Mr Kipling Dessert Classics: Mississippi mud pies

Product name: Mr Kipling Dessert Classics: Mississippi mud pies
Purchase details: £1.00 for a box of six pies (Tesco)
Calories: 211 per pie
Country of origin: Britain

So the honour of being the first product reviewed on my blog goes to: Mr Kipling Dessert Classics: Mississippi mud pies.

These pies are described as ‘Light pastry cases filled with rich chocolate flavoured mousse.’.  I first heard about this product a couple of months ago, but it took me several weeks to track them down, with tesco.com eventually coming to the rescue.

Now, I have to admit, I don’t recall ever having had an actual Mississippi mud pie, and so I won’t be able to comment on whether this Mr Kipling version lives up to the title. However, I have to say that these mini treats are pretty special in their own right!

On opening the box, the pies looked very appealing, despite the decorative ‘sugar sprinkles’ appearing to be everywhere.

I decided to try my first pie at room temperature. Slightly disappointingly, the aroma at this point was very mild and was almost non-existent. However, once I took my first bite, all was forgiven. The chocolatey filling was lovely and gooey and very enjoyable.

Traditionally, the pastry on pies like this is my least favourite part, and this product was no exception. However, the usual, soft and slightly crumbly Mr Kipling pastry used here did combine well with the other flavours and textures on offer, with a slight buttery taste adding to the pleasure factor, without taking away from the strong chocolate flavour emanating from the rest of the pie. I would perhaps like to see less of an ‘edge’ to the pastry case though.

I kept my box of remaining pies in an airtight container and I was delighted, when I next opened the box, to be hit with a strong bakery aroma which had been lacking when I first opened the packaging.

In the name of research, I decided to take the advice given on the product box, and try some of the pies warm. It would be fair to say that ten seconds in the microwave transformed these pies. When heated, they emitted a bit more of a chocolatey smell, and the filling became that bit richer and reminded me of the chocolate puddle puddings I used to eat as a child. Although the box describes this filling as a ‘mousse’, I thought it seemed more like molten cake – delicious!

Heating the pies also provided the added surprise of a sticky caramel-like sauce that oozed out when cut into. This is where it became apparent that the quantity of pastry was just right as there was no leakage to indicate what was waiting inside. As a result, I made the mistake of consuming my first warm pie with my fingers. Needless to say, things got a bit messy!

I found that the icing and the sprinkles offered the same characteristics whether hot or cold. The ‘chocolate flavoured’ icing was sweet and not overly chocolatey, which I considered to be a good thing, since the rich filling provided enough of a chocolate ‘hit’ on its own. I felt that that there was just the right amount of icing to add a slight chewiness but without making the pies too sickly-sweet. As for the sprinkles, I did not expect these to be a necessary addition to the pies, but I was wrong! Although they did not add much in terms of flavour, the crunch they provided was a pleasant offset to the overall soft, gooey texture.

On the whole, I was impressed by this Mr Kipling offering, with their versatility being an added bonus.

Exceedingly good? I’d say so!

 
Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 6/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 9/10
Overall score: 7.5/10