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 crust
Cut the lard into the flour and salt with a knife.
Add the water gradually, lifting with a knife, moisten one portion first and push it to one side of the bowl, wet another portion and continue until all is moistened, using just enough water to hold together.
Put together and place on a floured board.
Roll the crust to fit the pan.
Press the crust firmly into the bottom of the pan.
Prick the sides and bottom with a fork.
Crinkle the edges of the crust; have the crust extend above the edge of the pan to make a deep shell for the filling.
Bake the crust first to make it more crisp. Do not butter the pan. Bake from five to six minutes in a hot oven.
Finish with meringue
When the crust is done, add the filling and cover this with the meringue.
Do not beat the egg-whites until ready for use. Then beat until stiff and add the sugar and extract, beating only a minute.
Pile the meringue lightly on top of the filling, and bake the whole slowly. If baked too quickly, the meringue will rise and then fall. Bake only until it turns a golden brown.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 13 of 20 ingredients. The other 7 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 13 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Pork | 100g cooked | 242 |
| Potato | 1 medium (173g) baked | 161 |
| Chocolate | 1 oz (28g) semisweet | 155 |
| Vegetable | 1 tbsp (14g) | 120 |
| Lard | 1 tbsp (12.8g) | 115 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Gelatin | 1 envelope (7g) | 23 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| Veal | not in our table | 0 |
| Sauce | not in our table | 0 |
| Cake | not in our table | 0 |
| Icing | not in our table | 0 |
| Tea | not in our table | 0 |
| Pimento | not in our table | 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 + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Lemon + potatotop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,230 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Sugar + saucetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,147 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Sauce + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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
- Lard
- Coats flour particles so the crust stays tender and flaky rather than tough.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the crust once moistened and rolled.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff foam that forms the light, airy meringue topping.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the meringue and stabilises the whipped egg white foam.
The step that matters
Bake the meringue slowly and only until golden. Meringue baked too quickly rises fast and then collapses as the air expands and the proteins over-set. Slow baking sets it gently and browns it evenly.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, egg, sugar, lemon, veal, sauce, butter):
- Shallotfits better
- Arrowrootfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, egg, sugar, lemon, veal, sauce, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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