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 ↓
Plain Pie-crust
two piesIngredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the dough
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, rub the shortening into the flour until well combined.
Add the salt and baking powder, mixing them through the flour.
Gradually add cold water, mixing just enough to form a stiff dough.
Handle the dough lightly and roll it out for two pies.
Use the leftover dough
Use any leftover dough by rolling it thin, cutting it into small squares, and baking them.
Before serving, top each square with a spoonful of raspberry jelly.
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).
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 dough once combined with liquid and fat.
- Shortening
- Coats flour particles to keep the crust tender and flaky.
- Butter
- Adds flavour and creates flaky layers as it melts in the oven.
- Lard
- Adds tenderness and flakiness by keeping flour particles separated.
- Baking powder
- Produces gas that helps the crust rise and lighten slightly.
The step that matters
Mixing in the cold water. Adding too much water or overworking the dough develops gluten, making the crust tough. Mix only until the dough just holds together, keeping the fat cold so it stays in pieces that bake into flaky layers.
“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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