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 Paste
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the egg yolk until light, then add the ice water and lemon juice.
Gradually mix in the flour until the dough is smooth and firm.
Roll the dough into an oblong shape.
Wash the butter in three different waters, pressing out all the water after the last wash.
Form the butter into a flat sheet, half the size of the dough sheet, and place it on the dough.
Fold the other half of the dough over the butter and press the edges together.
Roll the dough and butter into a flat sheet, then fold it into thirds.
Chill the folded dough on ice until cold.
Roll it flat again and fold it into thirds, then chill.
Repeat this rolling and folding process until the dough has been folded and rolled 7 times.
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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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + buttertop 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
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour, butter):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonthe original
- Coconutfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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