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Dessert

English Mince Meat

A sweet mixture of dried fruit, suet, spices, and alcohol used for pies or desserts.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Raisin and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,781 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

English Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine brown sugar, raisins, currants, suet, chopped apples, chopped almonds, candied lemon peel, candied citron peel, salt, and mixed spices in a large bowl.

  2. Add the rind and juice of the lemons, wine or brandy, port, and sherry.

  3. Mix all ingredients thoroughly until well combined.

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. Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  2. Apple + sherrytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together395 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  3. Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Apple + winetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,207 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  5. Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,180 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).

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

What each ingredient does

Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the mixture taste rich and deep.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the mixture moist and gives it a rich texture.
Raisins
Add chewy body and concentrated sweetness throughout the mixture.
Chopped apples
Add moisture and a tender, fruity body to the mixture.
Port
Adds aromatic depth and sweetness, and helps keep the mixture moist.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness and balances the rich fruit.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, raisin, apple, almond, lemon, wine, sherry):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, raisin, apple, almond, lemon, wine, sherry. 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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