Every Christmas, Britons devour about 800 million mince pies, but moves to jazz up the festive sweet treats made of dried fruit and pastry are stirring anger among purists.
It is the source of some puzzlement to the outside world that British mince pies have not in fact been filled with minced meat for centuries.
Instead, the mincemeat encased in an individual shortcrust pastry pie is a mixture of dried fruits, chopped apples and spices soaked in spirits such as brandy and rum.
Photo: Reuters
However, in the past few years home cooks and big supermarket chains have begun to experiment, putting their own twist on the pies by adding less-traditional ingredients to try to tempt more adventurous palates.
Variations include topping the individual oven-baked pies with glace icing or frangipane, and adding chocolate, salted caramel or even custard to the filling — to the dismay of food writer Felicity Cloake.
“Monstrosities” is how Cloake describes such adaptations, telling reporters that mince pies “are not broke and do not need fixing.”
Photo: AFP
It seems palates have become “so jaded these days that we need to ring the changes and have whatever fashionable flavor is currently dominating TikTok in the pies,” she said.
She said she was not against tweaking recipes, but that the fruit and traditional flavors should always be the star attraction.
Cloake said her main objections to new recipes were that they added overpowering flavors and too much sweetness.
Some of her least favorite inventions included adding chocolate or Speculoos biscuits, or worst of all — bacon.
However, Cloake said that some innovations can be tasty, such as the mince pies produced by London bakery Pophams.
Although she said the Pophams’ version “tests” her traditionalist stance, it was still “really rather good.”
The bakery uses its signature croissant dough for a mince pie filled with classic mincemeat and citrus and ginger-flavored cream.
It describes it as a blend of “nostalgic flavor with a fresh, contemporary twist.”
“We have great respect for the classic shortcrust mince pie, but we believe in the power of innovation — especially when it creates something so delicious,” said Lucy McWhirter, the bakery’s creative director.
However, some mince pie traditionalists said even careful adaptations were probably “too much.”
North London florist Marti Warren, 56, said additions such as chocolate or salted caramel were “my nightmare.”
“Mince pies should be traditional. I don’t like messing with them because they are great as they are.” Warren said, adding that there was also a “nostalgic” element that brought back memories of “Christmases of the past.”
According to Britain’s National Archive, a newly discovered 17th-century recipe for “minst pyes” included minced meat — often lamb, but sometimes even beef or pork.
Retired American lawyer Andrea Lass agreed that introducing new ingredients turned “something simple and pure into something overdone and contrived.”
Having developed a love of mince pies over 40 years living in Britain, Lass said her key criteria was that there should be a thin crust and a traditional and plentiful filling.
“Don’t try to sell me on all crust and no filling because that is like all hat and no cattle as they say in Texas,” she said.
With the range of “adapted” mince pies on supermarket shelves seemingly growing every year, Cloake said she was happy to be the person who puts “herself out there” to try to change people’s minds.
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