Skip to main content
Dessert

Mock Mince Pie

A pie made with crackers, raisins, molasses, cider, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Mock Mince Pie

Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Mock Mince Pie

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the filling

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. In a large bowl, combine rolled crackers, cinnamon, boiled cider, molasses, cloves, chopped raisins, sugar, vinegar, hot water, and nutmeg.

  3. In another bowl, mix dried currants, allspice, sour cream, and egg.

  4. Combine both mixtures and stir well.

Bake and serve

  1. Pour the filling into two pie crusts.

  2. Bake until set and golden brown.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  5. Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rolled crackers
Soak up liquid and give the filling body in place of meat and suet.
Molasses
Adds dark sweetness and a deep, rich flavor to the filling.
Sour cream
Adds fat and tang, keeping the filling moist and tender as it bakes.
Egg
Binds the filling so it sets firm when baked.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and helps it brown during baking.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the sweet, spiced flavors.

The step that matters

Bake until set and golden brown. The egg proteins must coagulate to firm the filling, but over-baking can make it dry and cause the sour cream to curdle or weep. Check for a set center and a light golden top rather than relying on time alone.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cinnamon, cider, molasses, clove, sugar, vinegar, nutmeg):

  1. Applefits about as well
  2. Figfits about as well
  3. Raisinthe original
  4. Vanillafits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against cinnamon, cider, molasses, clove, sugar, vinegar, nutmeg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Molasses CookiesMolasses Cookies96 recipesMolasses CakeMolasses Cake90 recipesCinnamon RollsCinnamon Rolls71 recipesRed Currant JellyRed Currant Jelly65 recipes