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Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry Shells, reviewed

Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry Shells

Puff pastry is a very easy product to work with, which is one of the reasons that it is a staple in many bakers’ freezers. It helps that it has a wonderfully light, crispy and flaky texture and a buttery flavor, too. Homemade puff pastry is great when you have a bit of time to make it, but store-bought is the way to go most of the time for the sake of convenience and reliability. You can shape the pastry into tarts and turnovers, as well as using it in sheets. If you’re going the store-bought pastry route to begin with, you can also take a shortcut when it comes to shaping the pastry by buying ready made pastry cases, like Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry Shells. Available in two sizes, these pre-cut discs of pastry bake up into vol-au-vent (hollow, cylinders of puff pastry) that can be treated like tart shells and filled with a variety of hot and cold, savory and sweet fillings.

The star-shaped discs of pastry baked up beautifully, rising high and golden brown above the baking sheet, just like the picture on the box. I defrosted them completely before baking, as I would with puff pastry. They were easy to use and held up well to liquid/wet fillings without becoming mushy. For these, you pull off the top circle – helpfully labeled “top” – to create a pocked that is ready to fill. The top can be replaced or simply eaten. I opted for the latter.

The only drawback to using these is value compared to starting with sheets of pastry. While you have the convenience of ready-to-use pastry cases, you only get six in a box (of the large size; more in a box of minis). That said, unless you’re really planning to go all out for a huge gathering, six should be plenty most of the time.  I would still get them again because the results were good, but it’s something to keep in mind if you’re going to need a lot.

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7 Comments
  • Erika Melman
    October 20, 2009

    My favorite kind of cheesecake is lemon, with a ginger snap crust. I hope I win the pan! Love your blog.

  • marguerite
    October 20, 2009

    I buy these to serve Turkey Divan every year made from Thanksgiving leftovers. My husband LOVES it!

  • Martha E
    October 20, 2009

    I make a killer Pina Colada Cheesecake & they would be great in the pumpkin mini pans. Pick me! Pick me!

  • Collette
    October 20, 2009

    I make a white chocolate pumpkin swirled cheesecake with a graham cracker toffee crust and pecan praline topping. I get requests for it every year…it’s even been on a plane from Oregon to Minnesota for my sister-in-law’s parents because they wanted one for themselves! How great would it be to make mini versions of it this year?!

  • laurel
    October 21, 2009

    I loooove cookie dough cheesecake which I think is from your blog. Yum!!

  • Candace Cole
    January 2, 2018

    The last few times I have used these they have barely risen at all and were not cooked inside properly. I’ve made the shells for many years and followed the directions exactly. Don’t know what’s wrong unless they changed the recipe.

  • […] Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry Shells, reviewed | Baking Bites bakingbites.com/2009/10/pepperidge-farms-puff-pastry-shells-reviewed – view page – cached Puff pastry is a very easy product to work with, which is one of the reasons that it is a staple in many bakers’ freezers. It helps that it has a wonderfully light, crispy and flaky texture and a… (Read more)Puff pastry is a very easy product to work with, which is one of the reasons that it is a staple in many bakers’ freezers. It helps that it has a wonderfully light, crispy and flaky texture and a buttery flavor, too. (Read less) — From the page […]

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