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Dessert

Mince Pies

A savory pie filling of beef, suet, apples, raisins, currants, spices, cider, and molasses.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Mince Pies

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 ↓

Mince Pies

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Mix all ingredients together in a large pot.

  2. Cook over medium heat until the apples are soft.

  3. You can use unpeeled apples; chopping them fine will hide the skins.

  4. For a variation, soak chopped potatoes in vinegar overnight and use them instead of apples.

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

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  4. Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,774 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,950 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef
Provides the savoury meaty body that gives mincemeat its traditional richness.
Beef suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich as it cooks.
Apples
Supply moisture and tartness that soften into the body of the filling.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps preserve the filling through its moisture-binding character.
Molasses
Adds depth, dark colour and extra sweetness.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture.

The step that matters

Cook over medium heat until the apples are soft. Cooking gently until the apples soften lets them break down into the filling and blend with the fats and sugars. Heat that is too high can scorch the sugars and molasses on the bottom of the pot before the apples are done.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, apple, raisin, lemon, sugar, cinnamon, clove):

  1. Orangefits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Quincefits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, apple, raisin, lemon, sugar, cinnamon, clove. 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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