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 says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Sift the flour, add a pinch of salt, and add 2 ounces of butter.
Mix the egg yolk, lemon juice, and cold water.
Combine the flour with the liquid mixture to form a paste, stirring with a fork.
Turn the paste onto a board and roll it out to ½ inch thick.
Spread 3 ounces of butter on the rolled‑out paste, fold it over, and roll it out three times.
Roll out the remaining paste, spread the last 3 ounces of butter on it, and roll it out five times.
Let the dough stand for 30 minutes.
Line and fill
Line the patty tins with the paste and place them in a cool place until needed.
Fill the patty tins with mincemeat.
Roll out the paste as thin as possible, wet the edges, and cover each pie with three folds of paste.
Bake
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for about 20 minutes.
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.
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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 paste once mixed with liquid.
- Butter
- Layered through the dough, it creates flaky texture as it melts and steams during baking.
- Egg yolk
- Adds richness and helps bind the paste.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the flour to form a workable paste while keeping the fat firm.
The step that matters
Keep the butter cold while rolling and folding. If the butter softens and blends into the flour, it will not separate into layers, so the crust turns dense instead of flaky. Chilling between rolls keeps the fat in distinct sheets that steam apart in the oven.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, egg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonthe original
- Coconutfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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.
More pie crust recipes
You might also like
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes
Lemon Custard64 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.