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Mock Mince-Pie
Twelve crackers rolled fine, one cup hot water, half cup vinegar, one cup molasses, one of sugar, one of currants, one of raisins, spice to taste; measure with a tea-cup. Some use one cup dried breadcrumbs, and also add a small cup butter. This is for four pies. - Mrs. Annie E. Gillespie,
A no-fruit-of-the-orchard, no-meat mince filling built on soaked crackers. It works, but the measurements assume a teacup and a cook who knows what mince pie should taste like.
- The teacup measureMrs. Gillespie says to measure with a tea-cup. Period teacups varied, but were generally smaller than the modern 8-ounce cup and are often reckoned at around 6 ounces; scaling each "cup" to about 3/4 cup keeps the proportions in balance.
- Which crackersSoda crackers or common water crackers, not sweet biscuits and not modern buttery snack crackers. The recipe's own alternative of one cup of dried breadcrumbs suggests twelve crackers rolled fine came to roughly a cup of crumbs, though cracker sizes varied a good deal; the breadcrumb variant in the second sentence is a direct substitute.
- Let it standLetting it stand -- The recipe gives no standing time, but the crumbs will swell in the hot water, vinegar and molasses; giving them time to do so before the filling goes into pastry keeps the filling from drinking liquid in the oven and turning pasty and dry.
- Spice to taste, in practiceMince pies of the period were commonly spiced with cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg. For this quantity, about 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon each allspice and nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon cloves is in keeping; grated lemon rind appears in some versions.
- The vinegar is not a mistakeHalf a cup of vinegar against a cup each of molasses and sugar supplies the sharp note that cider or wine gives real mincemeat. Cider vinegar suits it better than white; taste the cooled filling and add sugar if it bites.
- Yield and thicknessThe recipe says four pies, which works out at little more than a cup of filling each: thinly filled double-crust pies rather than deep-dish ones. If you want a conventionally full pie, divide it between fewer.
- OvenThe recipe gives no baking direction. In a modern oven, 425F for the first 15 minutes to set the bottom crust, then 350F for another 30 to 35 minutes until the top crust colours and the filling bubbles at the vents, would suit.
- Currants and raisinsBoth were sold dry and dusty and were meant to be washed and picked over. Plumping them briefly in hot water, or in the hot liquid with the crumbs, improves the texture considerably.
Mock mince-pie belongs to the long American habit of counterfeiting an expensive dish with pantry staples. Real mincemeat wanted beef or tongue, suet, cider, brandy and a mixed store of dried fruit, all of it laid down in autumn; the mock versions keep the spice, the sweetness and the sharp note but reach them through crackers or breadcrumbs, vinegar and molasses, which any household had in February. Cracker-based versions circulated widely in nineteenth-century community and subscription cookbooks, usually credited by name to the contributor, as this one is - The Dixie Cook Book was assembled from exactly that kind of donated household receipt.