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Dessert

Mock Mince Pie

A pie with a filling of molasses, sugar, vinegar, tea, and crushed crackers.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Mock Mince Pie

Why it works: Molasses and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Mock Mince Pie

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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Crush crackers into small pieces.

Make the filling

  1. In a bowl, mix egg, molasses, sugar, vinegar, and strong tea until well combined.

  2. Add crushed crackers to mixture and stir until evenly distributed.

Bake

  1. Pour mixture into pie crust and bake for 30-40 minutes or 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.

  1. Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

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

  3. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Vinegar + teatop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together175 recipes

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

  5. Molasses + vinegartop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,253 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Egg
Sets the filling into a firm, sliceable custard as it bakes.
Crackers
Soak up the liquid and give the filling body in place of fruit.
Molasses
Adds dark color and a rich, deep sweetness that suggests mincemeat.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the filling brown lightly at the edges.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the sweet, heavy molasses flavor.

The step that matters

Bake until set. Egg proteins firm as they heat, so the filling needs baking until set. Pulling it too early leaves a runny center, while overbaking can make the egg custard weep or turn rubbery.

“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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