2011 Review: Iceland 18 Christmas Mince Pies

December 2, 2011 pie-master

Overall Rating

2.68 / 5 Reviewer

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£0.83Cost

Visual Presentation

Aroma

Sugar Coating

Size / Weight

First Impressions

Crust Thickness / Quality

Filling Quality

Filling Quantity

Summary

Today's pie was small, and not perfectly formed. Definitely a budget pie. It was fairly well presented with a nice star design and sugar coating, but as it sat there in it's small pie case I did not get my hopes up! First impressions were OK. pastry was too soft almost too moist / damp. However it didn't crumble. Filling was texture-less, sweet and forgettable. Virtually no fruit to speak of, just sweet mush. A very poor pie, but also very cheap.

Reviewers Comments and Guessed Origin

“A mixed bag this one. Structurally unsound but otherwise pretty decent. ”
“Enjoyed that one”
“Hooray, a pie that doesn’t resemble Vanessa Fletz’s pile cushion. Not bad quality, and I actually enjoy the experience. Not sure where it is form.”
“I nearly choked on the first bite, the floury pastry got caught in my throat. The filling tastes weirdly bitter, like black treacle? Even the sugar coating was deceptive – while providing better coverage than many other pies this year, the sugar didn’t actually taste sweet? Please tell me where it is from so I can avoid it.”
“Never realised you could get bitesize mince pies! Iceland?”
“pastry had a weird texture ! soggy ?! filling was very average … some smart price , economy supermarket brand!”
“Quite a nice design with raised edge and insert star motif – some sugar granules although not evenly spread. A bit of filling smell through pastry that has a faint buttery like smell. A bit of filling staining through pastry lid. Taking pie out of foil dish, the pastry edge crumbles all too easily – noticed some others on plate had ‘damaged edges’ and filling stain on pastry top. First bite and it’s a thin crumbly pastry of pretty bland taste and consistency mated with packed filling, albeit of a pretty basic sort mainly of raisins but it is quite juicy. The ratio of packed juicy filling to thinnish crumbly pastry explains the damaged pies. Pastry is very ordinary but sort of OK – overall, this pie is as ordinary as its’ origin would suggest. I brought these in and know they are from the bargain budget end of the retail big chains (Iceland) – so no worse than expected but obviously very average.”
“The David Silva of mince pies. Very tasty but very small.”
“The Lacus Leiva of pie’s won’t be in action again this season Iceland”
“Too small – needed to be at least double the size. Tasted a bit mushy.”
“Very Poor Pie. How low can you go on this one.. The pastry crumbles and the lid pops off (I don’t think it wanted to be associated with the pie). The filling lacks any semblance of fruity texture. Could it be a “”Weight Watchers”” pie? Once you have tasted one, you will not be coming back for another.”