Mince Pie Project raises £39,000 for charity as Neil Rankin takes top spot
The Mince Pie Project has raised more than £39,000 for charities fighting child poverty, with chef Neil Rankin of London's Smokehouse raising the most money.
Returning for its third year, after raising £30,000 last Christmas, The Mince Pie project saw 100 top chefs each create two boxes of signature mince pies of their own design. One box was auctioned to the highest bidder while the second box was put up for raffle, in which anyone could get involved with a £2 donation per ticket.
This year's Mince Pie Project ended at 2pm today [13 December], raising a massive £39,218 for charities Kids Company and FoodCycle.
Rankin raised the most money for his bacon, bourbon & butterscotch mince pies, which went for £2,512 in total.
Adam Byatt of Clapham's Trinity restaurant started the final day in first position, but was eventually beaten by Rankin, while Pont Street's Sophie Michell came second with a total £2,274 raised.
Other chefs to take part included Michel Roux Jr, Michael Wignall, Mark Hix, Tom Aikens and Raymond Blanc.
Mince pie creations included a ‘Mincey Pienut' (mince pie and doughnut hybrid) from Alyn Williams of The Westbury, a deep-fried mince pie from Disco Bistro's Carl Clarke and a volcano inspired molten mince pie from Regis Cursan of Nobu.
Peter Butler, the founder of the project said: "What a great year! Thanks to all the chefs for taking part and putting so much effort into creating some really unique and special mince pies. We're really proud to have raised so much money for two great charities. Bring on 2014!"
