We love apple pies in our house, so this was a fun taste test. Bramley apple pies are fairly basic, so we weren't expecting much difference, and we didn't find much difference. Over several tastings the favourites would change, though one constant was that the two brand names, Lyons and Mr Kipling, both came out lower each time.
Eating any of these apple pies by themselves, and they taste fine. Even the lowest rated one, Mr Kipling and Lyons, are tasty pies, and eaten by themselves anyone would be happy enough, though its worth noting that both the Lyons and Mr Kipling has the lowest amount of apple, and both were more expensive than the others.
Nearly all the pies had some form of apple shape on top, except Lyons and Asda. Tesco is the neatest and most attractive. Asda we found the least visually appealing. Opinions were divided on the Lyons, which for some had a cute home-made look, while others found it looked nothing like an apple pie, and that it was too small.
On cutting them in half, some could be seen to be visibly fuller with apple than others. The two fullest looking are Tesco and Sainsbury's, Tesco has the highest proportion of filling (50%) compared to the others, though Sainsbury's at 46% was just below average. Mr Kipling looked half empty, and had the second lowest apple content at 45%. Lyons looked reasonably full, but only had 38% apple. Lyons pies were also the smallest, and were the only ones not to use bramley apples.
When I reviewed Aldi Holly Lane Bramley Apple Pies last year, I commented on the fat and sugar content, based on information I got off the internet it appeared they had higher than average fat and sugar content. Well, on looking at the information contained on the boxes themselves, I see that Aldi is fairly average. The fat content ranges from 12% (Tesco) to 15% (Asda and Lyons), while Aldi has 14%; the sugar content ranges from 24% (Sainsbury's and Lyons) to 27% (Tesco and Aldi). There's hardly anything in it.
Prices ranges from 69p for Aldi and Lidl, to £1.45 for Mr Kipling. The usual price was £1.00.
After several blind tastings it was Tesco which won as the most appealing and most tasty, though Lidl and Aldi were both very close behind, and on some tastings were top that day. The consistently low performers were Asda, Lyons, and Mr Kipling.
Overall most appealing: Tesco
Overall most tasty: Tesco
Runners-up: Aldi and Lidl
Best value: Aldi and Lidl
Ones to avoid: Asda, Lyons, and Mr Kipling
Conclusion: There's really not a lot in it, but you can save money and have better tasting apple pies if you avoid the brand names and go for the supermarket own label (Rowan Hill is the own brand label for Lidl, and Holly Lane is the own brand label for Aldi). The budget supermarkets Lidl and Aldi have excellent quality apple pies at the lowest price, so we would say buy them with confidence.
Date: March 2017
