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Preserve

Apple Mince Meat

Apple Mince Meat is a fruit preserve made with apples, suet, currants, raisins, citron, brown sugar, lemon, spices, salt, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 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 ↓

Apple Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mincemeat

  1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

  2. Mix thoroughly until well combined.

  3. Pack the mixture tightly into a stone jar.

Store

  1. Store in a cool place for future use.

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Suet
Adds richness and a moist, tender texture as it melts into the filling.
Brown sugar
Provides sweetness and a deep molasses flavour, and helps preserve the mixture.
Apples
Contribute moisture, body and a tart freshness that balances the sweetness.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture.
Currants
Add concentrated fruit flavour and chewy texture.
Brandy or boiled cider
Adds liquid and aroma, and its alcohol helps keep the mixture from spoiling.

Swap the currant

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

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

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