Name: Mock Mince Pie
Ingredients: 1 cup grated bread or cracker crumbs; 1 cup raisins; 1½ cups brown sugar; ½ cup molasses; ½ cup vinegar; 3 cups hot water; 1 egg-sized piece of butter; spice to taste

Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Mock Mince Pie

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Make the filling

In a large bowl, combine the grated bread or cracker crumbs, raisins, brown sugar, molasses, vinegar, and hot water. Mix well until combined.
Add the butter and spices, stirring until the butter is melted and incorporated.

Bake

Pour the mixture into pie crusts to make three pies.
Bake until set and 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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · 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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Raisin + molassestop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,577 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Grated bread or cracker crumbs: Absorb liquid and thicken the filling so it becomes a spoonable, mincemeat-like texture.
Raisins: Provide chewy texture and concentrated fruity sweetness.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and a rich caramel-like depth to the filling.
Molasses: Adds dark color, deep flavor, and extra moisture and sweetness.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness and mimics the tang of traditional mincemeat.
Butter: Adds richness and fat that gives the filling a smooth, rounded flavor.

Swap the raisin

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

Figfits about as well
Vanillafits about as well
Raisinthe original
Applefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, sugar, molasses, vinegar, egg, butter. 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.