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How to Make Patty Cases

Use puff paste for which recipe is given elsewhere. To shape the paste, roll to about ¼ inch in thickness and stamp out with 2 inch cutter twice as many pieces as you wish shells. Cut centres from onehalf of them, leaving the rim about 1/2 inch wide. Lay these rings on the whole rounds, pressing them down that they may stick together. In very cold weather it may be necessary to wet the top of the large rounds near the edge to make sure that the rings will not slip. To make very deep shells, roll the paste about ⅛ inch thick and lay on two rings, or even three, but these are troublesome to make as they are apt to slip to one side. The oven should be as hot as for baking white bread.

Patty shells should rise in 10 minutes then take about 20 minutes longer to bake through and brown. There will usually be a little soft dough in the centre that should be picked out with a fork, taking great care not to break through the side or bottom crust. Large Vol-au-Vent cases should be rolled to the thickness of 1½ inches and may be round or oval in shape.

Mark out an inner line about 2 inches from the edge and with a thin, sharp knife blade (dipped first in hot water) cut from two-thirds to three-quarters of the way through the paste. These are much more difficult to bake than the smaller shells and there is always much uncooked paste to be removed from the centre. filling gives the name to the dish.

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