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Delicious and Delicate Mince Pies

A savory mince pie filled with beef, apples, Madeira wine, brandy, currants, raisins, citron, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Delicious and Delicate Mince Pies

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the meat

  1. Boil the beef until tender, then let it cool in a colander.

  2. Chop the beef finely and mix with enough syrup to moisten.

  3. Add spices to taste and pack the mixture tightly in a jar.

  4. Cover with muslin dipped in syrup and store in a cool place.

Make the mince

  1. When ready to use, combine 1 pint of the meat with 1 quart of chopped apples, 1 pint of Madeira wine, and ⅓ cup of brandy.

  2. Stir in the currants, raisins, and citron, then add sugar to taste.

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 + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Cinnamon + appletop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,598 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  5. Clove + appletop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,774 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef
Provides the meaty body and bulk that gives the mince its substance.
Apples
Add moisture and tartness that balance the sweetness and richness of the filling.
Madeira wine
Adds fortified wine depth and moisture, flavouring the mixture as it steeps.
Brandy
Adds alcohol that carries aroma and helps preserve the mixture.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture.
Currants
Add small bursts of sweetness and a chewy texture throughout the filling.

The step that matters

Packing and storing the meat. The meat must be cooled, moistened and packed tightly under a syrup-dipped cover so it keeps well in a cool place. Loose packing or warm storage lets it spoil before the mince is made.

Flavor stand-ins for the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, syrup, cinnamon, clove, allspice, apple, madeira wine):

  1. Nutmegbetter flavor fit
  2. Gingerbetter flavor fit
  3. Cardamombetter flavor fit
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, syrup, cinnamon, clove, allspice, apple, madeira wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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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