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 the pies
Prepare good puff pastry and roll it out to ½ inch thick.
Line good-sized tart pans with the pastry.
Fill the pastry with mincemeat and cover with more pastry.
Trim the edges close to the pan.
Bake
Bake in a brisk oven at 400°F (200°C) for 25 minutes, or longer for larger pies.
Glaze and serve
Beat the egg white until stiff and brush it over the pies.
Sprinkle pounded sugar on top and 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 casing that rises and crisps as it bakes.
- Mincemeat
- Provides the sweet, spiced fruit filling that moistens the pie.
- Egg
- Glaze that dries and browns the pastry surface for a glossy finish.
- Pounded sugar
- Sprinkled on top, it adds sweetness and a crisp, sparkling surface.
The step that matters
Drying the egg glaze in the oven. The sugar and egg glaze can burn quickly once back in the oven, so the 1-2 minutes must be watched closely. Brief heat dries and sets the glaze while the sugar melts slightly without darkening too far.
“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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