Why it works: Flour and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Pie Crust
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, and sugar (if using).
Add the lard and mix quickly with a wooden spoon.
Gradually pour in the cold water until a soft, non-sticky dough forms.
Shape the dough
Sprinkle flour on a clean surface and place the dough on it.
Flour your hands and roll the dough until it no longer sticks and feels elastic.
If you don't have a rolling pin, use a floured bottle to flatten the dough.
Roll the dough away from you, turning it to shape it into a broad oval.
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 + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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 dough once hydrated with water.
- Lard
- Coats flour particles to keep the crust tender and flaky by limiting gluten development.
- Cold filtered water
- Hydrates the flour so the dough holds together and becomes elastic.
The step that matters
Add the lard and mix quickly. Working fat in quickly leaves it in distinct pieces rather than fully blended into the flour. As the fat melts in the oven it creates layers, while overworking lets gluten develop and makes the crust tough.
“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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