Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Mince Pies
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Prepare good puff-paste according to recipe No. 1205.
Roll out the paste to about ¼ inch thick and line good-sized patty pans.
Fill and bake
Fill the lined pans with mincemeat and cover with more paste, trimming the edges.
Bake in a brisk oven at 400°F (200°C) for 25 minutes, or longer for larger pies.
Brush the tops with beaten egg white and sprinkle with pounded sugar.
Return to the oven for 1-2 minutes to dry the egg.
Serve
Serve hot on a white doily.
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.
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Puff-paste
- Its laminated layers puff and separate in the oven, giving the pies a flaky structure.
- Mincemeat
- Provides the sweet, spiced filling that defines the pie.
- Egg white
- Brushed on top, it browns and glazes the pastry and helps the sugar stick.
The step that matters
Returning the pies to the oven to dry the egg. Egg white left too long in the oven can over-brown or scorch before the pastry is fully cooked, so the extra minute or two needs watching.
“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.
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