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Dessert

Mincemeat, Good

A preserved fruit mixture of raisins, currants, apples, suet, candied peel, spices, and alcohol.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Currant and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,057 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Mincemeat, Good

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Core and finely chop or grate the apples.

  2. Chop the suet finely and shred the candied peel before chopping it.

Mix

  1. In a large bowl, combine the raisins, currants, brown sugar, suet, candied peel, apples, mixed spice, lemon rind, lemon juice, and salt.

  2. Gradually add the brandy and rum, mixing well with a large wooden spoon.

Store

  1. Pack the mixture into a jar, cover it tightly to keep the flavor in and dust out.

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

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,180 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Currant + appletop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,918 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

  5. Raisin + brandytop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,768 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

Raisins
Provide sweetness and chewy body that holds the mincemeat together.
Currants
Add concentrated fruity sweetness and a tart, chewy texture.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps preserve the mixture.
Suet
Adds fat that gives a rich, moist texture once the mixture is chilled.
Apples
Contribute moisture, tartness and body to the filling.
Brandy and rum
Add alcohol that helps preserve the mixture and adds aroma.

Swap the lemon

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

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

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