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Dessert

Mince Pie

A savory pie filled with a mixture of boiled beef, apples, raisins, spices, butter, sherry, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Sherry and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,209 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Mince Pie

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mincemeat

  1. Mix the chopped beef and apples together in a large bowl.

  2. Add the chopped raisins gradually.

  3. Add the brown sugar and spices.

  4. Melt the butter in a kettle of boiling water. Skim the melted butter off in tablespoonfuls.

  5. Pour the butter into the meat mixture. Stir the mixture well. Continue adding the butter until fully mixed in.

  6. Add the brandy and sherry. Stir the mixture thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

Assemble and serve

  1. Prepare a pastry.

  2. Fill a pie pan with the mincemeat. Cover the filling with a thin layer of pastry.

  3. Make several pies at once.

  4. Heat the pies in the oven for a few minutes before serving.

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. Sherry + brandytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

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

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

  3. Wine + brandytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,427 recipes

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

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

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

  5. Apple + brandytop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,291 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Boiled beef
Provides the meaty body and bulk that traditional mincemeat is built on.
Fresh butter
Adds richness and a smooth, moist texture to the filling.
Chopped apples
Contribute moisture, tartness and body to the filling.
Chopped raisins
Add sweetness, chewy texture and concentrated fruit flavour.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a deep molasses note that balances the spices.
Brandy and sherry
Add aroma and act as preservatives while adding depth of flavour.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, butter, apple, sugar, sherry, wine, brandy):

  1. Apricotfits better
  2. Grapefits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, butter, apple, sugar, sherry, wine, brandy. 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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