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Dessert

Mince Meat

A dried fruit and spice mixture soaked in cider and rum, used as filling for mince pies.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Combine the suet, apples, raisins, currants, citron, and preserved peel in a large bowl.

  2. Add the ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and brown sugar; mix well.

  3. Pour in the rum or brandy and cover the mixture with cider.

Store and serve

  1. Transfer the mixture to a tightly closed jar, ensuring it is always covered with cider.

  2. Add a little brandy or rum after placing it in the jar.

  3. Use this mixture as a filling for mince pies, ensuring a top crust, and serve hot.

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. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich as it sits.
Tart apples
Provide moisture and a bright acidity that balances the sweetness.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture.
Currants
Add small pockets of tart sweetness and chewy texture.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a caramel note, and helps preserve the mixture.
Rum or brandy
Adds aroma and helps preserve the filling.

The step that matters

Keep the mixture covered with cider in the jar. Fruit exposed to air can spoil or dry out during storage. Keeping the mixture submerged in liquid limits contact with air and helps it keep its moisture and flavour.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, raisin, orange, ginger, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Cranberryfits better
  3. Quincefits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against apple, raisin, orange, ginger, cinnamon, clove, 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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