IT wouldn't be Christmas without mince pies.
When it comes to the festive favourite, homemade are usually best but if you haven't got time or can't cook, there's plenty of shop-bought varieties to choose from.
But the choice is infinite: top chef or budget buy? Icing sugar or caster sugar, all-butter shortcrust or puff pastry, deep-filled or iced?
To make the task simpler, the Post recruited four mince pie-loving ladies from the Knit 'n' Chat group at Yarn wool shop in Beeston, who are aged 59 to 70-plus.
They blind-tested eight high street and supermarket brands, judging them on appearance, taste, value for money and overall impression. The four judges marked each of the four categories out of 10.
Asda took the crown with its Chosen By You mince pies, which scored top marks for value for money.
They were voted top by Joan Meyerowitz, of Bramcote, Julia Hart, Merryl Berridge, and Alison Binks, all from Beeston.
Julia says: "They were by far the best and I think they're worth the journey to my nearest Asda in Long Eaton to get them."
Alison adds: "They're such fantastic value and the right balance of filling and pastry. They'd be even better warmed up!"
Despite winning our taste test last year, Waitrose's spiced shortcrust mince pies by celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal failed to impress the ladies and were marked down for their 'spicy' taste.
Greggs' mince pies scored the highest for their homemade appearance; however, our testers believed them to be quite pricey.
Budget supermarket Aldi's mince pies were placed last by our ladies who rated them low for their 'peculiar taste'.
Here's what our taste testers had to say:
THE WINNER:
Asda: 6 Chosen By You mince pies, 89p
Score: 127/160
Joan: "Really good value for money and the taste is the best out of them all."
Julia: "Good appearance, nice taste and great value for money."
Merryl: "Very good appearance and taste. Excellent value for money."
Alison: "Nice pastry, brilliant value yet still sweet."
RUNNER-UP:
Greggs: Mince pies, 45p each
Score: 99/160
Joan: "These look homemade but the pastry isn't great. They're also expensive."
Julia: "The pastry and value are both reasonable and I like that they look homemade."
Merryl: "Very expensive but the pastry is delicious."
Alison: "These look more homemade with a crumbly pastry - I like them."
DELICIOUS PASTRY:
Tesco: Finest 6 deep filled mince pies, £2.50
Score: 96/160
Joan: "These look really nice, however the taste is too sweet for me."
Julia: "These look good and taste reasonable. The pastry is delicious."
Merryl: "Nice taste and buttery pastry."
Alison: "Looks okay, nice pastry and again quite sweet."
GOOD VALUE:
Morrisons: 6 Signature all butter deep filled mince pies, £1.79
Score: 94/160
Joan: "They look good, they are a nice colour. The pastry is average and the taste is okay."
Julia: "For the price, the pastry tastes really good. The appearance is nice too."
Merryl: "The taste is average and the pastry is like cake."
Alison: "These look nice with a crunchy sugar topping."
MIXED VERDICT:
Birds: Mince pies, 37p each
Score: 85/160
Joan: "They are okay however they left a strange taste in my mouth afterwards."
Julia: "These left a peculiar aftertaste."
Merryl: "I really like these, they have a nice taste."
Alison: "A bit sweet and crumbly but they're okay."
CAKE-LIKE TEXTURE:
Marks & Spencer: 6 all butter mince pies, £1.80
Score: 84/160
Joan: "These weren't the best as they had a lot of pastry."
Julia: "These taste more like a pudding, and they're very soft. Not my favourite."
Merryl: "The pastry is too soft, like a cake."
Alison: "Nice appearance, a bit too sweet and the pastry isn't the nicest."
FOR SPICE-LOVERS:
Waitrose: 6 spiced shortcrust mince pies by Heston Blumenthal, £3.50
Score: 77/160
Joan: The cinnamon dominated the taste - they're quite spicy."
Julia: "Very different in appearance, very spicy."
Merryl: "The appearance is lovely but they're too spicy."
Alison: "Very different looking. Not like a traditional mince pie and I think they're over-spiced."
MUST TRY HARDER:
Aldi: 6 crumbly all butter mince pies with brandy laced mincemeat, £1.49
Score: 69/160
Joan: "The appearance is good, but the taste is poor."
Julia: "Not a very pleasant taste and they aren't the best looking."
Merryl: "Very strange taste."
Alison: "Obviously shop-bought with a peculiar taste."
