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Mince Pie

A savory pie filling made with suet, minced meat, dried fruit, spices, cider, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 17 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Mince Pie

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mincemeat

  1. In a large pot, combine suet, mince meat, raisins, currants, citron, chopped apples, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, syrup, cider, cinnamon, pepper, salt, sugar, and lemon juice and rind.

  2. Stir all ingredients together and bring to a boil.

  3. Once boiling, transfer the mixture to a jar and let it cool.

Finish the pies

  1. When ready to make pies, add 1 tablespoon of brandy to each pie filling.

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.

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

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Ginger + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,324 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

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

  5. Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,774 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Suet
Adds richness and a moist, tender texture to the filling.
Mince meat
Forms the base of the filling, giving body and savoury depth.
Raisins
Add sweetness and chewy moisture to the filling.
Apples
Provide moisture and bulk, softening as the filling cooks.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps balance the spices and acidity.
Lemons
Add acidity and bright aroma that lift the rich filling.

The step that matters

Bringing the mixture to a boil. Boiling the combined ingredients heats the fruit, sugar and spices evenly so the mincemeat is thoroughly cooked before it is stored. Stirring prevents the sugars and solids from scorching on the bottom of the pot.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, raisin, apple, clove, ginger, nutmeg, syrup):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Quincefits better
  3. Orangefits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, raisin, apple, clove, ginger, nutmeg, syrup. 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.

More mince pie recipes

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