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Mince Pie

A savory pie with minced beef, apple, suet, fruit, spices, and brandy, baked in puff pastry.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Raisin and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,390 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

Mince Pie

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the mince

  1. In a large bowl, mix the chopped apple, cider, minced beef, and strawberry jam, then add the chopped suet, raisins, currants, citron, sugar, mixed spice, cinnamon, ginger, and brandy.

  2. Stir until all ingredients are well combined and saturated with moisture.

  3. Pack the mixture into a stone jar and cover tightly for at least one month.

Assemble and bake

  1. When ready to bake, take out 6 heaping tablespoons of the mince and place in a bowl.

  2. Line a deep pie tin with puff pastry.

  3. Pour the mince mixture into the lined pie tin and cover with another layer of puff pastry.

  4. Pinch the edges to seal and cut 2-3 gashes in the top for steam to escape.

  5. Brush the top with egg white or milk.

  6. Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 45 minutes.

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

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

  2. Apple + cidertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,238 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  4. Cider + curranttop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together500 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

  5. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Apple
Adds moisture and tartness that balances the sweet dried fruit and sugar.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the mince moist and rich as it matures and bakes.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture throughout the filling.
Currants
Add small pockets of fruit sweetness and chewy texture to the filling.
Puff pastry
Forms a flaky, layered crust that puffs and browns in the hot oven.
Egg white or milk
Brushed on top to promote browning and a glossy finish on the crust.

The step that matters

Seal the edges and cut steam gashes. A tight seal keeps the moist, juicy mince from leaking out during baking, and gashes let steam escape so the pastry does not swell and burst.

Swap the strawberry jam

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

  1. Figfits better
  2. Plumfits better
  3. Pearfits better
  4. Strawberry jamthe original

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