The Preparation and Cooking of Various Pastry Crusts used in Cookery
[2390—VOL-AU-VENT CRUST]
Prepare the puff-paste as directed under No. [2366]. Make the layer of paste of an even thickness of four-fifths inch; set [705] ]thereon an overturned plate or a saucepan-lid, the size of which should be that intended for the Vol-au-vent, and cut the paste obliquely, following round the edges of the lid or plate with a small knife. Turn the layer of paste over, and set it on a slightly moistened round baking sheet; groove it all round; [gild] it, and describe a circle on top of it with the point of a knife, one and one-quarter inches away from the edge, to form the cover of the Vol-au-vent. Streak this cover criss-cross-fashion; also streak the body of the Vol-au-vent with the point of a small knife, and bake it in a rather hot oven.
Upon withdrawing the Vol-au-vent from the oven, remove its cover, and clear it of the soft crumb which will be found on its inside.
[2391—BOUCHEE OR SMALL-PATTY CRUSTS]
Bouchées are really small Vol-au-vents. Roll out the paste, making it a good one-third inch thick. Cut this layer with a grooved round cutter three inches in diameter; set the roundels of stamped-out paste on a moistened tray; [gild], and make a circular incision in each of them, one-half inch from their edges, either with the point of a small knife or with an even, round cutter dipped in hot water.
Bake in a hot oven, and clear the insides of the bouchées of their crumb on taking them out of the oven. “Mignonnes Bouchées,” which are used as a garnish, are stamped out with a round cutter two inches in diameter, and are slightly thicker than ordinary bouchées.
[2392—SMALL HOT PATTIES]
Roll out the puff-paste to a thickness of one-sixth inch, and stamp it out with an even round cutter three inches in diameter. With the trimmings resulting from this operation, rolled somewhat more thinly, make an equal quantity of roundels, and lay them on a tray. Slightly moisten the edges of these roundels with a brush; garnish their centres with some forcemeat, rolled to the size of a hazel-nut; cover the forcemeat with the roundels stamped out from the first; press upon these with the back of a round cutter two inches in diameter; [gild] them, and bake them in a hot oven for twelve or fourteen minutes.