How Duff Goldman Uses Store-Bought Pastries To Create Show-Stopping Halloween Treats

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With the fun of the Halloween season approaching, now is a great time to start thinking about festive dishes. Between squash-based savory entrees and spiced ciders, making a show-stopping dessert can seem like a challenge. In an exclusive interview with Duff Goldman, the "Ace of Cakes" chef shared some common-sense tips for entertaining desserts that require minimal effort with some store-bought assistance. Goldman encourages purchasing frozen puff pastry or phyllo dough to create simple vol-au-vent cups to fill with a variety of sweets, including chocolate mousse and other seasonal favorites.

The light and airy French vol-au-vent makes for a decadent appetizer and a scrumptious dessert. Even an expert like Goldman, who can confidently make his own puff pastry and phyllo dough, touts the values of seeking out a store-bought brand to make your preparations even easier. This is particularly helpful when cooking for a large number of guests.

Though they look especially fancy, vol-au-vent pastry cups are much simpler than they seem. All you need is a sheet of thawed puff pastry or phyllo dough and two circular cookie cutters, one of which is smaller than the other. Simply cut circles out of the dough to make the bottom of the cups, and then cut rings to lay on top of the circles so that the dough will puff up into a cup shape during the baking process. From there, it's just a matter of adding the festive fillings of your choosing.

There are so many creative ways to fill a vol-au-vent pastry cup, and there's nothing like taking inspiration from the flavors of the fall season. Pumpkin is the "GOAT" of gourds during the autumn, and you can make an easy two-ingredient pumpkin mousse using just canned pumpkin pie filling and either scratch-made or store-bought whipped cream. If apples and spice are more your style, you can either create a homemade apple cinnamon compote or use a can of Glory Foods Fried Apples for even more store-bought convenience.

For those who love Halloween candy, let your favorite sweet treats inform your vol-au-vent pastry filling. Start with a simple chocolate mousse recipe and mix in crushed up pieces of candies like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Twix Bars, Snickers, and more. You can also sprinkle a generous portion of Sweets Indeed Toil & Trouble Halloween Sprinklefetti Mix over the top of the chocolate-filled pastry cups.

Get creative with color and make a mango and chocolate mousse to fill in your vol-au-vent cups. Though this leans more into tropical tastes, the black and orange will nonetheless create a festive look and feel. Similarly, you can make an apricot-flavored mousse to fill these pastry cups and drizzle dark chocolate over the desserts. Any way you choose to make these simple sweets, they will be the highlight of your Halloween feast.