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Dessert

Virginia Mince Pies

A fruit and fat mixture baked in a pastry crust.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Raisin and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Virginia Mince Pies

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the filling

  1. Combine the chopped fat, raisins, currants, citron, apples, flour, sugar, brandied peaches, and brandy in a bowl and mix well until combined.

Make the pastry

  1. Mix 2 cups of flour with ice water and powdered crackers to form a dough in another bowl.

  2. Knead the dough until smooth.

  3. Roll out the dough flat.

  4. Incorporate lumps of lard into the dough until the mixture is dry and flaky.

Assemble and bake

  1. Place a layer of dough in a pie tin and trim the edges of the dough.

  2. Fill the pie tin with the mince mixture.

  3. Cover with another layer of dough, press down around the rim, and decorate as desired.

  4. Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden brown.

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. Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Apple + peachtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together303 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

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

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

  5. Apple + brandytop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,291 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Leaf and kidney fat
Adds richness and moisture to the filling as it melts during baking.
Lard
Lumps worked into the dough create flakiness and a tender, crisp texture.
Raisins
Provide sweetness and chewy body to the mincemeat filling.
Currants
Add concentrated sweetness and a tart, fruity note to the filling.
Apples
Add moisture and a tart acidity that balances the sweetness.
French brandy
Adds aroma and helps preserve the filling.

The step that matters

Incorporating the lard into the dough. Lard must stay in distinct lumps rather than fully blended into the flour. As it melts in the oven it leaves pockets that make the pastry flaky; overworking it makes the crust tough.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, raisin, apple, flour, sugar, peach, brandy):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Apricotfits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against corn, raisin, apple, flour, sugar, peach, brandy. 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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