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Dessert

Mock Mince Pie

A sweet pie made with sugar, molasses, vinegar, raisins, crackers, and spices.

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

Make the filling

  1. In a bowl, combine sugar, molasses, vinegar, and water.

  2. Add the eggs and butter, mixing well.

  3. Stir in spices, chopped raisins, and rolled crackers.

Bake

  1. Pour the mixture into a pie crust 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.

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. Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,577 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Sugar + raisintop 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. Egg + buttertop 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

Eggs
Bind the filling and set it into a firm, sliceable custard when baked.
Molasses
Adds dark color, deep flavor, sweetness, and moisture to the filling.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the filling brown lightly in the oven.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, giving the filling a smoother, softer texture.
Rolled crackers
Absorb liquid and add body, thickening the filling as it bakes.
Raisins
Add chewy texture and concentrated fruity sweetness throughout the filling.

The step that matters

Bake until set. Bake only until the filling is set. The eggs firm as they heat, so the centre should wobble slightly rather than stay liquid. Overbaking can make the eggs curdle and weep.

Swap the raisin

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

  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, molasses, vinegar, egg, butter. 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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