Vol-au-Vents recipe - French pastry made the easy way

April 1, 6:15 PMPasco County Food ExaminerSusan Slade

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Vol-au-Vents

Whenever we had parties in England, I would always make Vol-au-vents.

I always made the pastry myself but now I cheat and used frozen puff, or flaky pastry.

If I buy it in a British shop then it comes in a square. I then sprinkle flour underneath and above it. Also putting flour on my rolling pin, to stop it sticking, and then rolling it out to around half of an inch thick. Next I get a cutter and make rounds in the pastry about one and a half inches to two inches in diameter.

Next get a smaller cutter and cut down into the vol-au-vent, about halfway.

Arrange these on a baking try and put them in the oven at 425 degrees, until they start to turn golden brown. Remove them from the oven and lift off the tops. You may need a small cheese or butter knife to do this. Return the cases into the oven for a couple of minutes to ensure the middle is cooked.  If the outside is a deep golden brown, then turn the oven down to 375 to ensure they don’t burn.

Vol-au-vents are really light and flaky.  Vol-au-vent is a French word, which means ‘windblown’, as they are puff pastry.  These are very delicate to work with so I make them just before I serve them.

I normally use a savory filling for two thirds of them, such as chicken salad, tuna salad, baby shrimp, or cut up pieces of shrimp, asparagus with sauce and seasoning, mushrooms, and the list goes on.  It can be as long as your imagination.

The rest of the Vol-au-vent cases get filled with sweet fillings, such as mincemeat, stewed apples, lemon curd, blackcurrant jam, and strawberries with cream.  You can serve them either as they are, or by adding the lid/hat on the top.  This is angled so you can see the filling.

If you are serving cold Vol-au-vents put them into cold pastry, but if serving hot filling, they need to have just come out of the oven.

If you like my International food then you may like Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, and sausage rolls.