I have mentioned a couple of times that I’m doing a taste test of Tesco mince pies, and that post will be up on Monday or Tuesday next week.

Because there is no such thing as too many mince pies as far as I’m concerned, I bought a box of brandy mince pies from my beloved Graces Bakery.

It’s a bit of a spoiler (sorry), but I haven’t yet had a mince pie from Tesco that has been more than OK. The Graces ones are… well, they’re definitely better than OK.

They’re clearly handmade, varying in shape, and some have mincemeat bubbling up round the edges. The pastry is good – perhaps a little thick on the base, which gives structural integrity but makes them a touch heavier than I would ideally like. It tastes nice, though, and the top has a good crunch to it from the sugar liberally sprinkled over it.

The mincemeat inside is just nice. It’s mostly raisins, with a hint of spice and booze, and not loaded with candied peel like some mass-produced ones I could name. (Yes, you, Tesco Finest.)

I’ve still got a few Tesco ones to try, but I know which ones I’ll be eating on Christmas Day. If you’re on the Island, grab some of these: they’re the next best thing to homemade¹.

1. Which I might do next year, but won’t happen this year now. ↩︎