It's what's on the inside that counts.

The results of a two month research programme, during which life, limb and tooth were sacrificed for the greater good, are finally in. 25 varieties tasted and tested and a whole lot of debate, argument and violence went into the final decision.

There were rules. Of a sort. We had to test the pie, not drown it in a sea of cream, custard or whisky. It had to be served cold, on its own – not wrapped up in anything fancy or placed in the mouth by a beautiful man or woman. These pies, in other words, had to be good on their own. Everyone had their own criteria (and that’s something we’ll work on for next year) so for some it was a matter of whether they could taste the booze (thanks Jeni) or whether they gave good recourse to the Rennie pills (thanks Dave). Some wanted a specific sensation for the pastry whilst others just wanted a good all-rounder.

Strangely enough, I was the only person to taste 99% of the pies. But my opinion didn’t carry any more weight.

Although in the end, I did.

Enough of pre-snack speech. On with the results. In reverse order:

20. JOINT Cake Collection (Netto) & Cake Collection Iced (Netto)
19. CO-OP
18. Marks and Spencer Luxury All Butter
17. Aldi Specially Selected
16. Marks and Spencer Lattice
15. Sainsburys
14. Mr. Kipling
13. JOINT Walkers Glenfiddich & Tesco Deep Filled
12. Aldi Holly Lane
11. Mayall / Birds Rustic Mince coins
10. Booths All Butter
9. Marks and Spencer Deep Filled
8. JOINT CO-OP Luxury & Sainsburys Taste the Difference
7. Marks and Spencer Connoisseur
6. Booths Minis
5. Costco
4. Asda All Butter
3. Greggs
2. Tesco finest
1. Buckley’s Uppermill (Carl’s local bakery)

And there you have it. Very pleased that a local baker won out. Very sorry to see my own baking attempt slide off the bottom scale.

Until next year

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