So far each year, a certain housekeeping magazine seems to gain an inordinate amount of media attention with their "top 10 mince pies"... I mean, what do they know!? Literally, one sentence reviews, no evidence of how they reached their decision, have they even tried all the mince pies?? Nevertheless, they claim these Iceland Luxury mince pies are 2016's best. Well... now we have a real mince pie tester on the case, lets see how they fair (with our open, comprehensive and honest reviewing process).
Presentation - 6 / 10
The outside of this box is not "Christmassy" at all. They've gone down the Heston (and other mince pie makers) route and decided matt black equals luxury and completely bypassed that its a Christmas snack. Its so black that you almost cannot see what the mince pies on the box are sat on. At a glance it looks like mince pies floating around in space! Iceland have chosen not plaster their usual branding over the box and have opted for a more subtle silver lettering in the bottom left.
These were not going to score highly, until I opened the box...
Golden (plastic) tray! I am impressed! Something that usually gets overlooked quite quickly.
Then there is the mince pies themselves - I do certainly like the effort that's gone into the design of each mince pie, simple yet effective.
Nutritional Content & Price - 8 / 10
£1.50 for 6 is not bad considering everything is usually around £1 in Iceland.
In terms of nutrition, these have 8.3g of fat, 22g of sugar and are 230 calories a mince pie, which isnt so bad
Pastry - 25 / 35
I'm pleasantly surprised by these. I wont lie, I was expecting much from Iceland. They haven't been the top performer on the mince pie leader board since I started this. The pastry is buttery and solid. There is no soggy bottom here. A good even distribution of pastry all around. In terms of texture, they are a little stodgy when chewing as they get stuck in your teeth.
Mincemeat - 29 / 35
I almost put this into the 30's if it wasn't so sweet. There are large whole currents and sultanas, and good chunks of apple. But most of all, its filled right to the top with a good helping of mincemeat at that. You can also taste the brandy too, but its overpowered by how sweet it is. I would have liked more orange to give it more of a tangy taste but not everyone would like this.
Overall Satisfaction - 6 / 10
I might be a little bit of a food snob with some types of food (but its usually with food that I particularly like and as you might be able to tell, mince pies come pretty high on that list), so as I said earlier, I really wasn't expecting much from these mince pies. However, I am pleased to have tried them, they are a decent mince pie. If it wasn't for that housekeeping magazine, I might never have known they exist, let alone bothered to review them. Maybe that other reviewer has a use after all!
OVERALL SCORE - 74 / 100
See where this mince pie sit on our leader board here.
(Don't forget to share this review and follow us on twitter @TheMincePieBlog and on Facebook to ensure you don't miss out on new reviews.)
Presentation - 6 / 10
The outside of this box is not "Christmassy" at all. They've gone down the Heston (and other mince pie makers) route and decided matt black equals luxury and completely bypassed that its a Christmas snack. Its so black that you almost cannot see what the mince pies on the box are sat on. At a glance it looks like mince pies floating around in space! Iceland have chosen not plaster their usual branding over the box and have opted for a more subtle silver lettering in the bottom left.
These were not going to score highly, until I opened the box...
Golden (plastic) tray! I am impressed! Something that usually gets overlooked quite quickly.
Then there is the mince pies themselves - I do certainly like the effort that's gone into the design of each mince pie, simple yet effective.
£1.50 for 6 is not bad considering everything is usually around £1 in Iceland.
In terms of nutrition, these have 8.3g of fat, 22g of sugar and are 230 calories a mince pie, which isnt so bad
Pastry - 25 / 35
I'm pleasantly surprised by these. I wont lie, I was expecting much from Iceland. They haven't been the top performer on the mince pie leader board since I started this. The pastry is buttery and solid. There is no soggy bottom here. A good even distribution of pastry all around. In terms of texture, they are a little stodgy when chewing as they get stuck in your teeth.
Mincemeat - 29 / 35
I almost put this into the 30's if it wasn't so sweet. There are large whole currents and sultanas, and good chunks of apple. But most of all, its filled right to the top with a good helping of mincemeat at that. You can also taste the brandy too, but its overpowered by how sweet it is. I would have liked more orange to give it more of a tangy taste but not everyone would like this.
Overall Satisfaction - 6 / 10
I might be a little bit of a food snob with some types of food (but its usually with food that I particularly like and as you might be able to tell, mince pies come pretty high on that list), so as I said earlier, I really wasn't expecting much from these mince pies. However, I am pleased to have tried them, they are a decent mince pie. If it wasn't for that housekeeping magazine, I might never have known they exist, let alone bothered to review them. Maybe that other reviewer has a use after all!
OVERALL SCORE - 74 / 100
See where this mince pie sit on our leader board here.
(Don't forget to share this review and follow us on twitter @TheMincePieBlog and on Facebook to ensure you don't miss out on new reviews.)
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