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 ↓
Puff Paste
Ingredients
Directions
Place the flour in a mound on a clean surface and make a well in the center.
Crack the egg into the well, add a pinch of salt, and a small amount of butter.
Mix lightly, adding water gradually until the mixture forms a soft paste.
Knead gently until combined, then roll out the paste on a floured surface.
Spread the remaining butter to the size of the paste, cut it, and place it on top of the paste.
Fold the edges of the paste over the butter to enclose it.
Roll out the paste until you can see the butter through it.
Fold the ends over each other, roll once or twice with a rolling pin, and let it rest.
Repeat the folding and rolling process for a total of six turns.
Roll out the paste again and cut it into desired shapes for petits pates.
Avoid using too much egg wash on top to ensure they rise properly.
Once baked, remove from the sheet, place on paper, and scrape the bottoms when cool.
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).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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
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