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
Ingredients
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
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the dough
In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder.
Rub the cold shortening into the flour until well combined.
Add cold water gradually, mixing just enough to form a stiff dough.
Roll and bake
Handle the dough lightly and roll it out for two pies.
Use any leftover dough to cut small squares, bake them, and top with raspberry jelly 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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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 gluten network that gives the crust its structure.
- Shortening
- Coats flour particles and keeps layers separate, making the crust tender and flaky.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas that helps the crust rise and lighten slightly.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the flour so the dough holds together without overworking it.
The step that matters
Handle the dough lightly. Overworking the dough after the water is added develops too much gluten, making the crust tough instead of tender and flaky.
“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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