Date:  16/12/2011 Pie:  M&S All Butter Puff Pastry Mince Pies Cost:  £2.59 Score: 59.5% Today's pie is some what distinctive as it's made from puff pastry. Strictly speaking I'm not sure you can call it a pie as it's more like a pastry, but hey nothing ventured, nothing gained! It sits slightly squat on the plate unaided by pastry casing. A full covering of granulated sugar glinting in the office lights. Not much of an aroma to speak of. It feels quite light in the hand. First impressions are quite good. The puff pastry is quit flaky and soft, glad that I've got a plate to catch the crumbs. The taste is sweet, but not too sweet and you can taste the filling too. Looking at the pie I'm disappointed at the lack of filling, there was plenty of room for more inside. However the over all impressions is still ok. All in all an OK pie / pastry.

“A 'puff pastry' style pie with two vent holes in lid with a plentiful and even sprinkling of sugar granules. Marked down a bit on appearance and size insofar as it deviates from the normal benchmark of what I expect a normal mince pie to look like. From the outside, pie smells quite buttery but very little hint of the filling. Taking a first bite, the puff pastry is the predominant element and is a somewhat denser puff pastry but it does taste a bit buttery. The filling is not that flavoursome and seems to have very limited basic ingredients of a somewhat mashed up and dryish texture - and there is simply not enough of it to provide the counterbalance to the pastry. A pretty average offering, only alleviated by dint of being a non-standard pie so makes a change from the usual type. I would not bother with these again if I saw them or similar sort in a shop. I would visualise these pies dispensed in sixes within those clear plastic trays stacked high in a supermarket near the in store bakery - maybe somewhere of the ilk of Asda/Morrisons.”

“A very different "minced pie"... I must say that although I didn't really feel like I was actually eating a mince pie (more like a minced croissant) I did enjoy it, a pity there wasn't more filling!”

“Barely scraping into the 'mice pie' category - it was a nice change, but I wouldn't switch from a classic mince pie to these for xmas day. Heston's Fancy Mince Pies?”

“CO-OP? Not sure about the filling, thought the pastry was nice though but not my favourite pie.”

“Definitely a good option for fans of puff pastry. Could have done with a little more filling but otherwise pretty much faultless.”

“Good pie, smelled lovely and tasted good too. A welcome change from the traditional shortcrust pie in a case. Would have scored full points for filling quality, but there was still a little uncooked suet in there.”

“Hard to compare this puff pastry pie to our usual test subjects which are shortcrust pastry, but a very nice pie for what it is. Perfect sugar topping, tasty fruity filling with just the right balance between thicker good and moistness. I prefer a traditional pie, though.”

“Tasty, but just doesn't seem like a true mince pie. Lovely pastry and filling but could have done with at least double the filling quantity!”

“The pastry was lovely but where was my mince pie? ”

“This is a continuous "pie"? My personal feeling is that a mince pies should have short crust pastry. Filo/puff pastry with a mincemeat filling is verging on an Eccles cake. For this reason I've marked the pie down as zero for the crust. Unfortunately, the "pie" failed on the fruit as well; with a quite pungent citrus flavour, and very little actual filling. However, it looked quite nice. As an Eccles cake? Sadly it failed in that test as well........”

Packaging Description
All Butter Puff Pastry Mince Pies
6 delicious flaky all butter puff pastry pies filled with our fruity classic mincemeat bursting with juicy sultanas, Vostizza currants & raisins. Perfect served warm.

Nutrition Information (Per Pie)