Citrus Dreams Vol-au-Vents
Syabira created this dish for Great British Bake Off ™ Season 13. For Pastry Week's Signature Challenge, bakers were tasked with making 12 sweet vol-au-vents from rough puff pastry in just two hours — a notoriously difficult challenge where most bakers produced underbaked pastry. Syabira was the standout performer with her 'Citrus Dreams' vol-au-vents: rough puff cases filled with orange and mandarin cream cheese enhanced with orange liqueur and spiced with hints of clove and cardamom, topped with pecan praline. Paul praised the 'nice height' and consistent sizing, noting the pastry 'trapped the butter inside' for height without visible lamination — though he felt it was 'about two minutes away from being perfect' with the centre slightly doughy. Prue called the filling 'light' and the pecan praline 'just delicious.' Syabira earned Star Baker for the third consecutive week. This recipe extends the baking time with a two-stage technique to address Paul's feedback.
- Time: 210 min
Source: Relaxed Recipes
Ingredients
- MAKE THE ROUGH PUFF PASTRY
- In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the cold butter cubes and toss
- LAMINATE THE DOUGH
- Roll the dough out to a rectangle roughly 8 x 18 inches . Fold the bottom third
- CUT AND SHAPE THE VOL-AU-VENTS
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled dough to about ¼-inch thickness.
- BAKE THE VOL-AU-VENT CASES
- Preheat the oven to 425°F . Brush the tops of the pastry rings with egg wash. Ba
- MAKE THE PECAN PRALINE
- Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat. Spread the pecans on a sep
- MAKE THE CITRUS CREAM CHEESE FILLING
- In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with the sifted icing sugar until smooth
- ASSEMBLE THE VOL-AU-VENTS
- Ensure the pastry cases are completely cool. Pipe or spoon the citrus cream chee