Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

^ Let's not get confused, ok? In the same way that sweetbread has no bread in it and is made of meat, mincemeat has no meat in it and is made of fruit. If you do decide to mince some meat you end up with mince or minced meat, but never mincemeat, which is the principal ingredient of a mince pie. A mince pie, as everybody knows, has no mince in it or meat either; it just has mincemeat. That's why a mince pie could be considered a sweetmeat, but obviously sweetbread is never called a sweetmeat because it's made of meat. What could be simpler?!

And, yes, an individual mince pie served with cream is delicious; my mum used to spend a morning making them for us every Christmas.