HOW WE CONDUCTED OUR TASTE TEST
It's free and fair!
It's the most anticipated tasting of the year, the annual search for the best-tasting iced Christmas cake from five of the big retailers.
As such, we brought in the big guns, to be on our judging panel:
- Jane-Therese Mulry, the executive chef of the five-star Saxon hotel in Johannesburg, and her two pastry chefs, Catherine Adonis and Nathan Jacob;
- Chef Fritz Flatscher of Café Mozart, a top-notch confectioner;
- Chef Heinz Brunner and Unilever Food Solutions chef Pinky Maruping, who are seasoned tasters, particularly of Christmas fare.
As with all our tastings, this was a blind taste test, meaning the mince pies were stripped of their packaging, numbered and presented to the judges with no reference to the brand.
An auditor oversaw the entire process and tallied up the judges' score sheets.
THE RESULTS
FIRST PLACE: PICK N PAY
Luxury Iced Brandy Fruit Cake
Price: 1kg for R199.99
What the judges said:
- Chef Jacobs: The best of the lot we've tasted but nothing special.
- Chef Maruping: The cake looks perfect but is very dry.
- Chef Mulry: The best of the lot, nicely presented.
SECOND PLACE: WOOLWORTHS
Iced Brandy Fruit Cake
Price: R159.99
What the judges said:
- Chef Adonis: Crumbly texture and overwhelming almond essence flavour.
- Chef Brunner: Looks a bit pale, texture moist but lacking in flavour.
- Chef Maruping: Texture is too crumbly and falling apart. I can pick up the alcohol.
