A Mince Pie Podcast Episode!
With The Pie King, Calum Franklin, and food writer and Mince Pie Reviewer Extraordinaire, Felicity Cloake.
UPDATED WITH MORE MINCE PIE RECOMMENDATIONS - Friday 9th December 2022
Hello!
Now that it’s December I think we can officially talk about Christmas. So, this week’s newsletter (and podcast and YouTube episode!) is:
All about Mince Pies
I’ve been imagining this next season of the podcast since the summer, but not actually done anything about it. The plan was always to have it ready by now and to include a mince pie episode as it launched. But, life happens, so I’m particularly thrilled that I still managed to coordinate this one-off, preview episode for the season that WILL still come out next year.
If I put it in capital letters that makes it certain, right?
I could not have asked for better and more appropriate guests.
Every year, food writer Felicity Cloake goes on #mincepiewatch and reports her rating out of 10 on mince pies she encounters on her Instagram account. As the author of The Guardian’s Perfect column and seven books, I trust her opinion. Her recipes are the one you want if you’re looking to make any classic dish.
Her latest two books are travelogues wound around food. I loved One More Croissant for the Road - it was so eloquent and engaging, though it did make me hungry - and I’ve just bought Red Sauce, Brown Sauce and can’t wait to read that.
Calum Franklin wrote The Pie Room after people became besotted with the pies he created for Holborn Dining Room, both for the taste of them but also their intricate design work. Go check out what I mean on Instagram: @chefcalum. Pure artistry. It tastes as good as it looks.
We tried 12 pies in total, this included two from Riverford Organics and two from M&S. There were so many others I’d planned to include but logistics failed me. I’ve included a list of these ones I’d hoped to include more of, below, plus some from outside of London, too, so hopefully you’ll be able to find an excellent mince pie near you, even if you’re not in London!
Sorry if you’re reading from outside of the UK…
Feel free to recommend any from anywhere in the world and let’s jointly make this a compendium of crowd-sourced mince pies to rival the mainstream “Top 10 Mince Pies” lists that might pop up elsewhere.
Here’s the Mince Pie podcast episode, if you like to listen:
https://bit.ly/MincePieEpisode
Or, it’s also here on YouTube as a video. Check out my fancy two-camera-angles and proper microphones (I paid for help for the audio and film, but any editing bumbles you can blame on me).
I recommend you watch, because I’ve painstakingly added the names of the makers of the pies to the video and subtitles (manually correctly every “Mitz pie, min pie, mi mi, mint supply, men’s pie, inspires and Vince pie” 😳). I think this will make our conversation more interesting - knowing what we are talking about! Though if you’re going to read below, it’s probably fine to just listen while you get on with other things (walking to one of the bakeries/M&S?).
The AI transcription also thought “Bon appetit” was “Happy a tea”, which I might just start saying now.
Here’s a ittle heads up for what you might hear if you tune into the podcast, beyond our dissection of the twelve mince pies listed further down:
Pastry and Pie Tips & Thoughts from Calum and Felicity in the podcast / video
17 minutes: Crimping and controlling your pastry. Tips for hot handed people!
21 minutes: Calum’s biggest pie baking secret
22 minutes: Calum tells us about his limited edition pie available from 9th December in Selfridges and selected Waitrose.
23 minutes: What is hot water pastry and top tips for working with hot water pastry (infuse the water, add an egg!)
28 minutes, 30 Seconds: When and why to use an egg wash on your pastry.
30 minutes: Gaps in pastry when it cooks
34 minutes: The Best Tins for Baking and why not to use casings.
39 minutes: Thoughts on Icing Sugar (Powdered Sugar for my American friends)
47 minutes: Alternate fillings and Mince Pie flavoured things
48 minutes: the McDonald’s Festive Pie
And if you’re too busy to listen or watch (I feel you), here’s the list of what we tried:
The Mince Pies we tasted, in order
Gail’s Bakery - various locations around the country and on Ocado and by post - sugar-encrusted top and it felt like an addition of lemon marmalade to the filling. The consensus was this pie is an improvement on previous years.
6 for £14 or 4 for £6.99 on Ocado. Hmmm.
Populations Bakery - by delivery in London and selected locations around London - using heritage grain The pastry is made with cultured butter from @theestatedairyand YQ flour grown by @green_acresfarm and milled by @freshflour. I forgot to share this information with Calum and Felicity but on reflection you can definitely taste the cultured butter edge and the nutty notes from the heritage grain flour in the very buttery pastry.
Photo by George @populations.bakery
Marks & Spencer All Butter Mince Pies - classic OG mince pie
The Proof (nut free!) - by post - with the crunchy crumble topping. Great balance. Would eat again. From £9 for a box of 12.
M&S Collection: According to their website “deep filled with mincemeat containing dried vine fruits, glacé cherries, cranberries, brandy, cider, clementine juice and Cognac.“
Toad Bakery - South London (on the border of Camberwell and Peckham) - cherries, prunes and booze with heritage grain flour used, too.
Riverford Organic * - available across most of the UK - very strong nutmeg
Riverford Organic Vegan * - available across most of the UK - it’s great that there’s a vegan option
Ottolenghi - Islington, Notting Hill, Chelsea - hot water pastry, taken to the (good) bitter edge, very Christmas pudding reminiscent.
Spence Bakery - Stoke Newington (North East London) - powdered sugar on top, soft, sweet pastry, sizeable dried fruits, strong in cloves, great all rounder.
Esters - Stoke Newington (North East London)- flaky, buttery, salty pastry with a heavy bake, more like an Eccles cake
Sourdough Sophia - cinnamon dusting, lots of apple, quite a mild filling. A gentle introduction to a mince pie for people who are wary.
* This link is an affiliate link and you’ll get £15 credit and so will I.
And now for another 23 in London and 15 beyond London that I would have liked to have included…