This mince pie tastes delicious, but is it a mince pie?
Onwards, to the land of supermarket bakeries: where people in white hats put hundreds of frozen things through a large oven and package the emerging beigeness into plastic clamshell punnets (minus points for the plastic, although i’m sure they’re doing their very best to deliver a 10% reduction in plastic packaging by 2029 or something…)
What Tesco have given us here, for a mere quid, are 4 lattice top, puff pastry Mince Pies. Except, they’re basically Apple Pies. Light on the currants, sultanas, zest, peel & spice, heavy on the apple purée. There’s a slight cinnamon vibe, which obviously compliments the apple perfectly, but its a far cry from the traditional mincemeat blend. However, I ate two of these in as many minutes and they taste sublime. The pastry is light and crispy with a pleasant glaze and sugar coating. We’re not in deep fill country here but that’s fine, it keeps the pie light – probably why you could inhale all 4 in no time.
Earlier in the week, Tesco produced the first Pie of the Year contender with their traditional version with lattice top, and these are also bloody lovely. Perhaps I have a thing for lattices. Or lattai? – 8/10
The Mince Pie Review 