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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: The best mince pie anyone can buy
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balaam
Making an ass of myself
# 4543
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Posted
quote:
Belle Ringer
What's the alcohol percentage of standard cider? I have some "hard cider" from the beer section of the grocery, it's 3.2. That doesn't sound boozy enough to be a good preservative or get people interested in the booze aspect of mince pie.
That's right, Belle, it is about half the strength you'd expect from a decent English cider.
As for the mince pies, Marks and Spencer All Butter Mince Pies are good. A nice balance between filling and pastry, and you can taste the butter in the filling. A bit too much sugar on top for me, but that's quibbling. Eat with thick double cream.
[quote added for top of page]
[ 16. December 2012, 14:11: Message edited by: balaam ]
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Posts: 9049 | From: Hen Ogledd | Registered: May 2003
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
My favourite Somerset cider is 8.2. But homemade farmhouse cider is much stronger - the names eg. Gut Rot, Tractor Juice, Cripplecock give an indication as to their strength.
I bought two types of mincemeat this year - one laced with cider and brandy, the other with rum, brandy and tonic wine. Both taste gorgeous!
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Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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balaam
Making an ass of myself
# 4543
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Posted
anything above 7.5% has higher duty (Customs and Excise think it's wine) so we don't often see it in the grim North.
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Posts: 9049 | From: Hen Ogledd | Registered: May 2003
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
What's the alcohol percentage of standard cider? I have some "hard cider" from the beer section of the grocery, it's 3.2. That doesn't sound boozy enough to be a good preservative or get people interested in the booze aspect of mince pie.
About 4.5 to 7.
I like sparkling cider myself. It makes a lovely refreshing drink. I discovered Wychwood's Green Goblin a couple of Halloweens ago, which is very drinkable; and should explore more. The best I ever had was something I bought at a farmers' market which came from Hereford, and I can't remember the name.
I've never taken to still cider. Most of the still ciders I've had have tasted flat and sour, and some of it's a headache in a glass - you don't always realize quite how potent it can be.
Erm, anyway, mince pies - I agree about the M&S All Butter ones, delicious. Yet every year I fall for Other Supermarket's Own Puff Pastry ones, and am always disappointed.
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
Having now extensively road-tested Sainsbury's orange and cranberry, I can recommend them as distinctly uncloying. I also like that they have a nut/ crumble topping rather than pastry.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by balaam:
Eat with thick double cream.
Ah, I'd eat anything that came with double cream! But I doubt that is sold in USA. I can't even find real cream, it's all got carageenan in it. One person said that's because they process cream in a way that makes it no longer whip, so they have to add a gelling agent.
Hard to get real food in USA, even "fresh foods" are often processed, sprayed, de-germed, etc, in ways that are not necessarily healthy, but improve profits for the food industry by extending shelf life.
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
Some mincemeat recipes call for "ground mixed spice." Is that a standard mixture (if so, of what?) or does it just mean "cinnamon with some nutmeg and clove?"
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
My favourite Somerset cider is 8.2. But homemade farmhouse cider is much stronger - the names eg. Gut Rot, Tractor Juice, Cripplecock give an indication as to their strength.
Names? What's with fancy names for farmhouse cider? My favourite cider producer (apart from my brother's annual crop, which is a seriously dry cider) makes two varieties: sweet (which is about medium-dry) and dry, than which there is none drier.
As for strength it is between 4.5% and 8%. I believe it is at the low end when the Excise man cometh.
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
Some mincemeat recipes call for "ground mixed spice." Is that a standard mixture (if so, of what?) or does it just mean "cinnamon with some nutmeg and clove?"
Here is one link, which refers to your "Pumpkin Pie Spice".
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Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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ArachnidinElmet
Shipmate
# 17346
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
I like sparkling cider myself. It makes a lovely refreshing drink. I discovered Wychwood's Green Goblin a couple of Halloweens ago, which is very drinkable.
[Tangent]Green Goblin. Nom, nom. Very drinkable, will also satisfy mostly teatotal mother. As far as cider bought from supermarkets goes, it's the good shit and will be drunk with Christmas dinner.[/Tangent]
Back to mince pies: Have watched a Jamie Oliver Christmas prog that suggests (or his Italian friend Gennaro suggests) adding black pepper to the mince meat. Am intrigued by the addition of a slight heat.
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
What's the alcohol percentage of standard cider? I have some "hard cider" from the beer section of the grocery, it's 3.2. That doesn't sound boozy enough to be a good preservative or get people interested in the booze aspect of mince pie.
About 4.5 to 7.
Belle Ringer, you could look for Woodchuck cider which has about 5%. That is my occasional treat!
I looked for mince meat at the store today. There was none! What do they expect us to do for Christmas? ![[Waterworks]](graemlins/bawling.gif)
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
What's the alcohol percentage of standard cider?
About 4.5 to 7.
you could look for Woodchuck cider which has about 5%.
Woodchuck is what I found at 3.2%, but that was in the grocery. Reminds me there there is such a thing as 3.2 beer, must be a tax or licensing issue. I'll go to the hard liquor store tomorrow and look for real cider. :-) quote:
I looked for mince meat at the store today. There was none! What do they expect us to do for Christmas?
Make it from scratch. Or try another store. Or buy it on line. Never give up mincemeat!
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
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Dafyd
Shipmate
# 5549
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by balaam:
That's right, Belle, it is about half the strength you'd expect from a decent English cider.
The strength of a proper English cider is about half again as much as you think it is while drinking it.
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by la vie en rouge:
I have successfully fed mince pies to French people. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Have you converted them to the joys of an English Christmas, then? ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
Discovered Tesco's puff pastry mince pies this evening. Revelation. I'm not buying Other Supermarket's Own any more.
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Rosa Winkel
Saint Anger round my neck
# 11424
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by la vie en rouge:
I have successfully fed mince pies to French people.
As I will do here (though not to French people) on the evening of the 24th. I find that British food (cue links showing that mince pies are not British) is slowly making a headway outside of GB.
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la vie en rouge
Parisienne
# 10688
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
quote:
Originally posted by la vie en rouge:
I have successfully fed mince pies to French people.
Have you converted them to the joys of an English Christmas, then?
I am converting this particular group of French people (cellists from my orchestra) to the joys of English all kinds of stuff. They were also very taken with the cream tea I fed them this summer (also thanks to Marks & Sparks which provided the clotted cream)
For younger French people, British is actually starting to = very chic.
[ETA mince pies rule - the moment I opened the jar of mincemeat, it smelled like Christmas.]
[ 18. December 2012, 08:38: Message edited by: la vie en rouge ]
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Rosa Winkel
Saint Anger round my neck
# 11424
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by la vie en rouge:
For younger French people, British is actually starting to = very chic.
Interesting. There's all manner of prejudice about British food, largely by people who haven't tasted any. I see this changing. Here I also benefit through (the evil tax-avoiding) M&S.
Our family's getting a Welsh breakfast for Christmas Day: Lavercakes with cockles and leek, as well as cheddar.
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by la vie en rouge:
For younger French people, British is actually starting to = very chic.
Is this movement to "La cuisine Anglais" led by anyone in particular? I wonder if a young French woman has spent two years studying at the LSE while paying her way as a general kitchen help*, and has now written the books or, in the modern fashion, is hardly off the television screen.
*like Elisabeth David, only t'other way round.
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
Having now extensively road-tested Sainsbury's orange and cranberry, I can recommend them as distinctly uncloying. I also like that they have a nut/ crumble topping rather than pastry.
If they're anything like the orange and cranberry welsh cakes I tried last weekend (from the bakery in Cowbridge), then I want to get me some! ![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif)
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Karl: Liberal Backslider
Shipmate
# 76
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Rosa Winkel:
quote:
Originally posted by la vie en rouge:
For younger French people, British is actually starting to = very chic.
Interesting. There's all manner of prejudice about British food, largely by people who haven't tasted any. I see this changing. Here I also benefit through (the evil tax-avoiding) M&S.
Our family's getting a Welsh breakfast for Christmas Day: Lavercakes with cockles and leek, as well as cheddar.
Cheddar's from the other side of the Bristol Channel, in Gwlad y Haf (Land of the Summer, Somerset)
Despite having the aforementioned Welsh name, Somerset is quite uncontroversially in England.
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Posts: 17938 | From: Chesterfield | Registered: May 2001
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
I now have the strongest cider the liquor store has, 5.8%, Chrispin' natural apple cider imported classic english dry cider.
Is that strong enough (I keep reading mince keeps a year due to all the alcohol) or should I add some vodka?
I suppose I need to drink a can of it tonight just to make sure it tastes good enough.
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
5.8 sounds plenty strong. Though if you are adding a spoonful or two of spirit, Calvados or apple brandy would be the natural pairing IMO.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
Thank you so much for that suggestion. Christmas mulled cider, here I come.
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Alex Cockell
Ship’s penguin
# 7487
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by la vie en rouge:
I have successfully fed mince pies to French people.
Well- at east you did better than some when they tried to flog sausages to a halal butcher...
Posts: 2146 | From: Reading, Berkshire UK | Registered: Jun 2004
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Keren-Happuch:
This is the best mincemeat recipe I've found after a lot of experimentation. Wonderfully moist and boozy.
Hettie Potter's Suet-Free Mincemeat
Ignorant non-cook here.
I'm using this recipe to create "mincemeat" but occurs to me it doesn't tell me how to turn it into a pie.
Specifically, the American recipes say to buy commercial mince meat, add several chopped up apples and some spices, throw the mixture in a pie shell and bake 40 minutes. That baking will soften the chopped apples
But this recipe has you cooking the chopped apples with the other fruits in the process of making the mincemeat, which then sits a week or a month until used to make a pie.
Does that pie then bake for 40 minutes? That seems a long time to cook a pie when the filling has already been cooked.
Is it really 40 minutes in the oven, or just enough to get the pie warm, which might be more like 20 minutes oven time? I guess the pie shell needs to cook, maybe that takes 40 minutes.
Decades since I've made a pie! Any help appreciated!
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
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Ramarius
Shipmate
# 16551
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Posted
Coopland's brandy butter mincies are top of the hit list so far this year. Not sure you can get these outside the North of England though. Have a box of Duchy organic pies from Waitrose in the cupboard....
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John Holding
Coffee and Cognac
# 158
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Posted
I make a mincemeat that includes chopped apples but isn't cooked. There's enough brandy in it that I can store it in glass jars for a full year.
I realized a year or two ago that the only critical measurement is the total amount of dried fruit (+peel): a lower proportion of currents, a larger proportion of sultanas, half a pound of dried cranberries instead of half a pound of currents -- no problems.
Belle, you want to cook the pie until the centre is beginning to bubble -- the suet will be fully melted at that point (you really really don't want little bits of solid suet in the pie). I'm assuming that (unlike the Brits, whose pies are by definition covered) you're leaving the top of the pie with at least large areas without pastry. Most north american mince pies I've seen have either lattice tops or (I cheat) a number of pastry cut-outs, not a full top.
John
eta -- so no suet in what you're doing -- you still want to cook the pie until the liquid in the centre is abvious and bubbling.
JH
[ 21. December 2012, 02:49: Message edited by: John Holding ]
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by John Holding:
so no suet in what you're doing -- you still want to cook the pie until the liquid in the centre is abvious and bubbling.
Thanks, John. The reason I asked is because some talk about the boozey effects of eating mince pie, but other web sites say 40 minutes in the oven will evaporate 75% of the alcohol.
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
I have never, ever experienced any alcoholic after-effects from eating a mince pie.
If your mincemeat is already pre-cooked no need to worry about the 40 minutes and letting it bubble. Just cook until the pastry is a pleasing shade of golden brown, which should be c. 15-20 minutes.
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
I have never, ever experienced any alcoholic after-effects from eating a mince pie.
Are you certain? OK then, no undesirable alcoholic after-effects.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
You're probably talking about homemade ones where the mincemeat is made to your own recipe. I tend to buy mine, and have bought ready-made mincemeat. If they do have alcohol in them you don't notice it.
Of the homemade ones I've had, they tend to have flavour rather than percentage... maybe I should start making my own.
[ 22. December 2012, 05:48: Message edited by: Ariel ]
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
You guys are great! My first pie in decades and I'm probably doing it all "wrong," including starting a month late, but so what, it's all edible.
Discovered I don't know how to use a pealer, ended up cutting off the skin with a knife. New skills to learn! Made a mistake in buying a bag of apples, which are small, instead of buying unbagged larger apples, lots of pealing for less apple meat. The apple chunks are probably too big. I have 30% too much too cider in the mix, by mistake.
One recipe says to add one tablespoon of rum, another says 6 tablespoons of brandy. I figure I'll do 3 or 4 tablespoons of brandy and if that's wrong, my friends will just have to be true friends and help me eliminate the evidence of my cooking incompetence.
My kitchen smells wonderful!
I'll buy a pie crust tomorrow unless I can figure out how I might wrap it in purchased puff pastry, like a strudel.
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
I'll buy a pie crust tomorrow unless I can figure out how I might wrap it in purchased puff pastry, like a strudel.
Belle, do you have any baking trays designed for small buns/tarts/pies? Like this?
If not you could either cut out the rounds of pastry by hand/with round cookie cutters, or just make one large mince pie, and bake on an ordinary baking tray or a shallow cake tin. Cut slices off as you want them.
(Don't forget to grease your tins first, either way, otherwise the pastry may stick to them.)
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
I have muffin pans, look like that but twice as deep as tarts. A shallow 9 inch pie might work better if I purchase pastry pie shells instead of making pastry, which I have never done well.
The mixture I made isn't boozy. An hour of simmering on the stove will have boiled off just about all the alcohol in the cider, and adding 3 TBSP of brandy for 2 quarts means half a teaspoon of brandy per serving, that's just flavoring. I wonder if some people pour a little more brandy over the pie just before serving, but that would dampen the crust.
I tasted it while stirring to see if it was cool, tasted much better than store bought fruit mince, but I was doubtful I'll bother to spend another whole afternoon in the kitchen to do it again.
Then I added 1/4 cup brandy, that did something magical to the flavor, hard to describe, mellowed it, blended it. Not a boozy taste at all but a real nice effect on the flavors already there. Yes worth spending another afternoon in the kitchen pealing apples and playing with variations on spices and fruit flavors!
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Ramarius
Shipmate
# 16551
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Posted
Had the Waitrose Duchy organic - not the best I ever tasted, but it's the one that has made me feel the most virtuous.
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Amazing Grace
High Church Protestant
# 95
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
Don't know if they're generally available, but Sainsburys here stock Ecclefechan Tarts.
I much prefer them to mince pies.
Those look like a near and tasty cousin of the beloved Canadian treat "butter tarts".
The tartlet size is just right IMO for their American cousin, pecan pie. Full-size pecan pies have a bad filling-to-nuts ratio in my opinion.
I was in a fairly nice grocery store last night and didn't check if there was a dusty jar of Nonesuch mincemeat in the baking aisle!
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
I have muffin pans, look like that but twice as deep as tarts. A shallow 9 inch pie might work better if I purchase pastry pie shells instead of making pastry, which I have never done well.
I generally buy sheets of uncooked frozen pastry (all my culinary secrets are being revealed now!) as I find pre-cooked pastry shells tend to be a bit dry and crumbly. If you can get the frozen kind, it is a bit nicer.
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
... making pastry, which I have never done well.
I generally buy sheets of uncooked frozen pastry (all my culinary secrets are being revealed now!) as I find pre-cooked pastry shells tend to be a bit dry and crumbly. If you can get the frozen kind, it is a bit nicer.
Culinary secrets. Thank You!!! I shall look for/ask for sheets of frozen pastry.
As to pecan pie, I once had one that was nuts top to bottom, instead of a single layer of nuts floating on top of half an inch of sugar goo. Ever since, that has been *my* definition of pecan pie. Never saw it again but did see a recipe for it once, it had it's own name, not pecan pie but something else.
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
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Drifting Star
Drifting against the wind
# 12799
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Posted
I have just had the world's best mince pie, so you might as well close the thread.
I made the mincemeat (none of that nasty candied peel, but plenty of that nice alcohol), my mum made the pastry and did the constructing and cooking. I reheated, lifted the lid off to insert some brandy butter, then put the lid back on and ate it.
Mmmmmmmm.
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The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Heraclitus
Posts: 3126 | From: A thin place. | Registered: Jul 2007
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Porridge
Shipmate
# 15405
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by John Holding:
I'm assuming that (unlike the Brits, whose pies are by definition covered) you're leaving the top of the pie with at least large areas without pastry. Most north american mince pies I've seen have either lattice tops or (I cheat) a number of pastry cut-outs, not a full top.
John
JH
Don't know about the rest of North America, but here in New England mince pies come fully-covered, just like apple pies. To distinguish the difference between the two pies, you carve a "TM" in the mince pie top for "'Tis Mince," whereas the apple pie top gets a "TM" for "'Tain't Mince."
Also: re pecan pie, yes, it should be pecans top to bottom, but no sugar goo. Maple syrup and a touch of rum.
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Drifting Star:
I have just had the world's best mince pie, so you might as well close the thread.
I made the mincemeat (none of that nasty candied peel, but plenty of that nice alcohol), my mum made the pastry and did the constructing and cooking. I reheated, lifted the lid off to insert some brandy butter, then put the lid back on and ate it.
Mmmmmmmm.
And you didn't bring some to share with the rest of the class? Lift the lid off the pie insert brandy butter, ooh I love the culinary secrets on this thread!
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Drifting Star
Drifting against the wind
# 12799
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Posted
I would share them with you, but she only made us 2 dozen...
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The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Heraclitus
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Drifting Star:
I made the mincemeat (none of that nasty candied peel, but plenty of that nice alcohol), my mum made the pastry and did the constructing and cooking. I reheated, lifted the lid off to insert some brandy butter, then put the lid back on and ate it.
Thanks for this tip. I used Supermarket's Finest Mincemeat, some ready-made light puff pastry, and what resulted was light and delicious - much nicer than any bought ones I've had so far.
For the first time, I also made brandy butter and you're quite right - I was going to say it's the icing on the cake, but a little inside a hot mince pie transforms it into something sublime.
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Drewthealexander
Shipmate
# 16660
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Posted
Answer to the o/p. My darling wife's. Happily for me, I have a monopoly.
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Porridge
Shipmate
# 15405
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Posted
And what, pray tell, is brandy butter and how do I make some?
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Spiggott: Everything I've ever told you is a lie, including that.
Moon: Including what?
Spiggott: That everything I've ever told you is a lie.
Moon: That's not true!
Posts: 3925 | From: Upper right corner | Registered: Jan 2010
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
Brandy butter is, as the name suggests, butter with a little enhancement. There are lots of recipes on the internet, but you might like Delia's.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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