Monday 6 January 2014

How luxurious are Harrods mini mince pies?

Harrods Luxurious Mini Mince Pie Selection Review



Harrods Luxurious Mini Mince Pie Selection
Harrods Luxurious Mini Mince Pie Selection
When it comes to the big names in shopping, few can beat Harrods. One of London’s premier stores – if not the world’s – means that any food which comes from the store’s huge food hall will get savoured across the globe and put on a pedestal of divine deliciousness. Or at least that’s the theory.

But what if that food was pie. And what if that pie got pie rated?! Would Harrods Luxurious Mince Pie selection withstand the Pierateer’s 7 Cs? Let’s find out...

The Harrods Luxurious Mini Mince Pie Selection contains nine mini pies of three different flavours, which were all eaten by Pierateers RAS, SJL and TJP for feedback but then the final scores were awarded by Pierateer RAS as follows:

Harrods Luxurious Mini Mince Pie Selection
Top - Fruity Almond; Left - Cranberry, Right - Pecan

These Harrods Luxurious Mince Pies feature in our '12 Pies of Christmas’ video!


Pecan Topped Mince Pie

The first item eaten from the box was topped with pecans, but unfortunately only had pastry around the sides and base. This means it doesn’t meet the Pierateer’s definition of a true pie. However while the mince meat is quite tasty and the pecans add a nice crunch, we're not able to give this pie a top score because it's not got a lid. While the mince meat and crunchy pecans do complement each other well, I probably wouldn't go for it again unless they added a pastry lid to properly complement the pie.

The pecan flavour and texture of the pecan nut was very nice and something different for a mince pie – in fact I’d go as far as to say I was quite nuts about it – but considering how small it is and at almost 100ppp, it is rather expensive and for a non-pie, it’s not really worth it in our minds.

Score: 3.64/7
[Colour 4.5, Capacity 3,5, Consistency 4, Condition 4, Chewiness 3.5, Cheapness 2, Content 4, Total: 3.64/7]



Star-topped Cranberry Mince Meat Mince Pie

You could certainly taste a difference between the mince meat in most mince pies and this Cranberry Mince Meat Mince Pie, although in terms of flavour I wouldn't have immediately put it down to the addition of cranberries. Still, it was surprisingly nice and I certainly would eat one of these pies again. The slight sourness of the cranberry added an interesting kick but was a nice addition to the flavour. The flavour was not the best of the three but a (near) fully encased pie it was and it certainly was a unique and enjoyable flavour at that.

It was however certainly too small to get a decent filling:pastry ratio. There was far too much pastry and it did drown out the filling a fair bit. That said, the pastry was very nice. At just under a pound each for a very small pie, they were certainly not going to be able to be shared round easily but they were a nice treat.

Score: 3.79/7
[Colour 4.5, Capacity 4, Consistency 4, Condition 4, Chewiness 4, Cheapness 2, Content 4, Total: 3.79/7]



Rich Fruity Almond Mince Meat With A Hint Of Brandy Mince Pie

The mix of the fruity filling and almond made this our favourite filling. You also definitely get a bit of a taste sensation with the brandy, providing a bit of a late kick. While this pie was the only fully encased pie of the three types, the ratio of pastry to mince meat was again too much on the pastry side. The capacity was not perfect but pretty good; there were some air gaps in there, which for such a small pie is disappointing, but the content was very good. It tastes nice, the crunch from the almond was good, and the flavour lingered nicely after eating. That said, it was again still rather expensive for the privilege at just under one pound each for very mini pies.

Score: 4.14/7
[Colour 4.5, Capacity 4, Consistency 4, Condition 5, Chewiness 4.5, Cheapness 2, Content 5, Total: 4.14/7]



Harrods Luxurious Mini Mince Pie Selection
RAS


See where these pies ended up in the Pierate Pie Rankings or find other pies of a similar flavour.

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