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Mince Pie

A savory pie with boiled beef, suet, currants, raisins, apples, lemon, sherry, brandy, and spices, baked in puff pastry.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 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

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the mincemeat

  1. In a large bowl, combine the boiled beef, suet, currants, raisins, sugar, chopped apples, lemon peel and juice, sherry, brandy, nutmeg, cloves, mace, and ginger.

  2. Mix well and press the mixture into a deep pan.

  3. Cover and store in a cool, dry place.

Bake and serve

  1. Line patty pans with puff pastry, fill with the mince mixture, and add citron and orange peel to each pie.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until golden.

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. Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

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

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

  4. Currant + raisintop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,180 recipes

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

  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
Adds meaty body and richness to the filling.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich.
Currants
Provide chewy texture and concentrated fruit flavour.
Raisins
Add chewiness and sweetness throughout the filling.
Moist sugar
Adds sweetness and helps preserve the mixture.
Sherry
Adds acidity and depth of flavour to the filling.

The step that matters

Store the mixture in a cool, dry place. The filling is preserved by resting, which lets the spices, fruit and alcohol blend. Keeping it cool and dry prevents spoilage and fermentation before baking.

Swap the lemon

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

  1. Figfits better
  2. Apricotfits better
  3. Plumfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, currant, raisin, sugar, apple, sherry, 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.

More mince pie recipes

Mock 45Filling 14Lemon 8Fruit 5Patties 5Christmas 4 See all 109 →

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