Bouchées à la Reine (Vol au Vent)

Roll the puff pastry to a thickness of 4 or 5mm. Using an Exoglass round pastry cutter Ø 10cm (I used a fluted cutter for this recipe), cut the pastry into discs...

... and slightly twist the cutter on your floured worktop to make sure the disc is cut in a perfectly neat shape. The pastry disc will detach easily from the puff pastry slab.

Cut as many discs as you need. 500 grams of puff pastry yields 12 discs of Ø 10cm, for a total of 6 bouchées.

Arrange 6 pastry discs on a Silpat baking mat, placed on top of a Silichef XL perforated baking sheet.

Using a pastry brush, glaze the discs with eggwash (a beaten egg yolk with a little water).

With the 6 other pastry discs on your floured worktop, cut a hole in the centre with a smaller pastry cutter. I used an Exoglass round fluted cutter with a diameter of 6cm.

Repeat the operation for all discs. You should now have 6 pastry rings.

Carefully arrange the rings on top of the pastry discs. The rings will adhere to the glazed pastry discs easily.

Glaze the pastry rings...

Remove from the fridge and apply another brush of eggwash along the rings.

... and place a baking sheet on top of the dariole moulds. I recommend using a heavy baking sheet, such as black steel. An aluminium baking sheet might not be heavy enough.

Bake in a fan-assisted oven at 170°C (gas 3) for 20 to 25 minutes.

20 minutes later, the pastry cases should have risen to a regular height. Remove the baking sheet on top.

When cooked, remove from the oven...

These homemade vol au vent pastry puffs are really worth the effort. I guarantee you won't want to go back to store-bought puff pastry!

Cooking the veal sweetbread: Organise the necessary ingredients.

Place the sweetbread into a saucepan filled with salted cold water...

Blanch the sweetbread for 4 or 5 minutes.

When cooked, strain the sweetbread...

... using a skimmer, then transfer gently in a saucepan filled with 2 litres of chicken stock.

Cover the sweetbread with a lid that is smaller than the saucepan in order to keep them totally immersed in the stock.

Cook for one hour at a gentle boil.

Pass the leftover chicken stock through a chinois. Set aside.

Wash the button mushrooms and strain.

Cut each mushroom into 5 or 6 slices, according to their size.

Repeat the operation for all the mushrooms. It might seem like a lot of mushrooms, but they will shrink a lot while cooking.

Place the sliced mushrooms in a hot frying pan with 5 cl of olive oil...

... and sauté for 15 or 20 minutes...

For the sauce suprême: This is the sauce base for bouchées à la reine. Melt the butter in a saucepan...

... then add the flour...

... and make a white roux. Make sure the white roux doesn't turn brown. Stir constantly with a whisk or spatula. The white roux should cook for 3 or 4 minutes. When cooked, remove from the heat and leave to cool.

... then whisk until homogeneous. This preparation is the base of sauce suprême. Cook for 4 or 5 minutes, until thick.

When the peeling operation is done, you should obtain small chunks of sweetbread. Set aside.

Place the sweetbread in a large mixing bowl. If you're using chicken in this recipe, add the chicken quenelles or chicken fillets, cooked beforehand and cut into small chunks.

Add the cooked mushrooms. Set aside.

... the egg yolks...

... and combine with a whisk.

Pour the preparation over the hot sauce suprême. At this stage, the sauce should no longer be boiling.

Add the butter dices and combine well with a whisk.

Add a dash of lemon juice and Madeira wine.

Pour the sauce over the sweetbread and mushrooms...

... and combine gently with a spatula.

Grate fresh black truffle over the preparation (optional).

Combine again. Keep warm.

Filling the pastry cases: Take the hot vol au vent shells...

... to have room for the filling. Reserve the pastry caps.