Uploaded June 2022 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
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Vol-au-vents are delightful and not complicated to make, though a light touch is helpful. We mix together herbacious, creamy and delicious sauce chivry with some chevre for the filling, and then top with a bit of onion jam for zing. The possibilities here are endless, really, between the flavors which can go into the sauce and chevre, and the other flavors which can be part of the onion jam (or marmalade, or jalapeno jam...).
To make the vol-au-vents, we make squares of puff pastry (or laminated yeast-leavened “croissant”) dough which has been rolled out quite thin, less than a quarter inch. If possible, cover the rolled dough and allow it to rest a few minutes before cutting; depending on your climate control this may or may not be possible. The dough generally will shrink when cut.
Once cut into squares, brackets are cut on opposite corners, which almost touch at the other corners. To form the vol-au-vents, the outside edge of the cut and bracketed squares are washed with milk or egg-wash, and then carefully folded over to the other, inside edge, so that a square receptacle is formed, with little toes out the top and bottom (or sides). Fill the receptacle with a dollop of filling and a smidgen of garnish, and egg wash all the visible dough.
These are best shortly after being made. Yeast dough will give better oven-spring, but can be harder to find and to work with. Puff pastry generally produces adequate results if it is not overfilled. If so desired, the vol-au-vents can be pricked on their floors and perhaps even carefully weighted, then blind-baked to be filled after baking. Par-baking is not recommended because this dough does not work like pie dough. Also of course the filling has to be suitable for eating “raw”. Our filling is fully cooked, but it does also benefit from that time in the oven.
Makes 4-6 “regular sized” vol-au-vents of 4-8 bites each.
Equipment:
• lined sheet pan for baking
• sharp knife for cutting dough
• rolling surface and rolling pin
Ingredients:
1 ea sheet of puff pastry
1/2 cup Sauce chivry
60 g chevre about 2 oz; room temp
2-4 Tbsp onion jam
extra milk and/or egg for washing
Procedure:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Mix cheese and sauce together thoroughly.
3. Roll out and cut the vol-au-vents.
4. Carefully fold opposite corners over after cutting brackets and egg-or-milk washing.
5. Arrange the pastry shells on the lined sheet pan.
6. Fill each with 1 – 1.5 Tbsp of cheese filling.
7. Top each blob of cheese with a smaller blob of onion jam, up to 1 Tbsp each
8. Bake the vol-au-vents in the center of the 400F oven for about 18 minutes.
9. Remove them when they start to brown as they will carry over.
10.Allow them to cool on a rack.
11.Optionally garnish with grated parmesan, finely chopped parsley, chives, fines herbes...
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
Check our our Patreon!
patreon.com/loveyourfood
Vol-au-vents are delightful and not complicated to make, though a light touch is helpful. We mix together herbacious, creamy and delicious sauce chivry with some chevre for the filling, and then top with a bit of onion jam for zing. The possibilities here are endless, really, between the flavors which can go into the sauce and chevre, and the other flavors which can be part of the onion jam (or marmalade, or jalapeno jam...).
To make the vol-au-vents, we make squares of puff pastry (or laminated yeast-leavened “croissant”) dough which has been rolled out quite thin, less than a quarter inch. If possible, cover the rolled dough and allow it to rest a few minutes before cutting; depending on your climate control this may or may not be possible. The dough generally will shrink when cut.
Once cut into squares, brackets are cut on opposite corners, which almost touch at the other corners. To form the vol-au-vents, the outside edge of the cut and bracketed squares are washed with milk or egg-wash, and then carefully folded over to the other, inside edge, so that a square receptacle is formed, with little toes out the top and bottom (or sides). Fill the receptacle with a dollop of filling and a smidgen of garnish, and egg wash all the visible dough.
These are best shortly after being made. Yeast dough will give better oven-spring, but can be harder to find and to work with. Puff pastry generally produces adequate results if it is not overfilled. If so desired, the vol-au-vents can be pricked on their floors and perhaps even carefully weighted, then blind-baked to be filled after baking. Par-baking is not recommended because this dough does not work like pie dough. Also of course the filling has to be suitable for eating “raw”. Our filling is fully cooked, but it does also benefit from that time in the oven.
Makes 4-6 “regular sized” vol-au-vents of 4-8 bites each.
Equipment:
• lined sheet pan for baking
• sharp knife for cutting dough
• rolling surface and rolling pin
Ingredients:
1 ea sheet of puff pastry
1/2 cup Sauce chivry
60 g chevre about 2 oz; room temp
2-4 Tbsp onion jam
extra milk and/or egg for washing
Procedure:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Mix cheese and sauce together thoroughly.
3. Roll out and cut the vol-au-vents.
4. Carefully fold opposite corners over after cutting brackets and egg-or-milk washing.
5. Arrange the pastry shells on the lined sheet pan.
6. Fill each with 1 – 1.5 Tbsp of cheese filling.
7. Top each blob of cheese with a smaller blob of onion jam, up to 1 Tbsp each
8. Bake the vol-au-vents in the center of the 400F oven for about 18 minutes.
9. Remove them when they start to brown as they will carry over.
10.Allow them to cool on a rack.
11.Optionally garnish with grated parmesan, finely chopped parsley, chives, fines herbes...
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
