When it comes to Christmas food, we want everything to be perfect. Many of us will spend time going to various different shops to pick bits up, as each supermarket will have one thing that they do better than everyone else.
Mince pies are no exception to this rule either, as with every supermarket selling at least two different versions of the classic festive treat, finding the ones with the perfect pastry and flavoursome filling can seem like an impossible task.
Thankfully though, you don't need to taste test every mince pie on the market, as a recent survey conducted by Which? has done the hard work for you. It's revealed that one of the tastiest mince pies out there right now - as well as the cheapest - is a 29p offering from Aldi.
Aldi's Specially Selected All Butter Mince Pies are priced at £1.75 for a box of six, meaning each pie costs just 29p, and as such the product received Which?'s Great Value endorsement as well as a Best Buy recommendation.
But are the cheap mince pies actually as good as they sound? Mirror writer Zahna Eklund bought a pack to find out.
I'll be honest - mince pies aren't usually my cup of tea.
I'm not the biggest pastry fan at the best of times as I find it too claggy, and there's a running joke in my family about the "filling to pastry ratio" that has to see the pie heavily favour the filling if I'm going to enjoy it at all.
All that is to say that I didn't go into this taste test with particularly high expectations, especially not with the mince pies costing just 29p each. It's been my experience that cheaper items tend to go for super-thick pastry and a measly amount of filling to keep costs down, so I had assumed Aldi would do the same.
But boy, was I wrong.
I'm not exaggerating even a little bit when I say these mince pies might just be the best I've ever eaten - and I've had ones with Bakewell tart-style icing on top.
Everything about these mince pies was just right. The pastry was perfectly melt-in-the-mouth and didn't stick to every tooth it touched like many other pastry products do, and the filling was fabulously fruity with just enough of a festive spice kick to fully get me into the Christmas spirit.
The pies are finished with a dusting of icing sugar which, while slightly messy, gives them a touch of elegance and only helps to bring out the sweetness of the treat itself.
For me, the filling in the pies was a little bit on the sweet side, and I did struggle to finish one before the sickly sweet taste of the mincemeat got too much to handle. But that's a problem most mince pie lovers with a sweet tooth won't have.
The verdict
Overall, I agree with Which?'s decision to give the Aldi Specially Selected Mince Pies their Best Buy award. The judging panel for the report was made up of a whole host of baking experts - including Great British Bake Off 2021 semi-finalist Jürgen Krauss, food writer Dan Lepard and French pastry chef Nathan Rave - and they definitely know what they're talking about!
At £1.75 a packet, or 29p per mince pie, you can't argue with the quality you get for the price, and if you're still in the market for the perfect festive treat, I would highly recommend heading down to your nearest Aldi and trying them out for yourself.
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