Name: Summer Mince Pies
Ingredients: 1 cup bread crumbs; 1 cup molasses; 1 cup sugar; 1 cup raisins; 1 teaspoon cloves; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; ½ cup butter; 1 cup water

Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 14,189 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Summer Mince Pies

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the filling

Combine bread crumbs, molasses, sugar, raisins, cloves, cinnamon, butter, and water in a bowl. Mix well until all ingredients are combined.

Bake and serve

Pour the mixture into a pie crust.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until set.
Let cool before serving.

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

Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together5,390 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together4,070 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Aroma overlaplow

Mentioned together30,779 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and cinnamon share little aroma chemistry, yet 30,779 recipes mention both: they likely 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

Bread crumbs: Absorbs the liquid and gives the filling body.
Molasses: Adds dark sweetness, moisture and a rich flavour.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the filling set as it bakes.
Raisins: Add chewy texture and concentrated fruity sweetness.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a smooth mouthfeel.

Flavor stand-ins for the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, molasses, sugar, raisin, cinnamon, butter):

Nutmegbetter flavor fit
Clovethe original
Allspiceabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, molasses, sugar, raisin, cinnamon, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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.