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Meatless Mince Pie

A sweet, spiced pie made from molasses, water, vinegar, sugar, breadcrumbs, raisins, apples, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 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 ↓

Meatless Mince Pie

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

  1. Mix all the ingredients together.

  2. Heat thoroughly without boiling, stirring often.

Fill and bake

  1. While hot, fill the pie pans.

  2. Bake with two crusts.

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. Clove + cinnamontop 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. Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  5. Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,598 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Molasses
Adds dark colour, deep sweetness and moisture to the filling.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps give the filling body.
Breadcrumbs
Absorb liquid and add body, helping the filling hold together.
Apples
Add moisture and soft texture to the filling.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and a chewy texture.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and balances the sweetness.

The step that matters

Heating without boiling, stirring often. Molasses and sugar scorch easily on the base of a pan when heated unevenly. Frequent stirring spreads the heat, so the filling warms through without burning or turning bitter.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, vinegar, sugar, raisin, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Orangefits about as well
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, vinegar, sugar, raisin, clove, cinnamon, 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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