Check out the winners as we put festive mince pies to the taste test

BAKERS are on top form this year with the best mince pies ever to suit many tastes. Given the high standard this year, we had to leave out quite a few from supermarkets whose pastry was a bit claggy due to the use of ingredients added for longer shelf life, writes Roz Crowley.

I was delighted to see our tasters recognising the high quality of smaller batches baked with an emphasis on low additive ingredients, often with their own interesting additions.

Many tied for second place. Despite different pastries, styles and innovations, blind tasters gave overall identical marks.