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Dessert

Mince Pies

A preserved mixture of currants, apples, beef, suet, citrus, spices, and brandy or sherry, stored for up to a year.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Mince Pies

Why it works: Clove and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Mince Pies

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

Mix the filling

  1. Mix currants and apples in a large bowl.

  2. Add minced beef and chopped suet, and rub all ingredients together well.

  3. Incorporate the grated lemon and orange peels, citron, and spices, mixing thoroughly.

Add the liquor and rest

  1. Transfer the mixture to a deep pot and pour in 1 pint of brandy and 1 pint of sherry, along with the juice from the grated lemons and oranges.

  2. Press the mixture down firmly with your hands, then add another pint of brandy and sherry on top.

  3. Cover the mixture and let it sit for at least two weeks before using.

  4. It can be stored for up to a year.

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. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Lemon + orangetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,634 recipes

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

  3. Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

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

  4. Orange + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,987 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Currants
Provide bulk, chewy texture and natural sweetness to the filling.
Beef suet
Adds richness and fat that keeps the filling moist and tender.
Lean beef
Adds savoury body and a meaty texture to the filling.
Apples
Add moisture and tartness that balances the sweetness.
Moist sugar
Sweetens the filling and helps keep it moist during storage.
Brandy
Acts as a preservative and adds warm, aromatic flavour.

The step that matters

Pressing and covering the mixture. Pressing firmly removes air pockets and packs the filling evenly under the liquor, while covering it keeps the liquor from evaporating. Together these help the filling mature and keep safely in storage.

Swap the currant

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, apple, lemon, orange, sugar, clove, nutmeg. 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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