Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Raised Pie
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.
Make the hot water crust
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Rub the butter into the flour and add the salt.
Melt the suet in a pan. Add the milk and water. Bring the mixture to a boil.
Stir the hot mixture into the flour until combined. Knead the mixture into a smooth paste.
Set aside about one quarter of the paste to keep warm.
Shape and fill
Shape the remaining paste into a ball. Work out the center, making the sides as high as possible until thin.
Fill the center with pie meat.
Wet the upper edge of the case. Roll out the reserved paste to cover the pie. Press the edges together. Trim neatly. Pinch the edges all around.
Make a hole in the center. Decorate the top with pastry shapes. Brush the top with beaten egg.
Bake and serve
Let the pie firm in a cool place.
Bake for about 1 hour starting at 400°F (200°C). Reduce the temperature.
Fill the pie with well-seasoned gravy before serving.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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 structure of the pastry case that holds the filling.
- Suet
- Adds fat that gives the crust a rich, tender texture.
- Butter or lard
- Adds fat that shortens the dough, making it tender and flaky.
- Milk
- Adds liquid and milk solids that help the crust brown.
- Water
- Adds moisture that hydrates the flour so the dough can be kneaded.
The step that matters
Stir the hot mixture into the flour until combined. Hot liquid and fat melt and gelatinize the starch so the dough stays pliable enough to shape by hand. If it cools before shaping, the paste stiffens and cracks.
“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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