Christmas is here, time to sit back and enjoy those mince pies – did we mention they contain Bramley Apples?

‘Tis the Season’

Decorating the tree, hanging up stockings and spending time with friends and family, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. One of the best things about the festive season is all of the delicious treats we get to enjoy, after all it does only come around once a year.

As 2020 comes to a close we think there’s nothing more you deserve than a couple of mince pies. Mince pies are a long lived Christmas tradition, they come with a short buttery crust, a generous helping of fruit and spices, all topped off with a sprinkle of icing sugar.

And if you’re lucky – washed down with a hot mulled wine!

What Makes Mince Pies So Delicious?

Mince pies are the essence of Christmas, with their richness, sense and spices. The best ones have a delicate pastry and hot filling. The recipe was actually developed as a way to preserve meat with the use of salt or smoke.

The mincemeat is mixed in with dry fruits, traditional flavours like cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, before being baked into small handheld delights. 

There’s many secrets to a good mince pie but one ingredient they all contain is apples, Bramley apples to be exact. Bramley apples are known to be a cook’s favourite with a firm texture that’s just perfect for home baking.

The bramley apple contains low levels of sugar and high levels of malic acid giving it its distinctive flavour. When cooked it has sweet tangy taste that will just melt in your mouth. Bramley apples are the perfect addition to mince pie filling, a balance of flavours that will make it incredibly hard to have just one…

Glass Brothers Bramley Apples

At Glass Brothers, we specialise in Bramley apples. What makes our apples so unique is the innovative growth and harvest process. Not to mention we provide complete traceability from our Co. Armagh orchards to the finished product.

We produce everything from pie fillings to sliced/diced apple, apple puree and milled apple.  All of our apples are grown onsite and our spray programmes are overseen by field experts. It’s a carefully managed process which allows for maximum yield and tasty produce.

Once this part of the apple processing is complete, we place bees in our orchards for essential pollination.  Then when the apples are fully grown, they’re harvested and stored. Our harvesting usually takes place in the autumn months starting in mid-September until the end of October. It’s a careful process which we choose to complete by hand and completely managed by us.

Pie Fillings

Our ready to use apple filling is blended with a mix of starch and sugar. The apple pie filling can then be easily added to your favourite recipe – for a simple and convenient bake. Our Bramley apples can be processed to your specification for baked or ready to eat applications. 

At Glass Brothers we always work closely with our customers to ensure they have the perfect apple for their product – providing continuous service to happy clients for over 40 years.