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 ↓
Fine French Puff
Ingredients
Directions
Place the flour on a clean surface and make a hollow in the center.
Add small pieces of butter, salt, and egg yolks into the hollow.
Pour in about two-thirds of the water into the center, not on the flour.
Gently incorporate the flour from the sides until well mixed.
Sprinkle a few drops of water on the mixture and knead for two minutes until elastic and smooth.
Press the butter in a cloth to remove moisture and form it into a ball.
If soft, chill the butter in the ice for a couple of minutes.
Roll out the paste into a square large enough to cover the butter.
Place the butter ball in the center, flatten slightly, and fold the paste over it.
Sprinkle flour on the board and rolling pin, then roll the pastry out very thin.
Chill the rolled pastry on a baking sheet in the ice box for 10 minutes.
Roll the pastry out thin again, fold it in thirds, and press the folds lightly.
Turn the pastry and roll it out again, folding in thirds once more.
Chill the pastry for 8 minutes, then repeat the rolling and folding process two more 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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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).
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
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