Here is how to make vol au vents puff pastry cases: take a look at my step-by-step picture guide! Have you ever wondered how to make vol au vents? Then this is your chance to learn how to!
Have you ever wondered how to make vol au vents?
Did you know that there is actually a very easy way to prepare them at home?
I get it, they look pretty hard to make.
Puff Pastry Cups
But it is quite simple to do though.
All you need to make these vol au vents recipe is a sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry and a little beaten egg yolk.
And if you are brave enough yourself, then you can also try your hand at making your own puff pastry at home from scratch!
Have you ever tried that at home?
Make puff pastry from scratch?
BestPuff PastryVol Au Vents Cases
If fact, how do you spell vol au vents exactly?
I have seen it in quite a few versions, but the most used misspelling is ‘voulevant’ or ‘volovants’. And that is probably because it is pretty close to how you pronounce it as well.
These classic puff pastry vol au vents used to be very popular in the seventies.
Do you think that they are old fashioned, outdated perhaps?
Love ’em or hate ’em.
They still exist, even until this day!
Seventies
So what are vol au vents?
You surely must have seen vol au vents before served as an appetizer. Vol au vent fillings can be amushroom duxelles or a classic crab salad topped with salmon roe. That is the little bite version of these vol au vents.
However they can also be a main course.
If you see vol au vent on a menu in Belgium for example, then it is not only the puff pastry you will get, but an entire main course.
Belgium
In this case the puff pastry vol au vents case will be much larger and it is covered in a classic chicken stew with meatballs and mushrooms in white sauce.This meal always comes with a portion ofBelgian fries and a small green salad on the side.
Vol au vent is a very popular dish in Belgium and one of my all time favorites back home! A family favorite.
I love making chicken vol au vents from scratch by the way.
Homemade vs. Store Bought
However if I don’t have enough time, then I buy the vol au vents ready baked at a good deli or supermarket. You only need to pop them in a hot oven for 5 minutes to get some color on that pastry.
And you are all set!
Enjoy!
BestPuff PastryVol Au Vents Recipe
Puff Pastry Vol Au Vents
Prep Time
45 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Total Time
1 hr 15 mins
How to make vol au vents puff pastry cups: a step-by-step picture guide!
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: French
Servings: 2 people
Calories per serving: 228 kcal
Ingredients
- 1 large sheet puff pastry ready-rolled
- 2 egg yolks beaten
Instructions
1) Place the puff pastry on a clean surface. With a metal serving ring, cup or glass cut out 14 large circles, 3 inches (7,5 cm) in diameter. Leave 2 of the circles intact and then cut out the middle of the remaining 12 circles, creating rings.
2) Then remove the middle circle. Prick holes in the 2 intact circles using a fork.
3) Once that's done, assemble the vol au vent: place the 2 intact pastry circles and the 14 pastry rings on a clean chopping board. Brush them all with a little beaten egg yolk.
4) Then start building up the vol au vent: place the pastry ring on top of the circle.Keep on doing that until you have a nice little stack of puff pastry.
5) You can also use the mini circles you cut out and then brush them with the egg yolk if you don't want to throw them away.
6) Place the 2 pastry towers (and the small circles) on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake them in a preheated oven at 374°F (190°C) for 25 to 30 minutes until golden and crisp. Keep an eye on them and cover with tinfoil if necessary. Then remove them from the hot oven and serve with your favorite filling!
Fresh Puff Pastry
Vol au vents mean puff pastry!
Have you ever made puff pastry at home?
Well I have. But it kind of backfired on me to be honest with you. Don’t get me wrong: it was quite an experience and worth every minute that I put into it and I can assure that a bunch of minutes went into the process.
Now at least I know how laborious and painstaking it is to make puff pastry.
Homemade Puff Pastry
Would I do it again?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
But let’s be honest: the puff pastry that you can find in the supermarket, well there is nothing wrong with that product. And the end result is just perfect for pies, pastries, snacks and appetizer bites.
So why was my homemade puff pastry not a hit but a miss?
Layers
Well it is simple: I overworked the fresh puff pastry dough.
No surprises there. In order to get puff pastry the dough has to be rolled out many times. I think I should have been more gentle with the dough. Fact is that when I baked my puff pastry it came out pretty rock hard.
Not that flakey at all.
How To Make Fresh Puff Pastry From Scratch?
So do you know how to make puff pastry?
Well you start off making a basic lean dough using butter, flour, salt and ice water. Roll that out and then brush the dough with melted butter or sprinkle bits of cold butter.
Fold the dough shut, roll it out, turn, fold it up, roll it out, turn, fold it up, roll it out…
Repeat this a couple of times, but don’t forget to chill the dough in between these steps…
Emma’s Recipe
Anyway, if you are really willing to try to make puff pastry yourself, there are many good pastry websites that offer great recipes with videos and pictures.
I recommend Emma Christensen’s picture recipe: the pictures and explanation make it look so easy! And I am sure it is. Lord, my fingers even start to tingle when I check her method…
Shouldn’t I try to make puff pastry a second time?
To do list, check!
Baking Challenge
Key here is that you have to be gentle with the dough.
And that is exactly where I went wrong that first time.
I should have known that the raw finished pastry wasn’t elastic and smooth at all in the end. As hard as a rock, and that is what the finished product also looked and tasted like.
Anyway I am talking 5 years ago here, something that I would pick up much quicker now after all those years of cooking, baking and blogging.
Give it Another Go
Like I said before, even though the result was not good at least I was now able to say for sure how puff pastry is made. I do get those basic questions quite a lot so better be prepared, right?
I don’t know, I should maybe give it another try.
I have to admit that I am not that much into baking but I could easily use the puff pastry to make a quiche of some sorts. Or fresh croissants for breakfast.
That sounds good though to me!
Belgian Chicken Vol Au Vent Stew
A little flashback to my introduction: there I mentioned the Belgian chicken vol au vent stew. You can find this dish everywhere in very restaurant or brasserie.
The puff pastry vol au vents are not always part of this dish anymore lately: quite some chefs prefer to cut puff pastry into rectangles, bake them in a hot oven to make them puff up and place the pastry on top of the hot chicken stew.
Ready Baked Vol au Vents
That works for me as well, I don’t mind.
You can find ready made puff pastry vol au vents here in lots of supermarkets, delis and baker shops and they are good as well.
Homemade or store bought, you decide.
