Marks and Spencer gluten free crumpet - instant pizza

I used crumpets from Marks and Spencer this lunch time to make two 'deep-pan' style pizzas.   A little tomato paste, some dried herbs, reblochon cheese and pepperoni on the holey side after a brief toasting of the bottom, then back under the grill until the cheese melted.  Served with a little salad this made a quick lunch.  I didn't eat them (because of the cheese) but I was told they were good.

The crumpets contain eggs.

Marks and Spencer Truly Chocolate Belgian chocolate trufle torte- gluten free and delicious

Wow!  These little flourless puddings are amazing.  Heated for 40 seconds in the microwave you get a smooth intense chocolate pudding.  One between two people looks stingy but is enough.

Food photography is difficult at the best of times, but I simply couldn't take a shot of this that looked anything but weird.

These puddings were in the chilled section at Marks and Spencer, and actually have an orange 'gluten free' logo on the front as well as the helpful allergen box at the back.  Excellent as an indulgent treat or a desert for  dinner party.

You can eat them cold too.

Contain cows milk, eggs and soya.  Not suitable for those allergic to nuts due to manufacturing process.

gf Christmas pudding test; M&S, Tesco, Jenkins & Hustwit and Village Bakery...and the winner is Tesco!

Four Christmas puddings to try at once.  They are very different, surprisingly so.  I microwaved them all, after being a little peeved that the instructions on the Jenkins & Hustwit (J&H) one said to 'microwave according to instruction manual'.  Who has their instruction manual to hand?  I just cooked it for the same time as the Village Bakery (VB) pudding which was almost the same size.

The Village Bakery pudding offered a choice when cooking - to add either a teaspoon of brandy or fruit juice before cooking.  I thought that was a nice touch.  This was 200g. £3.99

The M&S pudding was an individual 100g portion, though I find that it does for two. £2.00

The J&H pudding is 210g. £4.79

The Tesco pudding was a family size 454g. £3.99

All the puddings released easily from their tubs after heating.

Flavour and texture:
V&B: this had a waxy damp look when it came out of the tub.  When I cut it large pieces of fruit were visible, and it cut a bit messily - fine for a pudding.  I thought the initial flavour was citrusy but Rod thought it tasted of chicken - a bit odd for a vegan pudding. After the first burst of flavour I was disconcerted by the odd grainy texture.  We wouldn't buy this again.  I regard Village Bakery as a company that makes good products, and visually this was inviting with the pieces of peel and nuts showing, but the flavour and mouth feel were not good.

J&H:  This pudding had a dry look when taken out of its tub.  It cut very neatly.  I didn't like the odd aromatic flavour.  The texture was good, light and not cloying, with all the fruit part of the pudding rather than distinct pieces.  An acceptable pudding.

M&S: This pudding is damper than the previous two, with a good rounded dark spicy caramel flavour. It had distinct pieces of fruit and nut but they were not intrusive.  It was not cloying or gritty, though I did have something hard in mine- perhaps a bit of shell?  A pleasant pudding I would be happy to take to an event - being a single portion makes this useful as a 'handbag food'.

Tesco:  This pudding looked shiny and damp when turned out of its pot.  It had a slightly bouncy gluey feel to the knife compared to the M&S pudding, but it has a moist and pleasant mouth feel.  It isn't claggy or gritty.  It has a good, well rounded fruity, citrus, spicy flavour.

We found it hard to choose between the Tesco and M&S pudding.  I think it would depend on how many people I wanted to feed more than anything else.  I marginally prefer the Tesco pudding but if I wanted one for myself only I would certainly buy the M&S pudding. Checking the prices I see Tesco Free From also do a double pack of 100g pudding for £2.50.

Neither of us liked the other two - I think they will find their way to the bin rather than the fridge after this test.

So, the winner is Tesco for this household.

Gluten free mince pies: M&S, FreeFrom and Hale & Hearty

It is nearly Christmas and the stores are full of red and green-wrapped seasonal food..much of which is unsuitable for people who cannot tolerate wheat and gluten.  However, there is an increasing range of gluten free food readily available so I decided to run some comparisons.  Today I tested three mince pies, two bought from a speciality store - the kind that sells both rice cakes and vast arrays of vitamins, and the other from Marks and Spencers.  I have been increasingly impressed with the efforts MandS are making to minimise allergens where they really are not needed in a recipe. In doing so they are making many prepared foods available to people like me, so that we don't always have to cook from basic ingredients.

For readers outside the UK, a mince pie is pastry filled with a rich spicy mixture of dried fruits, traditionally eaten at Christmas.

We tested the three mince pies both hot and cold, and considered flavour, texture and ease of handling. All three, I am pleased to say, would be acceptable both hot and cold.  However, they did differ quite a bit, on these three characteristics and also in their packaging.

Prices for a box of four:
M and S £2.49
Hale and Hearty £3.85
OK Foods £2.25

cold pies cut in half

hot pies cut in half

These three mince pies looked quite different, which made it easy to remember which was which in the testing.  The MandS one is an open tart with a small spice-dusted marzipan star on top.  The HandH one is also open, but has a pastry star dusted with icing sugar.  The OK one is a closed tart with a full pastry lid.

The flavours and handling characteristics of these tarts differed when they were hot and cold.

M&S mince pie

MandS: these tarts looked pretty though the filling looked a bit stingy.  They had a soft almost pliable pastry which made them easy to handle, and a rich spicy filling.  The flavour of the nutmeg was quite strong, and it might almost be too much for people who don't like spice - I found my own homemade mince one year, made to my taste with lots of spice, was not enjoyed by my sister.  Given the strong flavour of the filling the tarts did not need any more filling to be balanced.  The marzipan star was firm and gave an interesting contrast to the light pastry and the gooey filling.  These were good hot and cold, but the tart citrusy flavour didn't come out in the cold tart.

These tarts are presented in a cardboard box without an interior cellophane wrap.  They had a shelf life of about a week from when I bought them.  They can be frozen and used within a month.

Other allergens: nuts, cow's milk and eggs.

Hale & Hearty mince pie

Hale andHearty
These mince pies are not only gluten and wheat free but also contain no soya, milk or sulphites and are suitable for vegetarians.  While they say gluten free they also say tested to below 20ppm, which suggests they are possibly made in a facility which also handles wheat and so might not be suitable for super sensitives.  I haven't had any reaction yet and ate these half an hour ago, so judging by my delicate system they are ok.  Update from company Just to assure you that our mince pies are made in a dedicated gluten free facility and are milk free too!
20ppm means we comply Food Standards.
These tarts come in two separate cellophane wraps inside the cardboard box, so would be excellent for slipping into your bag to take to a party.  They have a shelf life of five months from when I purchased them.

These tarts were the prettiest, I think, with the pastry shell filled to the very top with the mincemeat and a white dusting of icing sugar.  They held together very well both when hot and cold. If you were having a party and didn't want crumbs all over the place these would be the ones to go for. The filling was mellow and well balanced- it didn't have the punch of the MandS one but I think anyone who liked mincemeat would find this acceptable,  My tasting partner, who isn't gf, said these were what he would expect from a mince pie.

OK foods mince pie

The OKfoods mince pies are also dairy free.  These lidded mince pies were firm and succulent, but crumbled especially when hot.  It was difficult getting the pie out of the foil, and the lid came off. They would be good as a hot pudding with custard or cream.  The fruity mixture was treacley with no pronounced spikes of flavour. They were the cheapest as well, though not much cheaper than the MandS tarts.

Other allergens are nuts and sulpher dioxide and may contain traces of egg and peanut. They had a shelf life of three months from when I bought them.



In general I was very impressed with these tarts.  They are vastly superior to anything available in the stores a few years ago.  I would be happy to be served any of them.  My personal favorite was the Hale and Hearty as it was the perfect mince pie in texture and flavour, and was so easy to handle.  For a bit more drama the MandS one was a close second, but I think more people would find it over-spiced and might be startled by the flavour.  As a fresh food it also takes more organising to have available for an impromptu party.

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and after I got posted this I got sent  a link by Living Streets charity to a mincepie calculator ( how many have you burnt off by walking)  ...and if you enter soon you get a chance to win a Kindle..easier to read when walking than paperbacks as you can make the text big.

Guests to tea and no baking

I have been trying to give up my obsession with baking.  Doesn't feel the same in my tiny new kitchen and there isn't anywhere to freeze supplies if I bake in bulk.

I was having visitors yesterday afternoon and bought baked goods from M&S and my local speciality foods (allergy etc) store.   I was astonished that two of the biscuits from different manufacturers looked identical except for the colour (one was coffee flavoured) but was told this was perfectly normal.  I thought it suggested a single maker and branding - not that I object, was just surprised.

I was never much of a fan of ordinary shop-bought biscuits, especially after one Christmas where we went skiing in a hurry and left some foods on the table, coming back to find that the mice had managed to get up onto what we thought was a mouse proof zone, and had eaten all the biscuits that were like home made ones and the open tin of standard biscuits hadn't been touched,  I figure if mice think biscuits aren't food that is sufficient information for me to stay away.

A quick trip to M&S and I came away with an almond frangipan cake and some pecan, chocolate and caramel shortbread type biscuits made with cornmeal.  The frangipan good, moist and held together adequately, and had no odd ingredients.  The shortbread was gritty, as things made with cornmeal often are.  I do use cornmeal in a mix with other ingredients, but do find it difficult to find fine-milled cornmeal rather than course ground.  The general view was the topping was good but the grittiness was unpleasant.  I found the topping too sweet.  I would be happy to buy both of these in the future.

The biscuits were plain and coffee flavoured simple biscuits - the kind I think of as dull.  They were boring in flavour and texture, and they went to a slightly claggy paste in the mouth.  My gluten eater who gave me feedback said they were ok.  I suspect for people who want a biscuit with a cup of milky sweet tea they would be fine.

The lemon wafers were astonishing.  My gluten eater who gave me feedback said they seemed like a fishy lemon flavour.  I didn't notice the fishiness, but the lemon oil flavour was overwhelming.  I have bottles of oils for use in massage and these wafers were exactly like neat lemon oil which I sometimes use as a room scent if I need to concentrate.  So - too much like a floor cleaner is probably the easiest way to think of them. The texture was very entertaining, crisp then melted.  If your mouth is yearning for a wafer these will be a good purchase.

The weird flavours and textures didn't stop me munching quite a few of these over the course of the afternoon and evening.

So, a whole bit of text about food that I haven't made myself in my gf kitchen and so far no mention of guts.  Too late.  Spent a good chunk of the night on the loo, and feeling a bit ropey this morning,  No idea what caused the problem as these foods didn't have anything I know causes trouble, especially in small quantities.  I haven't been glutened as I don't have the fever and rash and all the other symptoms.  Perhaps I am just suffering from greed.

The amazing thing about this offering of cakes and biscuits is that it was possible, and I didn't even buy some of everything available.  There is now a choice of gf treat food available from normal high street stores, the packaging looks as if the manufacturers think of it as food and not DIY products, and the quality is acceptable.  If I had given up gluten recently rather than several years ago I would probably never have spent those hundreds of hours searching for an acceptable way to make baked goods.  I still think my flour mix is superior to the others available, and I still regret the industries liberal use of gums to provide cohesion, but things have come a long way.

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the weird lemony wafers give me gut ache so won't be buying them again.  The other biscuits are just too uninteresting to be worth the house space...but if you don't like baking you could at least use them as the base for a cheesecake or make that muddled up thing with chocolate and marshmallows.  The cakes were the best of the lot.