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-pastr
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the butter
Wash the butter in cold water to remove all salt and work it with a wooden spoon to extract water.
Place the butter between clean napkins in a tin pan or plate and set it on ice to harden without freezing.
Sift the flour into a pan.
Cut the butter into four equal parts.
Make the dough
Cut one-fourth of the butter into small pieces.
Mix the pieces into the flour without touching it with your hands.
Add enough cold water to the flour to form a stiff dough.
Turn the dough onto a floured surface.
Roll it gently into sheets.
Laminate the dough
Cut one-third of the remaining butter into small pieces.
Lay the pieces over the dough.
Sprinkle a little flour over the butter.
Fold the dough.
Roll out again.
Cut half of the remaining butter into small pieces.
Lay the pieces on the dough.
Sprinkle flour over the butter.
Fold the dough.
Roll out again.
Add the remaining butter.
Fold the dough.
Roll out once more.
Chill the dough without letting it touch the ice.
Shape and bake
Roll the dough into a sheet thinner in the center than at the edges.
Cut the sheet to the desired size.
Fill the pastry with your choice of filling.
Bake in a moderately hot oven at 400°F (200°C).
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.
-
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
- Forms the layers that separate into flaky sheets as the pastry bakes and steam lifts it.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the dough together between the butter layers.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the flour to form a stiff dough that can be rolled into sheets.
The step that matters
Keep the butter cold and separate from the dough. If the butter softens or melts into the dough, it blends in instead of forming distinct layers, so the pastry loses its flakiness. Chilling between folds keeps the layers intact.
“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
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.