Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Excellent Short Crust
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Sift the flour and sugar together until dry.
Rub in the butter until it is well incorporated.
Beat the egg yolks and mix them with the cream.
Combine the cream mixture with the flour mixture to form a smooth paste.
Shape and bake
Roll the dough to your desired thickness on a floured surface.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) until golden.
Use this crust for orange cheesecakes or other desserts.
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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 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
- Provides the structure that holds the crust together as it bakes.
- Unsalted butter
- Rubbed into the flour to make the crust short and tender.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help bind the dough into a smooth paste.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and fat, making the dough easier to bring together.
- Refined sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown as it bakes.
The step that matters
Rub in the butter until well incorporated. Butter coated in flour limits gluten formation, so the crust stays tender. Butter left in visible lumps can melt unevenly and make the texture tough or greasy.
“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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