We realise that quite a few people get a bit bah-humbug at this time of year but here at Hot Dinners, we are very excited about the onset of the Christmas season. And one of the reasons is the return of the great Mince Pie Project, where some of the biggest names in restaurants join together to produce some fine festive fare and earn loads for charity in the process.
Each of the chefs taking part will create two boxes of mince pies of their own special making - previous years including sweet potato mincemeat, mince pie macarons and deep fried pies. One box will be put up for auction, and the other will be raffled away. So anyone has a chance of winning and bragging about having the ultimate mince pie this Christmas for only £2 a ticket.
This year's chefs include Michel Roux Jr, Michael Caines, Marcus Wareing, Tom Aikens, Raymond Blanc, Mark Sargeant, Nobu's Regis Cursan, Sat Bains, Hix's Ronnie Murray, Scotch Egg Challenge winners the British Larder and loads more yet to be revealed - with a total of 100 sets being made.
Other chefs include Dan Doherty from Duck & Waffle, Fiona Cairns, Sam & Sam Clark from Moro, Lily Vanilli and Carl Clarke (who is making a deep-fried mince pie!).
The project is in its third year, having raised £30k last Christmas is looking to earn just as much this year for charities Food Cycle and Kids Company. As chefs are somewhat competitive creatures, expect them to be doing their best to get the highest bids, and beat last year's figure.
The auction starts at noon on 6th December. You'll also get the chance to donate to one of the charities and be entered into the raffle too.
For more information on the project, follow @mincepieproject and check out their website.
