If you are going to make vol au vent, you really should invest in the time to make your own pastry cases. They are absolutely the bomb and way better than the pre-baked purchased variety!
The pastry used for vol-au-vent is puff pastry, renowned for its light, flaky texture and buttery goodness. This classic French pastry dough is made by layering dough and butter which we call 'laminating', which involves folding and rolling the dough multiple times. When baked, the water or in our case ice, in the butter turns to steam, causing the dough to puff up and create delicate, crisp layers. For vol-au-vent, the puff pastry is cut into shapes, often rounds, with a smaller round cut out from the center to create a hollow case. This allows the pastry to rise and form a little edible container perfect for holding savory or sweet fillings.
We recently created the Chicken Vol au Vent and rather than expect you to go with the not as delish bought pastry cases, I thought it was best to create this recipe so you will not be disappointed at all!
It bears discussing the fact that we used Empire puff pastry for the cases you see pictured, and having tasted them, I probably wouldn't rush to make my own puff pastry in the future. This stuff is magic, starring Pepe Saya, one of the other products I love of course. You can use purchased puff pastry, and I would go with either Empire or if you cannot get that, use Careme, from South Australia, also excellent.
Supermarket puff pastry will do the trick, but you will need to use more than one sheet for the same yield.
We think these cases would work well with any of the following fillings, (though you may want to leave the cheese off for some of them):
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Need
- 1 sheet Empire puff pastry, thawed and ready to go
- OR 1 Batches Puff Pastry ready to use Recipe
- 1 eggs whisked
- a little parmesan cheese finely grated
Do
- 1
Preheat oven to 200°C and line 2 baking trays with paper.
- 2
Sprinkle a little flour on a silpat mat and roll out the pastry into a rectangle. Using a large round cutter, cut out as many circles as you can get from the pastry. Using a cutter that is 1 cm smaller in diameter than the other one, cut circles from the middle of 1/2 of the rounds you have already cut, leaving you with rings of pastry. Set the inner circles aside and make smaller vol au vent with them.
- 3
Place the large rounds onto a lined baking tray and lay the 'rings' on top. Brush with egg wash. Grate some parmesan cheese on top. Bake for 15-20 minutes until puffed and golden. Timing will depend slightly on the size you make them as well as the accuracy of your oven. When they are cooked, remove from the oven and they can either be filled immediately or used later after cooling. They will stay crisp and be perfect for at least 24 hours as long as you are not in a humid climate.
