The challenge was vol-au-vent. We could create any shape of puff pastry that we fancied and fill it with either sweet or savory, but here's the catch: We had to make the puff pastry. From scratch. I was scared to death but ended up with a finished product that brought a smile to my face. That's because it looked pretty and tasted good. It's always a lovely surprise when you get both.
For the filling, I created a twist on apple pie by sautéing chopped apples (apples from a nearby tree, I'll have you know) in butter and sprinkling with a little brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and fresh, grated ginger. After the mix had cooked down, I removed it from the heat, let it cool a bit and then stuffed some inside my vol-au-vent. I served it along side three mini scoops of vanilla bean ice cream.
September challenge verdict: success!
The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of a Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vol-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.
To see more vol-au-vents creations, please check out the Daring Kitchen website.
Your pastry looks wonderfully flaky and that filling looks very delicious--I love that you added ice cream with it. Great job! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jill!!
ReplyDeleteI think it looks awesome as well. I just want to know if you think it was worth it to make your own or if you will be buying it in the shops in the future.
ReplyDelete