Skip to main content

Mock Mince Pie

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription

This recipe’s ingredient list has no crust or pastry, so it bakes more like a fruit dish than a pastry pie.

By Keokuk (Iowa). Westminster Presbyterian church · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Illustration of Mock Mince PieIllustration

Why it works: Raisin and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,577 recipes mention both. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

  1. MRS. J. B. HOWELL.

  2. One cup of raisins chopped fine, three soda crackers rolled fine, one cup of molasses, a half cup of vinegar, a lump of butter the size of an egg, one cup of boiling water, salt and spice to taste. This makes three pies.

By Keokuk (Iowa). Westminster Presbyterian church. 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. See the original page.

The picture is an illustration, not a photo of this recipe · 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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Raisin + molassestop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together3,577 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Butter + eggtop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together118,511 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  3. Raisin + eggtop 11% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together9,553 recipes

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

  4. Raisin + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together7,624 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).

  5. Vinegar + buttertop 14% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together13,453 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, vinegar, butter, egg):

  1. Currantbetter flavor fit
  2. Figbetter flavor fit
  3. Strawberrybetter flavor fit
  4. Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, vinegar, butter, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

You might also like

Illustration of Molasses CookiesIllustrationMolasses Cookies96 recipesIllustration of Molasses CakeIllustrationMolasses Cake90 recipesIllustration of Molasses Sponge CakeIllustrationMolasses Sponge Cake9 recipesIllustration of White CakeIllustrationWhite Cake431 recipes