Price: £1.99 for a box of 6 (26/11/2024)
These Aldi Specially Selected All butter Mince Pies are flavoured with a trio of alcoholic beverages, namely Cognac, Ruby Port and Dry Cider. The text on the box claims that these contribute to a ‘rich, deep flavour‘. Specially Selected is Aldi’s premium foods range, so these are their luxury version mince pies, as opposed to their budget Holly Lane Mince Pies.
These traditionally sized and shaped mince pies feature a star and snowflake design atop the pastry lid, with a dusting of icing sugar to finish them off. They are suitable for vegetarians and they do contain palm oil.
Cold Taste Test
The pastry is firm and crumbly with a strong buttery taste and a good texture. There’s a decent helping of mincemeat inside, and I have to say that it’s one of the nicest mincemeat recipes that I have tasted. It’s very fruity with apple being by far the dominant flavour. Those who are sticklers for a really traditional tasting mincemeat might find it a tad too apple-y, but I found it to be refreshingly different without straying too far from the tried and trusted formula.
Hot Taste Test
The pastry survived microwave heating without losing too much of its crumbly texture. I haven’t tested them in the oven, but I’m sure this pastry would come out very nicely. The mincemeat was still delicious when heated up, with the apple a prominent flavour once again. I couldn’t detect much hint of the Cognac or Port infusion, but maybe my palate isn’t sophisticated enough. I assume they are discreetly contributing to the overall effect, which is a very pleasing blend of flavours.
Verdict
Regardless of price, these are definitely up there with the best mince pies on the market, but at just £1.99 for a pack of six, they represent a real bargain. They outperform luxury mince pies from other brands that retail at twice the price. I can’t really recommend these Aldi Specially Selected All Butter Mince Pies highly enough. They are a top quality product at a knockdown price and I’ll definitely be stocking up on them before they disappear from the shelves after the turn of the year.
Nutrition
Typical values (per 100g):
- Energy: 385 kcal
- Fat: 13.7 g
- Saturates: 9 g
- Carbohydrate: 61 g
- Of which sugars: 36.4 g
- Fibre : 2.1 g
- Protein: 3.4 g
- Salt: 0.23 g