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 Pastry
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the butter
Wash the butter in cold water until free from salt; pat and fold to remove water.
Measure 2 tablespoons of butter and form the remaining butter into a flat cake; refrigerate.
Make the dough
Place flour on a large platter.
Make a depression in the center.
Add 2 tablespoons butter, salt, sugar, and egg white.
Blend with your fingertips.
Gradually add cold water and mix to form a soft dough.
Knead the dough until smooth and elastic.
Laminate and fold
Roll into a rectangular sheet.
Place small pieces of butter on one half.
Dredge with flour.
Fold the other half over.
Press edges together.
Pat and press out into a long sheet ¼ inch thick.
Fold the sides and ends to the center.
Cover and chill.
Roll out as before.
Lift the paste often and dredge the board to prevent sticking.
Repeat the folding and rolling process six times.
Chill thoroughly.
Shape and chill
Cut into shapes.
Chill again until stiff.
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 + 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).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Butter
- Forms separate layers that create flakiness when the pastry bakes and the butter releases steam.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the layers of dough and butter together.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the flour to form a dough that can be rolled and folded without tearing.
- Egg white
- Adds structure and helps bind the dough.
The step that matters
Keeping the butter cold during folding. If the butter softens and blends into the dough, the layers are lost and the pastry turns dense rather than flaky. Chilling between folds keeps the butter in distinct sheets.
“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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