Vol-au-Vent, Sweet
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a good brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Prepare the puff pastry and bake it in a brisk oven at 400 °F (200 °C) until light and puffy.
Stew the fruit and reduce the syrup until very thick.
Fill and glaze
Fill the vol-au-vent with the thickened fruit compote, piling it high in the center.
Dust a little sugar over the top and return it to the oven to glaze, or use a salamander.
Serve once glazed.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Puff pastry
- Bakes into a light, flaky, hollow case that holds the filling.
- Fruit compote
- Provides the sweet, moist filling, thickened by reducing its syrup.
- Sugar
- Caramelizes on the surface under heat to form a glaze.
The step that matters
Reducing the fruit syrup until very thick. If the syrup is left thin, the compote will run out of the pastry case and soften its crisp base. Reducing concentrates sugars and pectin so the filling holds its shape.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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