Liverpool residents will eat more mince pies this Christmas than anyone else

Liverpool residents will eat more mince pies this Christmas than anyone else in the country.

A 'mince pie map' of the UK, based on a survey of 2,000 adults, revealed Liverpudlians will munch down 20 mince pies per person this festive season.

This is five pies more than the national average of 15 – and almost twice as many as Southampton or Glasgow, which came bottom of the list of mince pie maniacs.

Those in Leeds will swallow 16, making them the second biggest mince pie enthusiasts, followed by Birmingham and Bristol.

And this week marks the moment most Brits say it is acceptable to tuck into their first mince pie of the festive season – with the nation set to consume an astonishing 781,177,935 mince pies in total this Christmas.

One in four Brits won't let a mince pie pass their lips until December 2nd – although 13 per cent admit they have been eating them since October.

The data was released by family-owned Konditor (formerly Konditor & Cook), who have been hand making mince pies from their kitchen for their London stores for the last 25 years – the city which only placed eighth on the list of mince pie consumption.

Gerhard Jenne, co-owner of Konditor said: "Tucking into a mince pie is truly a sign that Christmas is on the way.

"Everyone seems to have an opinion on mince pies and comment on when we are eating the first one of the year.

"Our survey found the nation as a whole loves a mince pie and our mission is to bring people together over our cakes and mince pies to help spread that joy."

The study also found 22 per cent of adults think mince pies are best served up on their own, unadorned with any kind of topping.

But if there must be an accompaniment, double cream was chosen as the best option – with twice as many votes as custard.

One in 10 would go for clotted cream, and two per cent even like to eat their mince pies with cheese.

Having your first mince pie of the year was picked by one in five Brits as something they look forward to most about the festive period.

And 31 per cent daydream about all the different and delicious foods they'll be gorging on during the season.

It also emerged 26 per cent can't wait to put on Christmas music, and 33 per cent are looking forward to loved ones opening their carefully purchased gifts.

Another fifth say watching Christmas movies is their favourite part of the season, according to the OnePoll research.

Paul Cons, CEO and co-owner of www.konditor.co.uk , said: "We've handmade over 2.5 million mince pies in our time, and will make at least 200,000 more this year.

"The fever for them will ramp up and we expect Saturday December 21st to be the busiest of the year in terms of mince pie sales.

"We don't have a store in Liverpool for residents to stock up on their 20 mince pies, but it is possible to order our Great Taste Award-winning pies online instead with nationwide delivery.

"And lucky Londoners can pay us a visit, we're confident they'll eat more than their usual 15 if they do."

How to serve the perfect Mince Pie -by Konditor's Master Baker, Gerhard Jenne

The key to making the perfect mince pie is great pastry, with the right balance of flavours in the filling – and never serving them with hot chocolate because it's too sweet.

If you cannot wait, eat them cold as they are delicious either way. But if you have access to an oven, pre-heat it to 160C fan, then warm them on a baking tray for 4-5 minutes.

Mince pies are great without accompaniment. If you want to pass ours off as your own, dust them lightly with icing sugar and say: "I just finished them"

If a topping is needed you can't go wrong with a dollop of clotted cream. Ideally nothing overly sweet as you will mask the subtle flavours of the fruit and spices.

They're perfect with a cup of Yorkshire tea or a warming glass of mulled wine.

The biggest Mice Pie fans in the country – and how many they'll eat this winter

Liverpool 20
Leeds 17
Birmingham 16
Bristol 16
Manchester 16
Sheffield 16
Leicester 15
London 15
Edinburgh 14
Belfast 13
Newcastle 13
Plymouth 12
Norwich 11
Glasgow 11
Southampton 11

• Christmas

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