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Dessert

Mock Mince Pie

A sweet pie made from rolled Boston crackers, raisins, sugar, vinegar, molasses, water, butter, and egg.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Mock Mince Pie

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 ↓

Mock Mince Pie

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a large pot, combine the finely rolled Boston crackers, chopped raisins, sugar, vinegar, molasses, water, butter, and egg.

  2. Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens.

  3. Once thick, remove from heat and let cool before using.

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.

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.

  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. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Boston crackers
Crumbled crackers absorb liquid and give the filling body as it thickens.
Molasses
Adds dark sweetness and depth of flavour to the filling.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps give the filling its sticky texture.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and balances the sweetness.
Egg
Helps bind and set the filling as it cooks.
Butter
Adds fat, richness and a smooth mouthfeel to the filling.

The step that matters

Cooking until thickened. Stirring constantly over medium heat keeps the mixture from scorching on the bottom of the pot. The egg can curdle if the heat is too high, so the filling should thicken gently rather than boil hard.

Swap the raisin

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, molasses, butter, 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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