Mince pies:
Gateaux eight rich fruit mince pies
€1.99 for 390g; €5.10 per kg
Highs: These small pies are certainly the cheap alternative. They are Irish-made and widely available. We also liked the serving illustration on the box which seemed to suggest that a Christmas bauble dusted with sugar should be included on the plate when passing them around at your party, something PriceWatch would never have thought of.
Lows: There was no mention of butter anywhere on the extensive ingredient list and its absence from the pastry, which is both dry and stodgy, is all too apparent. But the worst thing about these mince pies is the mincemeat. The fruit is incredibly sweet and has an unpleasant lingering aftertaste which will have you reaching for the mulled wine with indecent haste .
Verdict: Cheap but a bit horrible
Star rating: **
Miller's six luxury mince pies
€4.50 for 300g; €15 per kg
Highs: These very fancy artisan pies were sourced at the craft fair in the RDS, but they are also available at some farmers' markets around the country. At said stalls they can be bought individually should you find yourself in urgent need of sugary sustenance. The pastry has a nice lightness about it and, when broken open, the fruit smells fantastic. As you might expect of a well-made mince pie, these taste of Christmas, with sugar, spices and fruit lingering long on the palate.
Lows: They might be hard for most to find and if you do manage to track them down they should be eaten with care. While the pastry might be nice and light, it is also prone to disintegrating in your hands so take care. They're a bit too dear too.
Verdict: Dear but lovely
Star rating: ***
Tesco Finest six mince pies
€3.39 for 390g; €8.69 per kg
Highs: Unheated, these pies are pale and uninteresting, but when warmed up and cracked open they really come into their own. They smell great - boozy and fruity with a nice citrusy tang, and the pastry tastes nice and buttery (and well it might, since it's made with 15 per cent butter).
Lows: These pies contain "vine fruits and cherries", the box breathlessly informs us. Giddy with expectation, we turn to the ingredient list to see just what class of exotic vine fruits Tesco is talking about. Sultanas and glace cherries, exactly the same kind of fruit you get in every other mince pie known to man, except no one else feels the need to bang on about it. The filling is a bit gloopy so take care when taking a bite out of it if you've got your best party frock on.
Verdict: Nice but in love with itself
Star rating: ***
Avoca six mince pies
€6.50 for 600g; €10.83 per kg
Highs: These are the absolute business. The individual pies are substantially bigger than the competition. They are light(ish) in texture and the fruit is gorgeous. The light dusting of icing sugar looks like a pleasingly snow-capped pie but doesn't render the end product excessively sweet. They smell fantastic when heated and are nicely irregular in shape. You could almost pass them off as your own, but you'd want to be a pretty good cook - otherwise no one will believe you could possibly whip up something as good as this.
Lows: They might be too nice (and too expensive) to waste on your friends and family at a festive get-together, so could foster a mean streak in you that will be at odds with the season of goodwill.
Verdict: Great, and no buts
Star rating:****
Marks & Spencer Classic Recipe six deep filled mince pies
€2.49 for 330g; €7.54 per kg
Highs: We like an informative box, so we do. This one helpfully provides us with a potted history of the mince pie, the first record of which dates back to 1413 when one was served to Henry V. That was probably not as refined and certainly not as fruity as the one which was served to PriceWatch last weekend. The fruit is nice and moist and retains some of its shape. The pastry is also nice and crumbly.
Lows: They are quite small and not so widely available. They are also a bit too sweet and you have to wonder why M&S bothered with the dusting of sugar on top of the pies.
Verdict: Fruity but sugary
Star rating:***
