Amazon’s smart screens have been updated with a new default recipe skill in the UK – BBC Good Food. We take it for a spin with a festive bake – and bakes don’t come more seasonal or British than mince pies!
If it really is the most wonderful time of the year, we’re pretty sure mince pies have something to do with that. Short, crumbly pastry, a dusting of powdered sugar, the sweet festive spiced hit of fruity gloop breaking through the cracked shell. Ugh – mind passing a napkin? These mince pies are a messy business.
But if you haven’t baked your own, you haven’t experienced them at their finest. Thankfully, Alexa is on-hand to help. Paired with the new BBC Good Food skill, Amazon devices like the Echo Show can serve up step-by-step recipes at your beck and call. As seasoned mince pie makers though – we’re here to ask and answer the question – is it any good?
Alexa: “Okay, for mince pie, here are a few recipes.”
Good start! But what’s on screen?
1. Unbelievably easy mince pies. 2. Cottage pie. 3. No-fuss shepherd’s pie. 4. Little mince pie cakes. 5. Mince pies (by Paul Hollywood). 6. Chunky mince pie slices. 7. Mince pie baklava. 8. Mince pie martini. 9. Multi mince. 10. Mince pie trees.
Not bad going! Only three out of the top ten recipes involved actual meat, and a good few gave us fun variations on a theme. Recipes are paired with a nice, big, high-res picture as well as the name of the chef behind the – in this case – pie.
There’s also a star rating, and that dictates the order recipes are displayed in, so even if it did put a cottage pie recipe in at number two, at least it’s a very highly rated cottage pie. Finally, rough cooking time is displayed alongside the star rating.
We only listed the top ten, but our search for mince pies pulled no less than 23 results, with number 22 being a recipe for vegan mince pies. Firstly – that’s pretty niche, well done Alexa. Secondly – no butter or suet? Can’t be… we’re going to have to try these out.
