THE BEST MINCE PIES IN LONDON

Toklas Bakery

From the acclaimed bakery at Toklas, you’ll find a fabulously flaky shortcrust pastry encasing mince meat packed with home-candied pomelo peel from the Todolí Citrus Fundacio. Quinces are slowly roasted, before they’re mixed with Bramley and Braeburn apples, a healthy splash of brandy and heady mixed spices. So good, that in 2022 the bakery sold out.

Price: £3.20 to takeaway, £3.90 to each in
Available: late November
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Pump St. Bakery

Available online for nationwide delivery, Pump Street Bakery is offering customers around the country the chance to taste the finest Suffolk mince pies this year. The bakers at Pump Street go the extra mile to ensure the flakiest crust and moreish middles, with the hyper-local ingredients playing a pivotal role in adding distinctive flavour and texture. The mincemeat is made using baked apples from High House Farm located just 2 miles from the Suffolk bakery, the oh-so-familiar Vostizza currants found in the synonymous eccles cakes along with raisins, sultanas, lemon and orange peel, and finally a delicate balance of spice and plenty of brandy. A top tip from the team… we use pastel de nata moulds to ensure our pastry is thin and filling is deep!

Price: 6 for £18.50, 12 for £37
Available: now, for order via pumpstreetbakery.com for nationwide delivery.
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Pophams

This year, the bakers at Pophams are bringing back their famous mince pies in collaboration with The Kings Ginger, available across all three London bakeries in Islington, London Fields and Victoria Park. Boozy, buttery, flakey and creamy, Pophams’ pies contain a classic mix of currants, raisins, sultanas apple and suet, along with plenty of rich spices, candied peel and citrus that has been steeped in a heady amount of The King's Ginger. The team feed the mincemeat daily with The Kings Ginger liqueur for two months as it matures. The pastry is laminated with 18 layers of Normandy butter and then filled with Cornish clotted cream mixed with an extra hit of The Kings Ginger liqueur - the perfect croissant-based Christmas treat.

Price: £3.50 each, £20 for 6
Available: 1st December, in-store or pre-order online via pophamsbakery.com
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Fortitude Bakehouse

Fortitude’s founder and Head Baker, Dee Rettali, has been fermenting her mince meat for two years - which is why the craft bakehouse’s pies are a cut above the rest. Having gained viral notoriety for their wider menu of ferment forward bakes, Dee uses miso to kick-start the fermentation process, adding the usual suspects of currants, apples and more and a secret ingredient - Guinness. Baked into the classic shortcrust, fans of Fortitude can also get their hands on a Mince pie galette - a puff pastry masterpiece of almond frangipane topped with mincemeat and custard.

Price: £3.25
Available: from late November
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St. JOHN Bakery

Long-awaited and avidly adored, St. JOHN’s mince pies are a thing of legend. The pastry is firm, yet giving, the filling thick and textured, rich with brandy yet never sickly-sweet. It’s with good reason that these beauties boast such a loyal following. Once they’re home, do as Fergus does and eat yours warm with a thick Jersey cream and a pour of Madeira.

Price: £3
Available: from 1st December, all St. JOHN locations.
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Ottolenghi

Ottolenghi's mince pies are a Christmas classic. The pastry is kept flaky and tender thanks to the amount of butter and enriched egg yolks within the recipe. Inside, the mincemeat, made in August for extra maceration time, includes dried fruits, apples, and spices soaked in heaps of rum and brandy for depth of flavour, with lemon zest for an added lift. Find them in all Ottolenghi delis (Chelsea, Marylebone, Spitalfields, Notting Hill and Islington) from 27th November. Ottolenghi.co.uk

Price: £3.40 takeaway, £4.50 eat in
Available: from 27th November.
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For more information please contact jess@gemmabellandcompany.com