Here’s a list of ingredients. Suspend your disbelief for a moment – imagine you’ve not seen a picture of a mince pie a few millimetres from these words – and play a little guessing game with us:

Name the dish.

Mince pies from www.bredbyfred.com

Ingredients: Lamb, beef, pork fat, beef suet, salt, quince, saffron and pepper.
You might be thinking of a savoury pie that will go straight to your hips. Those thinking outside the box might believe they combine in a fantasmagorical curry, or some other exotic Eastern-inspired dish.

You would, of course, be wrong.

Those ingredients – as well as a cheeky little frangipane, which is the spongey topping more usually associated with Bakewell Tart – feature in some of Shropshire’s finest mince pies.

Mince pies from Price's, in Ludlow, baked fresh each day

Let me explain. While supermarkets sell millions of mince pies over Christmas, Shropshire’s artisan producers are also busy in the kitchen. Producers and sellers like Fareground, Greenfields, Van Doseburg’s, Price’s The Bakers, Shrewsbury Bread, www.bredbyfred.com, Ludlow Food Centre and more besides are supplying locals with their festive fare.

Unlike the supermarkets, however, they don’t turn out generic one-tastes-the-same-as-the-next mince pies.

The bakers of Shropshire take great pride in wowing customers with recipes that are by turn inventive, traditional, historic and knock-your-socks-off luxurious.

Peter Cook, at the award-winning Price’s, off Ludlow’s Castle Square, says: “We make ours on site every day. You can’t buy fresher.”

Laura Bolt, from www.bredbyfred.com, uses roasted quince and shredded beef in her filling plus pork fat to make her pastry ultra short. The result is a gorgeously-indulgent, wickedly-luxurious handmade pie that could grace the tables of the nation’s finest restaurants.

Ed Van Doesburg adds frangipane toppings to his pies

Ed Van Doesburg, at Van Doseburg’s, in Shrewsbury, tops his pies with a light and fluffy frangipane topping. His pastry is rich and short while his fruity filling is deliciously sweet. “You have to make an effort,” he says.

Sandy Boyd, meanwhile, at Ludlow Food Centre, oversees the county’s most remarkable pies. The venue’s Clive Pies are made to a 250-year-old recipe and contain lamb and a blend of Eastern spices. The result is a wonderfully diverse selection of exquisite festive pies to help you through the Christmas season.

* Do you know of any other, better pies? Email us your suggestions.