Name: Mince Pies.
Ingredients: Butter for greasing; Puff paste, rolled thin; Mincemeat; Sifted sugar (optional); Cold water

Why it works: Butter and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and 98,233 recipes mention both. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Mince Pies.

Oven, in the book's wordsA fierce oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

Assemble

Grease tin pattypans with butter and line them with the puff paste.
Fill the lined pattypans with mincemeat.
Moisten the edges of the covers and place them on top, sealing carefully.
Trim off any excess paste and make a small hole in the center of each pie.
Ice the pies with cold water and sifted sugar if desired.

Bake

Bake for 30 minutes, covering with paper if they brown too quickly.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Puff paste: Forms the flaky, crisp pastry case and lid that hold the filling.
Mincemeat: Provides the sweet, spiced filling that fills the pies.
Butter: Greases the pattypans so the pastry releases cleanly after baking.