g of sugar, 8.9g of fat per pie.
First Impressions
They look awfully dull if you ask me. Even their over-protected tray, (where each mince pie is entirely secluded from each other in their own little section) is brown in colour. I think Waitrose have gone for the modern minimalist Christmas style with just a frilly edge to the pie and nothing on top. Leaving a clean surface with a light sprinkling of very fine sugar granules.
This looks like a decent sized mince pie and they all look well filled and well cooked all around. It was so well filled that it even took some effort getting them out of the foil cups; it was like there was a vacuum in there.
The Bite
If you like a lot of butter in your pie, join whatever club this pie is a member of! The box says that 15% of the pie is butter and you can certainly taste it. However, despite the large amount of butter the pastry has a good crunch to it and it would crumble in your mouth. It does seem to have a thick pastry lining, but there is also a large amount of filling to balance it out. In fact, the box says there is an exactly even split of pastry and mincemeat.
The mincemeat is not bad. There is plenty of whole fruit, although I could only taste the raisins, currants and sultanas. I unfortunately could not taste the apricot, glacé cherries and almonds,
but then again, my palate is not as refined as the professionals. I could, however, taste the brandy. There is fortunately not lashings of it like most up-market brands will do to make their pie posh, but enough so after a couple of these, you get a little of that brandy warmth in you. The mincemeat was also a tad on the sweeter side for me.
Overall
Waitrose have neither excelled my expectations nor dropped below them. This is a solid mince pie, which is what I expected. A nice good size, decent filling and tastes great cold or warm. It would not be shunned on any dessert tray, just not the talking point. There is not much else I can say about this mince pie.
"Nobody puts a Waitrose pie in the corner"
3.9 / 5
If you have tried this mince pie, please share your thoughts with me in the comments below.
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