For the past fortnight, the Good Food team has been working through all the Christmas supermarket exclusives for 2021 and we're still only halfway there.
The retailers haven't even launched their complete festive ranges yet – Coles' first turducken won't hit stores until December 18 and Woolworths has a few more savoury offerings under embargo for the same day.
Next week, we'll publish a full list featuring the good (Aldi's ham), the bad (cheese and salmon pastry puffs) and the ugly (turkey kiev balls) to help guide that final Christmas shop but, in the meantime, here are the top supermarket sweets we've discovered to date.
220g six-pack, $6
The worst part about supermarket mince tarts – besides cloying fruit and oily pastry – is too often the massive gap between pie filling and roof. Sometimes you can fit a whole extra tart in that space.
Coles has rectified this fault in 2021 by topping cherry brandy-soaked vine fruits with a coconut and almond crumble rather than a standard pastry lid. Smart. Also, pretty delicious!
220g six-pack, $9
Sticking with mince tarts, these guys might be Woolies' best effort to date. Davidson plum buzzes over the top of a warming apple and sultana fruit mince, cased in all-butter pastry made by Buonissimo, a family-owned bakery based in Sydney that has been supplying Woolworths since 2016. Attractive star-shaped lids and a light dusting of icing sugar makes these tarts more than suitable for a table display too.
125g, $5.99
The kind of hard candy butterscotch we don't see enough of these days, chopped into odd-sized bits and pieces and coated in chocolate. These will absolutely get stuck in your teeth and are essentially a fancy Fantale without the Michael Douglas biography.
250g, $4
Properly thick, delivering a dollop that stands to attention. The brandy and cream balance is bang-on to soften a boozy pud or brighten a dull one.
220g six-pack, $9
Another tart made under commission by Buonissimo Bakery, these pucks are filled with a sweet and fudgy mix of white chocolate, honey and Murray River salt flakes. A tumble of roasted macadamias top each treat and the end result tastes like a Milky Bar got fresh with dulce de leche.
900g, $17
If you're one of the 8 per cent of Australians who actually enjoy a wedding-style iced Christmas cake, then hi – welcome to the club! We meet once a year at the Cooma Multifunction Centre. A hot topic for conversation at the next AGM will be Aldi's admirable dabble in the marzipan-covered art, rich with glace cherries, sultanas and rum.
570g, $20
Well done, Coles. This is a super decadent (and very shiny) dessert log to whip out for afternoon tea over the holidays. Belgian dark chocolate provides the mousse with a depth of flavour uncommon to the supermarket sweets section, and of all items tried this is the one we keep returning to for seconds.
500g, $14
These buttery little moons are a little on the sweet side, but nothing a strong espresso or bitter amaro can't solve. Bonus points for the logo-free gold tin perfect for storing buttons.