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 ↓
Plain Pie Crust
enough for two piesIngredients
Directions
In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder.
Rub the shortening into the flour until well mixed.
Add cold water gradually to form a stiff dough.
Handle the dough as little as possible to keep it light.
This recipe makes enough for two pies.
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.
-
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 the dough is mixed and rolled.
- Shortening
- Coats flour particles so the crust stays tender and flaky rather than tough.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the flour so the dough holds together and can be shaped.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking to give the crust a slightly lighter texture.
The step that matters
Handle the dough as little as possible. Mixing and kneading develop gluten, the flour's stretchy protein network. Too much handling makes the crust tough and dense instead of light and tender.
“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 pie crust recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 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.