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 Crust
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Make the dough
In a bowl, combine the flour and salt.
Cut in the butter and lard until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add the cold water and mix with a knife until combined.
Chill
Form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling out.
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 crust when mixed with water.
- Butter
- Creates flaky layers as it stays in solid pieces and melts in the oven.
- Lard
- Adds tenderness and flakiness by coating flour and limiting gluten development.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the flour so the dough holds together, while staying cold keeps the fat firm.
The step that matters
Cutting in the butter and lard. Fat should stay in small, solid pieces. Overworking warms and blends it in, and mixing too much develops gluten, making the crust tough rather than 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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