Homemade Vol-au-Vents, puff pastry baskets that are usually filled with savory fillings for great appetizers, aperitifs, and snacks among friends. Preparing them is simple and quick, and the puff pastry base also allows for sweet cream-filled snacks for excellent afternoon treats.
They are very convenient to consume as they are finger food since the basket holds the filling well inside, allowing us to enjoy them comfortably even at standing buffets.
Previously, I always bought them ready-made, but with puff pastry available in the fridge, I decided to give it a try, and I must say we had a lot of fun making them, and the result exceeded expectations.
In this recipe, I provide a basic filling that goes well with almost everything in terms of savory toppings. You can “decorate” it with pickled vegetables, olives, tuna, salmon, shrimp, or you can also decide to enjoy it plain. However, this is just a suggestion because the filling can really be made with anything we have in the kitchen, even simple ricotta and honey.
For convenience, you can use ready-made puff pastry or you can make it at home for an even more homemade result.
For puff pastry lovers, I also recall
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 30 pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 118.68 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 7.47 (g) of which sugars 0.12 (g)
- Proteins 1.91 (g)
- Fat 9.06 (g) of which saturated 0.94 (g)of which unsaturated 5.04 (g)
- Fibers 0.26 (g)
- Sodium 92.99 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 25 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
The ingredients I indicate are for the base, which you can then fill as you prefer. I only provide a suggestion for a classic filling that suits various tastes. On top, you can add anything from olives, vegetables, salmon, fish, or enjoy it plain.
- 2 packages puff pastry
- 1 package spreadable cheese
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
- to taste parsley
- 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Tools
To prepare the vol-au-vents, you’ll need round pastry cutters. I recommend three very similar sizes; actually, you only need two, one larger and one smaller to cut the inside. But if you use three instead in a gradient, the edge will be as perfect as you see in the photo. I’ll explain how to use them well later.
- 3 Pastry Cutter
- 1 Star Nozzle
- 1 Pastry Bag
Preparation
The preparation of the basic filling is very simple. Just combine the spreadable cheese in a bowl, add salt, pepper, oil, and parsley, mix everything and put it inside the pastry bag with a star nozzle. This will be the cream with which you will fill your vol-au-vents, then on the surface, to make them more colorful and with different tastes, have fun adding different pieces of food from grilled vegetables, olives, anchovies, salmon, cold cuts, and whatever your imagination suggests.
For the first step, take the largest pastry cutter and cut all the bases. I used a 2-inch diameter cutter.
Now you need to make the borders to place on the bases. For each base, you need to stack two borders to have a high edge after baking. I use a pastry cutter slightly narrower than the previous one because when you go to overlap it, you will see that the puff pastry tends to expand a bit since it is sticky. With this little precaution, you will have perfect vol-au-vents after baking. I first cut two circles, overlap them, then with the small cutter, I remove the central part, thus joining them together as I cut.
Before overlapping the two borders on the base, I recommend lightly wetting it with water, but really just a little. Proceed to stack all the borders on the bases. If you run out of puff pastry, you can knead it again, and I recommend doing so by overlapping the various leftover pieces and rolling them out with a rolling pin. The re-kneaded dough tends to be thicker and develops better in baking since it is overlapped multiple times when re-kneading. You can therefore also use just one border, but this will be up to you, as you will need to re-knead only for a few pieces.
After all the borders are stacked, pierce the interior with a fork to prevent it from puffing up too much during baking.
Lightly beat the yolk with a fork and brush all the borders as shown in the photo.
Finally, bake in a preheated oven at 392°F for about 10 minutes or until golden brown, and your vol-au-vents are ready.
Once cooled, you can fill them.
NOTES
You can prepare your vol-au-vents in advance and keep them crispy for 2 or 3 days by storing them in food bags or even better in tin boxes with a lid.
As specified previously, it is usually recommended to fill vol-au-vents with savory creams because they are ideal for being served as appetizers, aperitifs, and at buffets. However, nothing prevents you from filling them with sweet creams like hazelnut cream, pistachio cream, custard, etc., given the neutral base. You can also decorate them with chopped nuts for a great snack, even for children.
This recipe contains one or more affiliate links.
If you liked the recipe or if you have questions, don’t hesitate to comment here or on social media Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can butter in puff pastry be replaced with margarine?
If you prefer vegan puff pastry, you can use margarine in place of butter. Margarine in a block is the best substitute. Other types of butter, such as coconut butter, are too soft for good lamination.
