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 dough
In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder.
Cut in the lard or butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Gradually add ice‑cold water, mixing until a soft dough forms.
Divide the dough
Divide the dough to make 2 or 3 pie crusts.
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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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
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure of the crust once mixed with water.
- Lard or butter
- Coats flour particles so the dough stays tender and flaky when baked.
- Baking powder
- Adds a small amount of lift to the crust.
The step that matters
Adding the ice-cold water. Add the water gradually and mix only until the dough holds together. Overmixing develops gluten and makes the crust tough. Keeping the water and fat cold stops the fat from melting into the flour, which preserves flaky 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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