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Mincemeat Fritters

Mincemeat fritters are fried patties made from mincemeat, breadcrumbs, eggs, lemon juice, and fried in lard or butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Mincemeat Fritters

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. In a bowl, mix the mincemeat, bread crumbs (or flour), beaten eggs, and lemon juice until well combined.

  2. Heat lard or butter in a pan over medium heat.

Fry and serve

  1. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot fat.

  2. Fry for 7 to 8 minutes until golden brown.

  3. Drain on a napkin or blotting paper and serve hot.

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. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  3. Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,227 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  4. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together44,316 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

Egg and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 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

Mincemeat
Provides the filling flavor and sweetness that defines the fritters.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and help bind the mixture so it holds its shape.
Eggs
Bind the mixture together and help set it as it cooks.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the sweet mincemeat.

The step that matters

Dropping the mixture into hot fat. If the fat is not hot enough, the fritters absorb excess oil and turn greasy instead of crisping. Fat at a steady medium heat seals the outside quickly, so the batter holds its shape and browns evenly.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, egg, butter):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Vanillafits about as well
  3. Datesfits about as well
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, egg, butter. 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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