New World

New World Christmas Mince Tarts 6pk.
Crust: plain, soft underneath and a little crisp around the outside.
Filling: sweet, no spice.
Ratio (crust to filling): good.
Other: no foil
3/5 would eat again

Aunt Betty Fruit Mince

Aunt Betty’s Christmas Fruit Mince Tarts, $4 from The Warehouse
Crust: crumbly when cutting for this excellent food photography. More like a shortbread taste and texture.
Filling: sweetness and spice, better than New World
Ratio: solid top with a nice star pattern means too much crust.
Score: 2/5 would eat again

Countdown

Countdown Traditional Fruit Mince Pies, 2 packs for $6.
Lattice top, with a little overhang to nibble on before taking it out of the foil.
Good flavour and texture for filling.
Ratio is good.
Sweetness, which I like.
4/5, I already knew these are my favourite. Taking recommendations for anything better.

Pams

Pam’s Fruit Mince Pies
Very similar to Countdown, maybe one or two less rows of lattice.
Similar crust, well cooked, nibble overhang.
Great filling, whole pieces of fruit, good ratio + flavour + spice.
4/5, perhaps a new favourite.

Ernest Adams Bites

Ernest Adams Rich Fruit Christmas Bites
Very nice little morsels of fruity biscuity goodness. Not much more than one bite.
Good flavour of filling and crust.
3/5, moreish, but could be bigger. Would eat again.

New World Berry

New World Berry and Summer Fruits Tarts.
Look like they have too much crust. Probably still sugary and delicious.
1/5 did not purchase.

Pams Mini

Pam’s Mini Fruit Mince Tarts. 9 Star Top Tarts.
Small and delicious.
Ratio: not enough filling, not so good because they’re small.
Guilt factor: low, because they’re small.

At this stage in the month I’m counting fruit mince pies towards my 5+ a day.

Aunt Betty Strawberry and Rhubarb

Aunt Betty’s Strawberry and Rhubarb Vanilla Pastry Tarts
Smooth filling with raisins, not strawberries or rhubarb.
Pastry is meh. Weird aftertaste.
1/5 would not buy again.

Aunt Betty Spiced Apple and Gingerbread

Aunt Betty’s Spiced Apple and Gingerbread Tarts
Crust is not very gingerbready plus there’s too much of it.
Filling is kinda appley and only lightly spiced.
1/5 would not buy again. Would only eat if I didn’t know any better.

Cova

Fruit Mince Tart from Cova, Sylvia Park cafe, $4.50 for one.
Expensive, but delicious.
Drier than other tarts I’ve had.
Would go well with a coffee or maybe some eggnog.
Filling was a good variety of fruit and peel.
Crust as just the right side of crumbly.
3.5/5, pretty good, but wouldn’t seek them out.

Ernest Adams

Ernest Adams Christmas Delights Festive Rich Fruit Christmas Tarts
These are up there with the Pam’s and the Countdown tarts.
Crust: firm, benefit from being baked in a pan instead of foil.
Filling: simply delicious.
4/5, since that’s what I gave the other best ones.

Mighty Bakery

The Mighty Bakery 6 Luxury Christmas Fruit Mince Pies
There’s a chance that one bakery makes similar pies and packages them for different outlets. I can’t tell the difference between these and Pam’s. However, since Pam’s says “made in New Zealand from local and imported ingredients” and the mighty baker says “made in Tirau New Zealand” on the front of the packet, I’m going to give these 4.5 out of 5.

Walkers

Walkers Fruit Mince Pies
Scottish luxury: shortbread crust, even with a dusting of sugar on top. Not too sweet though.
Filling: consistency and flavour and sweetness and texture and ratio all good.
4/5 excellent.
They were a new year’s eve contribution so not sure where to get them from or how much they cost.

Power Ranking

Thus ends Nathan’s Mince Pie Review of 2017.

Catch me again in March for hot cross bun reviews.

Final ranking: Mighty Baker
Walkers/Pam’s/Countdown/Ernest Adams
The cafe one
Pam’s mini/Ernest Adams mini
New World
.
.
Aunt Betty’s