Why it works: Flour and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,404 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Puff Paste
Ingredients
Directions
Make the paste
Add 2 cups flour and a pinch of salt.
Add a few drops of lemon juice and ice water.
Add 1/4 cup butter.
Mix the flour and salt; add lemon juice and enough ice water to form a paste about the same consistency as butter.
Laminate
Roll the paste about 1 inch thick; shape the butter into a ball and place it on half the paste; fold the remaining paste over and press the edges together.
If the paste is warm, place it on ice for 10 minutes; then roll and fold it into three parts.
Repeat the rolling and folding three or four times, placing the paste on ice each time it becomes warm or soft.
Shape
Shape the dough into any desired form.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the pastry its structure once it is rolled and folded.
- Butter (in the method)
- Stays in solid layers between the dough sheets, and steam from it during baking pushes those layers apart for flakiness.
- Lemon juice
- Its acidity limits gluten development, keeping the dough tender and easier to roll.
- Ice water
- Adds the moisture needed to bind the paste while keeping it cold so the butter stays solid.
The step that matters
Keeping the paste cold between folds. If the paste becomes warm or soft, the butter melts into the dough instead of staying in separate layers. The layers are what puff up during baking, so the pastry loses its flakiness. Chilling on ice before each fold keeps the butter solid.
“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.
More puff pastry recipes
You might also like
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.