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Dessert

Classic Mince Pies

A savory pie filled with boiled beef, suet, sugar, raisins, apples, wine, and cider, flavored with mace, nutmeg, and orange zest.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Apple and cider are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,238 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Classic Mince Pies

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

  1. Combine beef, suet, sugar, raisins, apples, wine, and cider until thin enough.

  2. Add mace, nutmeg, and orange zest to taste.

  3. If not sweet enough, add more sugar.

Assemble and bake

  1. Form pies with the pie dough and filling.

  2. Bake pies.

  3. Warm the pies before serving.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

555Calories
28 gProtein
17 gFat
70 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 10 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Apple1 medium (182g)95
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Cidernot in our table0
Macenot in our table0
Pienot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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. Apple + cidertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,238 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

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

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

  4. Apple + winetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,207 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  5. Wine + cidertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together439 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef
Provides the main body and richness of the meat filling.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich.
Granulated sugar
Adds sweetness and helps balance the spices and fruit.
Raisins
Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness to the filling.
Apples
Add moisture, tartness and body to the filling.
Pie dough
Forms the crust that encloses the filling and holds it during baking.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, sugar, raisin, apple, wine, cider, nutmeg):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Clovefits better
  3. Allspicefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, sugar, raisin, apple, wine, cider, 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.

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