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Dessert

Mince Pie Meat I

A fruit and meat mince pie made with beef, suet, apples, quinces, raisins, currants, citron, sugar, molasses, cider, brandy, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Fannie Merritt Farmer · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Apple and quince work together. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 506 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Mince Pie Meat I

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the meat and suet

  1. Cover meat and suet with boiling water and cook until tender.

  2. Cool in the water in which they are cooked. The suet will rise to the top, forming a cake of fat, which may be easily removed.

  3. Finely chop the meat.

Prepare the apples

  1. Quarter, core, and pare the apples before chopping; skins may be left on if apples are finely chopped.

  2. Add the chopped meat to twice the amount of finely chopped apples.

Cook the mincemeat

  1. Add finely chopped quinces, sugar, molasses, cider, raisins, currants, and citron; also add suet and the stock in which the meat and suet were cooked, reduced to one and one-half cups.

  2. Heat gradually, stir occasionally, and cook slowly for two hours.

  3. Add brandy and spices.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

545Calories
28 gProtein
17 gFat
75 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 14 ingredients. The other 4 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Apple1 medium (182g)95
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Quincenot in our table0
Cidernot in our table0
Brandynot in our table0
Macenot 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.

By Fannie Merritt Farmer. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

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 + quincetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together506 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

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

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

  3. Cider + curranttop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together500 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

  4. Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,180 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).

  5. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Lean beef
Provides the meaty body and bulk of the mincemeat once finely chopped.
Beef suet
Adds richness and fat that keeps the filling moist and smooth.
Baldwin apples
Contribute moisture and tartness that balance the sugar and dried fruit.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture to the filling.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps preserve the mincemeat during cooking and storage.
Molasses
Adds depth, darkness and a deeper sweetness to the filling.

The step that matters

Heat gradually and cook slowly. Slow, gentle heat lets the meat, fruit and suet soften and blend without scorching on the bottom of the pot. Frequent stirring keeps the sugars from burning and sticking.

Swap the currant

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

  1. Figfits better
  2. Pearfits better
  3. Plumfits better
  4. Currantthe original

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