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Mince Pie

A pie of boiled meat, apples, spices, and optional raisins, currants, citron, and wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 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 ↓

Mince Pie

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the meat

  1. Boil the meat until perfectly tender, then remove it from the pot.

  2. Clear the meat from bones and gristle, and chop it finely enough to strain through a sieve.

Make the filling

  1. Mix the chopped meat with an equal weight of finely chopped tart apples.

  2. If the meat is not fatty, add suet or melted butter.

  3. Moisten the mixture with cider and sweeten to taste with sugar and a little molasses.

  4. Add mace, cinnamon, cloves, and coarse sea salt to taste.

  5. For a richer pie, add wine or brandy, raisins, citron, and Zante currants.

  6. Incorporate the grated rind and juice of lemons for added flavor.

Bake and serve

  1. Place the mixture in shallow plates with openings in the upper crust.

  2. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 30 to 45 minutes, depending on oven heat.

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. Mace + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  3. Mace + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  4. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Meat
Provides the bulk of the filling and its savory, meaty body once tender and finely chopped.
Suet or butter
Adds fat and richness, keeping the filling moist and tender when the meat is lean.
Tart apples (in the method)
Add acidity and moisture, balancing the sweetness and richness of the filling.
Molasses
Adds sweetness and a deep, slightly bitter flavor to the filling.
Cider
Moistens the mixture and adds a light fruity acidity.

The step that matters

Chop the meat finely enough to strain through a sieve. Meat that is cut too coarsely stays chunky and tough rather than blending into a smooth, cohesive filling. Thorough tenderizing by boiling first lets the fibers break down so the texture stays fine and moist.

Swap the mace

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

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Allspicefits better
  3. Gingerfits better
  4. Macethe original

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