Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Pie Crust
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
In a bowl, combine flour, lard, butter, and salt, mixing well with a knife.
Add enough ice water to form a firm dough.
Shape and finish
Roll out the top crust slightly thicker than the bottom crust.
Spread a thin layer of soft butter on the top crust and dust with flour.
Cut air holes in the crust.
Before baking, pour 1 cup of ice water over the top and let it run off.
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.
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.
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the crust as its proteins bind with water.
- Lard
- Coats flour particles and creates tender, flaky layers when kept in pieces.
- Butter
- Adds rich flavor and helps create flaky layers as it stays cold.
The step that matters
Add enough ice water to form a firm dough.. Too much water lets gluten develop excessively, making the crust tough. Cold water keeps the fat in distinct pieces, which melt and leave flaky layers during baking.
“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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