Popular Chch Bakery Wins Great NZ Xmas Mince Pie Competition

4 November 2014

Popular Christchurch Bakery Wins the Great New Zealand Xmas Mince Pie Competition

Popular Christchurch bakery Copenhagen have taken the top spot in the 2014 Great New Zealand Christmas Mince Pie Competition, winning $1000 worth of radio advertising and the coveted trophy which will be on display in their Harewood Road bakery for the next year.

Copenhagen Bakery owners John and Donna Thomsen were surprised at their win, but John says they had been hoping the judges focused on flavour, as that is the strong point of their Christmas Mince Pies. “We thought we’d try something new,” says John, “and add frangipane and pistachios and orange peel as a contrast with the richness of the fruit mince. It worked well and the staff liked it.” Pistachios and a cherry as well as a chocolate decoration added the finishing touches to the top of the fruit mince pie. “The green of the pistachios and the red of the cherry are Christmas colours and also create contrast,” John says.

John says they used to make their own fruit mince but now use Barkers fruit mince and add “a few bits and pieces” to it to make it distinctive. “We prebaked the frangipane and cut it out as discs and put the fruit mince on top. It’s not as much labour as it sounds. We thought of adding some colour to the frangipane but then decided to keep it natural. Fruit mince pies are quite rich so we kept them to a smaller size.” Copenhagen Bakery also makes smaller fruit mince pies for sale to cater for customers who prefer a bit sized treat, but the winning products will be on sale.

The winning entry was judged alongside Christmas Mince Pies from bakeries all over the country. Chief Judge Mike Meaclem says it was a very close competition this year. “There were only a few points separating the top entries. It has gone to the South Island this year, after being won by a North Island bakery last year. Congratulations to the winners for the outstanding flavour of their fruit mince. It was this that made the difference between the top two, as well as the detail on their pies like the pistachio nuts and the colour of the cherry and chocolate decoration.”

Mike Meaclem says the entries this year had clearly stepped up, with wonderful decoration and flavour profiles. He said the judges were generally impressed with the texture and flavour of the Christmas Mince Pies. “While it was nice to see some innovative decoration and this played a part, in the end it was all about flavour, flavour, flavour.”

The four judges were David Bradley, Tony Kessler, Ryan Marshall and Bill Bryce. David said there was a high degree of decoration applied, some lovely product and nice flavours. He noted the workmanship and high level of skill shown. David says the ideal Christmas Mince Pie has pastry that is not too thick, even flavours which are not too strong, but rather mellow and fruity. “There needs to be a good combination of flavours. The pastry should be short and not too dense, and not too dry.”

Bill Bryce says the majority of the entries were nicely baked, had a much higher standard of decoration than previously, and the bakers had obviously thought about flavour. “That’s a real plus. Some decorations went a bit too far and that affected how the product will eat. The intention of a Christmas Mince Pie is as a snack. Sometimes the decorations took them too far beyond this.” Bill felt the pastry was generally good, although some was a bit thick. He said the mince flavours were of a high standard with only the odd one a bit dry and needing more sugar syrup or alcohol. “The ratio of pastry to filling is important. If the filling is too dry and the pastry a bit thick there’s a problem.” He also noted that some of the pies has not been glazed or dusted with icing sugar which detracted from their appearance and appeal.

Tony Kessler said the decorations this year were very innovative and displayed some good technical skills, probably influenced by last year’s winner, Arobake who had an angel on each pie. “But the entrants need to watch that they don’t try too hard – keep it simple.” He noted that some of the pastry was too thick or too thin and that there should be more filling than pastry. In general he thought the flavours of the fruit mince were good although there were a few where too much alcohol had been added. He also mentioned that people eat with their eyes and that those pies which had not been glazed or dusted were not as appealing.

Ryan Marshall said it was obvious a lot of thought had been put into taking the entries from standard tartlets to something very appealing visually, with some very creative ideas. He said the taste of fruit mince filling when it is hot is different to when it is cold and that the development of flavours and strong spices especially when the mince is cold need to be taken in to account. “There was well balanced filling in some but there was inconsistency in the thickness and dryness of the pastry which made them dry and crumbly.” He also mentioned the necessity to finish the product with a glaze or fondant icing to give that extra appeal.

ENDS

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