The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

I made five variations of fillings for the puffed pastry.

For the savory version, I made a quick mushroom cream sauce with baby portabello mushrooms, sweet onions and cream.

I also  made  crab salad with cherry tomatoes, celery and homemade mayonnaise.

There were three sweet varieties. One had a homemade semi-sweet chocolate sauce with fresh whipped cream.

Another was filled with fresh cherries and covered with a white chocolate sauce.

And for the last filling, I made a simple blueberry syrup and topped it with fresh whipped cream.

I had an amazing time making these and J had an equally amazing time eating them. After tasting the quality of homemade puffed pastry, compared to store-bought, I would defintiely make this again, but only for a special occassion. I'm looking forward to the next challenge and hoping to keep stretching my "kitchen legs" as the months go by.