Why it works: Butter and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 98,233 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Mince Pies.
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a fierce oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Grease tin pattypans with butter.
Roll out the puff paste thinly and line the pattypans evenly.
Fill and seal
Fill the lined pattypans with mincemeat.
Moisten the edges of the pastry covers, which should be about ¼ inch thick.
Seal the pies carefully and trim off any excess paste.
Make a small hole in the center of each pie crust with a fork or knife.
Bake and finish
Optionally, ice the pies with cold water and powdered sugar.
Bake for 30 minutes, covering with paper if they brown too quickly.
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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Fine puff paste
- Forms a flaky, layered crust that holds the mincemeat filling while baking.
- Mincemeat
- Provides the sweet, spiced, moist filling that fills the pies.
- Butter
- Greases the pans so the pastry releases cleanly and browns evenly.
The step that matters
Covering the pies if they brown too quickly. Puff pastry browns faster than the filling heats through, so covering with paper slows surface browning while the pastry finishes cooking and the filling warms.
“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.
More mince pies recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.