Name: Cracker Mince Pies
Ingredients: 14 crackers, crushed; 2 cups molasses; 2 cups sugar; 3 cups cider; 2 cups seeded raisins; ½ cup butter; spices to taste; juice of 1 lemon

Why it works: Molasses and sugar 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 ↓

Cracker Mince Pies

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

Crush the crackers into fine crumbs.
In a large bowl, combine the crushed crackers, molasses, sugar, cider, raisins, butter, spices, and lemon juice, then mix well until all ingredients are combined.

Bake and serve

Fill pie crusts with the mixture and bake until set.

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.

Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,577 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Raisin + lemontop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,742 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,227 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Crackers: Crumbs soak up the liquid and help thicken the filling into a spoonable mass.
Molasses: Adds deep sweetness, dark color, and a rich, caramel-like flavor.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps balance the sharpness of the lemon and cider.
Cider: Provides the main liquid, moistening the filling and adding fruity flavor.
Raisins: Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture throughout the filling.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a smooth, mellow mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Bake until set. The filling thickens as it heats and its starches and crumbs firm up. Underbaked filling stays runny and can make the crust soggy, so bake until the centre no longer wobbles.

Flavor stand-ins for the lemon

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

Applebetter flavor fit
Figbetter flavor fit
Vanillabetter flavor fit
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, sugar, cider, raisin, butter. 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.

Lemon Cake228 recipes

Lemon Ice147 recipes

Lemon Sherbet103 recipes

Molasses Cookies96 recipes

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.

Cracker Mince Pies