The origins of the festive mince pie date back to the 13th and 14th centuries, when crusaders returning to England from the Middle East brought back dried fruits and spices such as cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. They began to mix these new ingredients with meat and alcohol in traditional savoury pies. Early versions of the Christmas mince pie were oval shaped to represent a manger, sometimes topped with a little dough figure to represent the baby Jesus. As sugar became more freely available in the Victorian era, the pies got sweeter and meat was phased out, although beef suet remained as the primary animal fat in most recipes.
We asked some of the top bakers in our region to describe their signature mince pies, and you can rest assured we’ll be working our way through the list in the lead-up to Christmas.
Pure Knead
38 Dean Street, Newcastle; Central Shopping Centre, Gosforth & 111 Park View, Whitley Bay, www.pure-knead.co.uk
Of course we wouldn’t forget Pure Knead, the bakery at the heart of our feature on pages 26-29. Their starry-topped mince pies are made with a sablé pastry and filled with their special homemade mincemeat. Owner Paula Watson says “They all laugh at me at work because I don’t get an advent calendar, I just have a mince pie every day in December and then on Christmas Eve I take six home. I just adore them!”
Adam’s Bakehouse
50 Beverley Terrace, Cullercoats; 14 Newgate Street, Morpeth & 26 Front Street West, Bedlington, www.instagram.com/adamsbakehousecoffee
Owner Adam Gladwin says: “Our melt-in-your-mouth sweet biscuity pastry mince pies are jam packed with currants, raisins, mixed dried peel, apple, a blend of Christmassy spices, citrus and glugs of brandy. They’re topped with our house festive crumble.” This year will be the bakery’s first Christmas in their new Cullercoats shop, bringing their festive treats to the coast.
Northern Rye
4 Riverside Walk, Ouseburn & 112 Little Bedford Street, North Shields, www.northern-rye.co.uk
Northern Rye mince pies are made with a rich, sweet short crust pastry and filled with their own apple and cranberry mincemeat, packed with mixed peel, brandy and whisky. Owner Robbie Livingstone explains: “Each September we make a fresh batch, but we always keep back around a third of the previous year’s mincemeat and fold it into the new mix.” Each pie is finished with a cardamom, brown sugar and sourdough crumble.
Pink Lane Bakery
40 Pink Lane, Newcastle; 232 High Street, Gosforth; 44 Acorn Road, Jesmond & 19 Newgate Street, Morpeth, www.pinklanebakery.co.uk
“Instead of a purely dark, heavy dried fruit mix, our filling features the vibrant, clean crunch of stewed Bramley or Granny Smith apples; their sharp, fruity tartness is countered by the fiery, syrup-soaked bite of diced stem ginger to deliver a warming heat,” head pastry chef Lindsey Quinn explains. “The buttery richness of the handmade sweet pastry is cut through by a sharp, sunny zip of orange zest.”
Grant’s Bakery
1 Market Place, Corbridge, www.grantsbakery.co.uk
Owned by master baker and patisserie chef Andrew Cotterell, Grant’s Bakery use a rich pastry made with French butter to give their mince pies a crisp, short bite. Their own recipe for the mincemeat uses Bramley apples for a hint of sharpness, dried cranberries and fresh orange and lemon zest to keep it bright rather than heavy. For their luxury mince pies they add chopped dried figs and a generous splash of cognac.
