Waitrose All Butter Mince Pies

'Waitrose All Butter Mince Pies'

Hello again fellow pie lovers / stalkers. I'd just like to say a big thanks for those of you out there reading my reviews, hoping once day, to come across the perfect pie. The quest is far from over!

Vendor: Waitrose
Price: £2.50

Pack size: 6

First impression: Waitrose, as we all know, has amazing goodies on offer. Christmas is no exception. Picking up these pies (at £2.50) felt amazing. I had got a few other treats in my basket, but these were the most important. No imagery outside of the box, however, once inside I was not disappointed. These pies looked amazing! -1 point for the Granulated sugar though! Grrr! (4/5) 


Pastry: It was all going well until....! Now it tastes great (how can pastry taste good, I hear your ask) I don't know how to describe what I mean, it does taste buttery and of good quality. But the texture was Jank! Once in my mouth it just seemed to be biscuit like and hard. The top of the pie was more like a disc of shortbread. I had high hopes but there were smashed by an uncomfortable eating experience. (1.5/5)

Filling: There is light at the end of the tunnel. This mincemeat tasted blooming marvellous. Loads of bursts of currents, raisins, cherries, sultanas with hints of apricot, balanced with the right amount of citrus and spice. And best of all... BRANDY! If only you could have seen my face. I actually ended up eating 3 pies in one go. Now that's a first!  My only issue is that there was quite a large gap between the filling and the pie lid... for £2.50 I expected it to be FULL to the brim of this lush mince meat. Oh well, thats about as good as it gets I suppose.   (4.5/5)


Rating overall: Upper-tier level of pies here. If you frequent Waitrose be sure to pick up a pack. If not... there's a pie for you out there somewhere!

Total score (11 / 15) 

Tesco Lattice Top Mince Pies

'Tesco Lattice Top Mince Pies'

They should make this Blog in a TV series. Matthew Slack on Pies. Seems like the kinda thing Channel 4 would pick up. If you're a C4 Producer HMU. I'd like to take my talk of pies to the nation!

Here be another review then. This time with a little beat of heat! Read on... #SlacksPieReviews

Vendor:Tescos
Price: On offer currently for £1

Pack size: 6

First impression: Now then. The more eager eyed (or Mince Pie mega-fans) amoung you might remember I reviewed the 'Tesco Iced Top Mince Pies' not that long ago. They were also on the same £1 offer as these lattice toped pies (also same box) so I thought I'd give them a whirl. Very pretty pies I must say. One to serve to the in-laws on Christmas Day methinks.   (4/5)


Pastry: Now then. These pies are actually EXACTLY THE SAME as their Ice Topped brothers & sisters, just without the fondant. As you can see by my universal pie measurement system above, the pies were again quite small. The pastry was OK again, probably a tad better as I had actually heated these pies up (yes you read that correctly) as explained in FILLING below.  (3.5/5) 

Filling: Cont. There was a little tip on the box of these pies that prompted you to heat them up for a "warm treat". It is getting colder out so I followed the heating instructions to see what all the fuss was about. 10 seconds on 900w later... PING! Now the mincemeat was the exact same recipe as the iced top pies, so the overall ingredients were still there. Heating it up did invigorate the sugars and did dull out the cirrus slightly. It was quite pleasant actually but was again very sweet & mushy as a result of it's time in the science oven.  (2.5/5)


Rating overall: Cheap pies that look a lot more expensive than they are. Nice warmed up, but I'd just eat them cold. Still only a quid though so if you're looking for feed a crowd, get a few of these!

Total score (10 / 15) 

Iceland Luxury Mince Pies

'Iceland Luxury 6 Mince Pies'

Hello again. Welcome to what is now my 24th Mince Pie of the season. December is fast approaching and I need to get my present shopping done. If anyone would like to know what to get me for Christmas, I quite like Mince Pies. Lets get on with it then!

Vendor: Iceland
Price: £1.86

Pack size: 6

First impression: These are the 'most expensive' pies I have purchased so far. At £1.86 per box (or 32p per pie) and branded 'Luxury', was I about to find out why DO mums go to Iceland? I must say I was very impressed with the golden foil tray (see below) and would definitely serve them out to guests round during the holidays. Nice touch. The pies themselves were actually quite big (as you can see a few photos down using the international pie measurement system) and they were dusted with POWDERED SUGAR! More on this later. (4.5/5) 


Pastry: Now then. I must explain that I am a firm believer that Mince Pies should be dusted with powdered/icing sugar and NOT caster or granulated. There are two reasons for this 1) The texture of corse ground sugar is not nice and has not placed atop a pie. 2) Aesthetically, icing sugar looks more like snow. The pastry itself was OK, nothing to rave about. It was firm in texture and once in my gob turned quite dusty in the mouth. Kudos on the sugar, though  (2/5) 

Filling: Another thing which I love is Brandy. I also love when Brandy is in stuff. Like Mince Pies. These Pies (according to the packet) contain Brandy. Excellent I think to myself. Taking the first bite into the mincemeat and my face lit up like Christmas (lol) the immediate aroma and tang of the citrus and spice was delightful. I found the filling to be plentiful and very good ratio to that of the pastry. However, there was a weird aftertaste that I couldn't quite pinpoint (after 3 pies) I can only assume that it was the 'brandy' (or brandy flavouring) in question used here. I wont let this distract too much, but when you a gulping tea to take the taste away... (2.5/5)


Rating overall: An attractive pie with promise. Maybe I am just picky. Deffo get these out and share them with your family (so you don't have to eat them all solo) Iceland, no disrespect fam. It's not me, its you. x

Total score (9/ 15) 

Tesco Iced Top Mince Pies

'Tesco Iced Top Mince Pies'

I'm going to tackle this issue head on. There is great debate amongst the Mince Pie community regarding whether or not icing on top of pies should be allowed. Some Mince Pie purists scorn the idea of having frosting atop their beloved treats. Now contrary to what you may think, I am not a religious mince pie purist! ITS 2017 PEOPLE! WAKE UP! I am a firm preacher that we should all #MakePiesGreatAgain by not building walls.... we should be eating pies! Rant over.

Onwards to the most important part of my quest. Eating dat pie.

Vendor:Tescos
Price: On offer currently for £1

Pack size: 6

First impression: These pies were brought to my attention on a very attractive POS (point of sale) in Tescos during my shopping trip.  For £1 for a box of 6, one cannot go wrong. "I MUST GET THESE PIES" I though to myself, as I forgot what I actually came shopping for... Lovely box followed by a lovely reveal once I got into the pies. One or two had been bashed a bit, but I suspect that was my own doing as I am very poor at bag packing. (4/5) 


Pastry: As you can see by my universal pie measurement system above, the pies were quite small. I'd call them snack size. Total weight fo 57g per pie. The pastry was alright actually, every crumbly indeed (note to self: don't eat over your laptop) and did break up a fair bit once a bite had been taken. Tasted great though and there was a good amount of it considering the size of the pie.  (3/5) 

Filling: Now then. After a long ponder (and 3 pies) to decided if I should add and extra section for the topping. I decided to include it here in the filling. Now, the icing was great. It added just the right level of sweetness and its smooth skill texture worked well with the crumbly texture of the pastry. However, the filling (or lack of it) seemed to get lost underneath the cornucopia of icing. The mincemeat I did get to taste was pretty good. Definite hit of mixed peel and plenty citrus burst that cut through the icing. Not much fruit (I like mine chunky) I NEED MORE FRUIT!  (2.5/5)


Rating overall: If you are a mince pie purist, stay away! If you are normal, get these pies. They are pretty dammnn good. Went very well with a cuppa cha. Grab them while they're only £1!

Total score (10.5 / 15) 

Gluten Free Mince Pies

'We Love Cake' Gluten Free Mince Pies

November is finally here... which means its practically Christmas! Now that Halloween has been and gone, retailers turn their focus off of spook and onto Santa. Christmas for me means: FOOD. Christmas dinner, Christmas Bake... AND MINCE PIES!

So without further-ado, here is the the first of this years #SlacksPieReviews

Vendor: We Love Cake [available in most shops]

Price: £1.79

Pack size: 4

First impression: Cute box. Packaging isn't very 'Christmassy'. Tells you exactly what it is... Gluten Free AND suitable for Veggies and Vegans. Pies were small (see measurement in picture below) with a net weight of 55g per pie. (2/5)


Pastry: I went into this knowing fine well that because of it's gluten-free credentials, I was not going to be in for the crumbly, buttery, flakey pastry that one has become so accustom too. Upon scoffing the pie my worst fears were realised. The pastry was indeed dry and almost biscuit like. It was almost stale and had a very chalky texture. The caster sugar onto just about made it bearable. (0.5/5)

Filling: Hoping to not judge a pie by it's skin, I sunk into the mincemeat. I really hoped that the filling would save the pie and add some much needed moisture onto my palate. Oh how I was wrong. Don't get me wrong it wasn't a dry filling... but it wasn't wet either. It was just there. The fruit was chewy and the filling was overly sweet. I don't need this much sugar, im sweet enough already! Not a big fan of the favour either, no real presence of spices. (1/5)


Rating overall: If you are a gluten free vegan, these are the pies for you. If you're not, they're not the pies for you.

Total score (3.5/15)

Return of the Pies

The Return... of Slack's Pie Reviews

That's right folks, we're back! 

You may have noticed whilst pursuing your local shop, you may have noticed (among all the Halloween paraphernalia) that sweet mince pies are creeping onto the selves! 

THIS MAKES ME VERY HAPPY INDEED.

Once again, Sweet mince pies will be eaten in the hope to find the perfect pie. The pies will be subject to a complex rating system. 

Vendor: 

Price: 

Pack size:

Each of the following is worth 5 points, with a total of 15 up for grabs

First impression:

Pastry:

Filling: 

Rating overall: 

Tis the season to SCOFF PIES! alalala, Lala, la la! 

Keep up to date:

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