Name: Mock Mince Pie
Ingredients: 1 cup bread crumbs; 1 cup sugar; 1 cup vinegar; ½ cup butter; ½ cup molasses; ¾ cup raisins; All kinds of spice (to taste)

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 ↓

Mock Mince Pie

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

In a large bowl, combine the bread crumbs, sugar, vinegar, butter, molasses, raisins, and spices. Mix well until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Bake

Pour the mixture into a pie crust and bake until set.

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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,577 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 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

Bread crumbs: Provide bulk and body, soaking up the liquids to form a thick filling.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the filling brown as it bakes.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and balances the sweetness.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a softer, moister texture.
Molasses: Adds dark color, deep sweetness and a rich, treacle-like flavour.
Raisins: Add chewy texture and concentrated fruity sweetness throughout the filling.

Swap the raisin

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

Figfits better
Vanillafits about as well
Applefits about as well
Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, sugar, vinegar, butter, molasses. 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.