Why it works: Meat and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 34% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,866 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
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).
Assemble
Line a pie tin with one pie crust.
Place the mince meat in the crust.
Sprinkle the sugar and pour the water over the meat.
Cover with the second pie crust.
Bake
Bake until golden brown, but not too dark, as it will be warmed before serving.
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.
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Meat + sugartop 34% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,866 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mince meat
- Forms the filling, providing the main body and flavour of the pie.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown during baking.
- Pie crusts
- Form the enclosing base and top that hold the filling while it bakes.
The step that matters
Bake until golden brown, but not too dark. Sugar darkens quickly in the oven, so the crust can burn before the filling is heated through. Stopping at golden brown keeps the pastry pleasant, since the pie is warmed again before serving.
“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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