These crispy flakey vol-au-vent cases made with puff pastry are the perfect base for a variety of your favourite fillings. They can be made ahead and filled at the last minute and are the best retro canapé or appetiser!

Jump to:
Why we love this recipe
- Growing up, the party food I looked forward to the most at Christmas was the vol-au-vent! Crispy puff pastry cases filled with a savoury filling, more often than not creamy mushrooms, sometimes chicken.
- I have tested many ways of making homemade vol-au-vents from scratch, and I feel I’ve cracked it! By using two layers of pastry, a ring of puff pastry on top of a circular base you end up with risen puff pastry cases a base that stays crispy, and fully cooked puff pastry.
- These 2 ingredient – and one of those is water – puff pastry cases are so simple to make and can be made up to 3 days ahead and kept in the fridge then reheated to crispy perfection!
- These vol au vent cases can be made in the oven or in the air fryer.
- So much cheaper and tastier than store bought cases.
- You can easily scale up the recipe to make as many vol-au-vents as you like for a budget friendly canapé.
Ingredients Notes
- Puff pastry – In Australia I use a 24cm x 24cm frozen puff pastry sheet, weighing about 160g, but if you are in the UK you can use half a block of puff pastry and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to ¼ cm thick or half a sheet of ready rolled puff pastry.
- Water – cold tap water.
- That’s it!!
Step by step how to make vol-au-vent cases
For full detailed recipe please scroll to the recipe card at the end of the post.
- If your puff pastry needs defrosting, defrost it at room temperature – this will take an hour or so depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
- Preheat the oven.
- Cut out circles with a 6cm (2.3″) round cookie cutter.
- Using a smaller, 4cm (1.57″) round cookie cutter cut holes in the middle of half of the circles.
- Lay the large circles on a lined baking tin / baking sheet.
- Brush the rings with a little water, and also brush the edges of the circles with a little water.
- Gently press the ring over the circle.
- Repeat with the remaining circles and puff pastry rings. Place them in the preheated oven.
- Take out of the oven and cool for a couple of minutes until cool enough to handle, then taking a small sharp knife, carefully cut around the inner circle.
- TIP: don’t cut all the way through the pastry.
- Carefully remove the smaller circle, taking care not to rip the pastry.
- You should be left with a little puff pastry cup like the image on the left below.
- Place the vol-au-vent cases back in to the oven for 3-4 minutes to cook the insides.
- Leave to cool completely on a wire rack before filling.
FAQ
Yes, you can make the cases in advance and store in an airtight container overnight or in the fridge for up to 3 days. However once filled, vol-au-vents should be served straight away.
Yes, you can make square cases, cutting them with a knife rather than a cookie cutter.
My recipe tips
- Take care not to cut all the way through the pastry when cutting off the lid, otherwise your filling could leak out.
- Preheat the oven before you place the puff pastry cases in to bake. This helps them to rise.
- For a shiny top on your puff pastry cases, brush with a little beaten egg before placing in the oven. I don’t do this to keep the cost down.
- Leftover pastry / pastry scraps: you can either re-roll the pastry on a lightly floured surface and cut out some more cases, or make puff pastry pinwheels.
Storage
You can make the pastry cases up to 3 days before you need them and reheat in a moderate oven or the air fryer for a couple of minutes to crisp up.
How to cook the cases in the air fryer:
- Prepare the cases as for the oven put place them on a circle of baking paper / baking parchment on the air fryer basket, making sure there is a gap of 1-2 cm (⅓ – ¾ inch) around the edges to let the air circulate.
- Bake at 180˚C / 356˚F for 6 minutes.
- Leave to cool slightly then take off the lids.
- Carefully remove the baking paper – the basket may still be hot so take care – then place the vol-au-vent cases back into the air fryer.
- Cook at 180˚C / 356˚F for 3-4 minutes.
Suggested fillings for vol-au-vents
- Serve this retro hors d’oeuvre filled with prawn cocktail, creamy mushroom sauce or Coronation chicken.
- A couple of other budget ideas:
- Spicy tuna vol au vents: To fill 6-7 cases, mix 1 small tin of drained tuna with ¼-1/2 a small spring onion, finely chopped, 2.5 teaspoons mayonnaise, pinch of salt and ¼-1/3 teaspoon Sriracha. Fill the cases with a teaspoon of the mixture and top with extra spring onion and optional black sesame seeds.
- Spicy egg vol-au-vents: To fill 5 cases, mix 1 cooled hard boiled egg with 2 teaspoon mayonnaise, a pinch of salt and ¼ – ⅓ teaspoon Sriracha. Fill the cases with teaspoon of the mixture and top with finely chopped spring onions.
More finger food recipes
Vol-au-vent Cases
Author: Robyn
Equipment
- 1 6cm (2.3″) round cookie cutter
- 1 4cm (1.57″) round cookie
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry (approx 160g / 5.5 oz) ($0.38 /£0.57)
- water ($0 / £0)
Instructions
- If your puff pastry needs defrosting, defrost it at room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 180˚C fan / 200˚C / 356˚F convection / 392˚F.
- Lay the puff pastry on a board (roll out if necessary) and using the 6cm (2.3″) round cookie cutter cut out 16 circles.
- Using the 4cm (1.57″) round cookie cutter, cut holes in the centre of 8 of the circles to create rings of puff pastry.
- Lay the circles on a lined baking tin / baking sheet.
- Brush the rings with a little water, and also brush the edges of the circles with a little water.
- Gently press the ring over the circle.
- Repeat with the remaining circles and puff pastry rings. Place them in the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes.
- Take out of the oven and cool for a couple of minutes, then when cool enough to handle, then taking a small sharp knife, carefully cut around the inner circle, taking care not to cut all the way through the pastry.
- Carefully remove the smaller circle, taking care not to rip the pastry.
- Place the cases back on the baking tray and return to the oven for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown and the insides are beginning to get a slight tinge of colour.
- Leave to cool completely on a wire rack before filling.
To cook the cases in the air fryer
- Prepare the cases as for the oven put place them on a circle of baking paper / baking parchment on the air fryer basket, making sure there is a gap of 1-2 cm (⅓ – ¾ inch) around the edges to let the air circulate.
- Bake at 180˚C / 356˚F for 6 minutes.
- Leave to cool slightly then take off the lids.
- Carefully remove the baking paper – the basket may still be hot so take care – then place the vol-au-vent cases back into the air fryer.
- Cook at 180˚C / 356˚F for 3-4 minutes.
- Store in an airtight container overnight or in the fridge for up to 3 days, reheating in a moderate oven or in the air fryer (180˚C / 356˚F) for a couple of minutes to heat up.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
HAVE YOU MADE THIS RECIPE?
I’d love to see your creation!
Or just leave a comment below!
Let me know your thoughts!