Overall score: 8 out of 10
Being wider and shallower than the traditional mince pie gives no particular advantage to the Co-op Shortcrust offering. While eating it I did think it felt a little ‘mean’ but then you realise it’s wider so it balances out. Not sure why they’ve gone for this form factor.
Onto flavour, and overall it’s very nice indeed. There’s quite a bit of sugar on top and the shortcrust pastry is sweet anyway, but there’s significant tang from the mincemeat filling and that’s enough to balance it out.
The filling is moist but not overly so – it goes well with the slightly drier crumb of the shortcrust too actually.
I can see this being one of my favourites this year – and it’s only my second one. Nice work Co-op