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 ↓
Pie Paste No. 1
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the dough
Mix the baking powder with the flour.
Work in half the shortening and a little salt.
Add enough ice water to form a dough.
Roll and layer
Roll out the dough for the top crust.
Spread the remaining shortening on the rolled dough, then sprinkle flour over the spread shortening.
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
- Provides the structure that holds the crust together.
- Butter and lard mixed
- Coats the flour so the crust turns out tender and flaky.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking to help the crust rise.
- Ice water
- Supplies the moisture that binds the flour into a workable dough.
The step that matters
Add enough ice water to form a dough. Too much water lets gluten develop in the flour, which makes the crust tough. Add water only until the dough holds together.
“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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