Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Mince Pies
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Roll out the puff pastry to about 1 inch thick and line some good-sized patty pans with it.
Fill the pastry with mincemeat.
Cover with more pastry, trimming the edges to fit the pans.
Bake and serve
Bake in a brisk oven at 400°F (200°C) for 25 minutes, or longer if the pies are large.
Brush the tops with beaten egg white and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Return to the oven for 1-2 minutes to dry the egg.
Serve hot on a white doily.
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.
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Puff pastry
- Forms the flaky, layered case that rises and crisps in the oven.
- Mincemeat
- Provides the sweet, moist filling that fills the pie.
- Egg white
- Forms a glossy, browned glaze on the top as it dries and sets.
The step that matters
Bake in a brisk oven. A hot oven turns the butter in the pastry to steam quickly, lifting the layers so they rise and crisp. A cool oven lets the butter melt out, leaving the pastry greasy and dense.
“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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