Durban - Mince pies, those Christmas treats of sweet fruit mince and pastry, are on the shelves of every supermarket, but which ones to choose?
Our readers need guidance. That’s why each year we hold a blind tasting, and pick the top three.
On our judging panel this year were:
* 5FM DJ Nicole da Silva
* Stephen Billingham, president of the South African Chefs Association
* Trice Mazwai, director of Organic Health Events
* Nompumelelo Mqwebu, food writer and head chef at Africa Meets Europe Cuisine.
There were six fruit mince pies for the panel to taste. The packaging was removed so judges were not aware of which brand they were judging. Then the pies were slightly warmed.
The panel were asked to rate them according to appearance, ratio of pastry to filling, taste and value for money.
The judges took to the task with enthusiasm, and each pie was carefully assessed. In the end, the Woolworths pies came out tops. In second place were the pies from Checkers, while the pies from Food Lovers Market came in third.
WOOLWORTHS FRUIT MINCE PIES – R27.95
Stephen: I like the fact that they are not in foil containers as it means less waste. It also has a pleasant taste.
Nicole: The pastry is not too thick and the ratio of the filling is good.
Trice: The pie has a lovely golden-brown colour, and the taste and quantity of the filling are good.
Mpume: Not quite the taste I am looking for in a Christmas mince pie, but the pastry/filling ratio is good.
CHECKERS FRUIT MINCE PIES – R19.99
Stephen: This pie takes me back to my childhood and I like the light sweet pastry. The pie tastes homemade.
Nicole: Very well priced and good value for money. The pastry is quite salty.
Trice: I loved the flavour of the filling, and although the top was uneven, this was all round a good pie.
Mpume: Found the filling a touch too salty which detracted from the flavour.
FOOD LOVERS MARKET LUXURY MINCE PIES – R32.99
Stephen: The pastry star on top is not traditional but the taste is good.
Nicole: I love the star pastry lid; it looks appealing. I like the fact that the pie didn’t disintegrate when I bit into it.
Trice : Very tasty pastry but I found the filling a little too sweet.
Mpume: I like the pastry star lid but found the filling a little too sweet, with no hint of citrus, which one expects in a mince pie.
SPAR FRUIT MINCE PIES – R29.99
Stephen: Pastry too pale and very crumbly; looks under-baked. Filling has a good flavour.
Nicole: Pastry very pale but the filling inside was very generous and had a nice citrus flavour.
Trice: The filling had a wonderful citrus flavour and, although the pastry looked under-baked, it had a balanced taste.
Mpume: Pastry too pale but the filling was generous and very tasty.
PICK N PAY DEEP FILLED FRUIT MINCE PIES – R25.99
Stephen: Pastry shell too thick and the filling tasted over-baked and was sticky.
Nicole: Pastry far too thick and the filling was more like jam than fruit mince.
Trice: I found the pastry unpleasant and the filling had a strange aftertaste.
Mpume: I didn’t enjoy this pie. The pastry was too thick and had a salty taste and the filling wasn’t pleasant.
GAME MARKETSIDE CHRISTMAS FRUIT MINCE PIES – R28.90
Stephen: The pastry base was too thin and the filling had an unpleasant aftertaste.
Nicole: Pastry quite salty and crumbly, and the filling looked and tasted overcooked.
Trice: Pastry was oily and it was difficult to identify ingredients like raisins in the filling.
Mpume: This pie had a very unpleasant aftertaste.
MAKE YOUR OWN
ALMOND FRUIT MINCE PIES
PASTRY
500ml flour
60ml castor sugar
150g butter, cubed
1 egg, beaten
ice water to mix
FILLING
400g jar of fruit mince
ALMOND TOPPING
150g butter
150g castor sugar
2 eggs
200g ground almonds
60ml flour
5ml almond extract
glacé icing to decorate
PASTRY: Put the flour, castor sugar and butter into a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
While pulsing the machine, add the egg and enough ice water to form a dough.
Take care not to over-mix.
Knead the dough lightly on a floured surface until smooth.
Wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll out the dough on a floured surface and cut out 8-10cm discs to line your patty pans.
Put spoonfuls of fruit mince mixture into the pastry and spread with the almond topping.
Bake at 180°C for 20-30 minutes until golden brown. Remove and cool.Drizzle with glacé icing.
ALMOND TOPPING: Put the butter and sugar into a processor and cream until well blended.
Add the eggs and mix well. Add the almonds, flour and almond extract and pulse to combine. Spread spoonfuls on top of the fruit mince mixture. Makes 36.
* The Angela Day cookery column is published in The Star, the Cape Argus, the Daily News and the Pretoria News.