Why it works: Butter and flour 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 ↓
Puff-paste
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the butter
Wash the butter in cold water to remove salt.
Work the butter with a wooden spoon to extract water.
Place the butter between clean napkins in a tin pan and chill until firm, but not frozen.
Make the dough
Sift the flour into a bowl.
Cut one fourth of the butter into small pieces.
Mix the butter pieces into the flour without touching it.
Add enough cold water to form a stiff dough.
Turn the dough onto a floured surface.
Roll the dough gently into sheets.
Cut one third of the remaining butter into small pieces.
Layer the butter pieces on the dough.
Sprinkle a little flour over the butter.
Fold the dough.
Roll the dough out again.
Cut half of the remaining butter into small pieces.
Layer the butter pieces on the dough.
Sprinkle a little flour over the butter.
Fold the dough.
Roll the dough out again.
Add the last of the butter.
Chill the dough again without letting it touch ice.
Shape and bake
Roll the dough into a sheet thinner in the center than at the edges.
Cut the dough to desired size.
Fill the dough.
Bake in a moderately hot oven at 400°F (200°C).
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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
- Butter
- Forms the separate layers that puff apart into flakes when baked.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the gluten structure that holds the dough sheets together through folding.
The step that matters
Keep the butter from touching the flour and dough too early. Butter that softens or blends into the dough loses the distinct layers needed for flaking. Keeping the butter cold and in pieces preserves the layers that steam and puff 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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