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 gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Make the dough
In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt.
Cut the butter into small pieces and add it to the flour.
Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Gradually add the ice water, mixing until the dough comes together.
Knead the dough gently on a floured surface until smooth.
Chill
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using.
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
- Cold butter pieces create layers of steam as they bake, giving puff pastry its flaky rise.
- Pastry flour
- Provides the structure that holds the layers together while the dough is rolled and baked.
- Ice water
- Brings the flour together into dough while keeping the butter cold and in distinct pieces.
The step that matters
Keeping the butter cold while mixing. If the butter softens and melts into the flour, it will not form separate layers, so the pastry loses its flaky rise. Cold butter stays in pieces that turn to steam in the oven and lift the layers.
“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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