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Dessert

Spring Mince Pies

A sweet pie with raisins, sugar, molasses, and spices baked in a rich crust.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Spring Mince Pies

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

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Make the filling

  1. In a large bowl, combine the chopped raisins, sugar, molasses, warm water, vinegar or boiled cider, beaten eggs, and crushed crackers.

  2. Stir well and season with spices as desired.

  3. Pour the mixture into a pie crust.

Top and bake

  1. For the top crust, roll it thin, cut into narrow strips, twist, and lay across the filling.

  2. Bake until the crust is 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.

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. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Raisin + molassestop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,577 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Eggs
Bind the filling and help it set into a sliceable custard-like texture when baked.
Molasses
Adds deep sweetness, dark color and a rich, slightly bitter flavor.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and helps it brown at the edges during baking.
Raisins
Add chewy texture and concentrated fruity sweetness throughout the filling.
Crackers
Absorb liquid and thicken the filling so it holds its shape when sliced.
Vinegar or boiled cider
Adds acidity that balances the sweetness of the molasses and sugar.

The step that matters

Bake until the crust is golden brown. The filling is set by egg proteins, which firm as they heat. Underbaking leaves it runny and soft, while overbaking can make it dry and cracked. Judge doneness by the crust colour and the filling's firmness.

Swap the raisin

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

  1. Raisinthe original
  2. Vanillafits about as well
  3. Figfits about as well
  4. Currantfits less well

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