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Petit fours are simple to make. These elegant little cakes are perfect for parties and buffets. If you need a great petit four recipe, read on to learn how to make petit fours, step by step.
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Petits Fours Demo
This professional video by a past president of the Retail Bakers of America demonstrates how to make petit fours. The video is intended for professional bakers, and as such it uses professional restaurant equipment and supplies, but includes a number of tips which will also be useful to the home baker.
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Introduction
The cake for petit fours can be made from scratch, or you can begin with a purchased pound cake. In either case, after the petit fours are cut out, they are frosted by pouring a thin icing over the cakes. The icing hardens as it dries. -
How to Make Petit Four Cakes
Petit Four Ingredients
- 2 eggs plus 2 egg yolks
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup milk
- 5 tablespoons melted butter
- Butter and flour for pan
How to Make Petit Four Cakes
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Butter and flour a jelly roll pan.
- Beat the eggs, yolks, and sugar until light and fluffy. This should take about 10 minutes with an electric mixer.
- Sift the flour and baking powder over the egg mixture.
- Add the milk.
- Fold the flour and milk into the egg mixture gently.
- Add the melted butter and combine until well blended.
- Spread the batter in the pan, and bake for 12-15 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Turn the cake out onto a cutting board, and cool completely.
- Cut the cake into squares, rectangles or triangles
Pound Cake Petit Fours
- Lay a pound cake on it's side lengthwise, and cut it into four strips.
- Cut each strip into squares, rectangles, or triangles, as desired.
How to Make Petit Four Frosting
Petit Four Frosting Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 cup water
- 1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
- Food coloring (optional)
How to Make Petit Four Frosting
- All ingredients except for the confectioner's sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Boil without stirring until the mixture reaches 226 degrees and is the consistency of a thin syrup.
- Remove from heat and cool to 100 degrees (slightly warmer than lukewarm).
- Sift confectioner's sugar over the syrup a little at a time, stirring to thoroughly combine after each addition.
- The icing will have reached the proper consistency when it is just thick enough to coat a spoon.
- Tint with food coloring, if desired
- Use while warm; if it gets too thick, reheat in a double boiler until thin enough to pour.
How to Frost Petit Fours
- Position the petit fours 2 inches apart on a thin mesh wire cake rack suspended over a baking pan (to catch drips).
- Pour the frosting over the cakes, moving slowly over each row, allowing the frosting to drip down the sides of the cakes.
- You can scrape up the icing that accumulates in the pan, reheating it in a double boiler so that you can reuse it.
- Allow frosted cakes to sit until they are dry, then remove the cakes from the rack, trimming any excess frosting away from the bottoms with a sharp knife.
Petit Four Variations
- Petit fours can also be frosted with rolled fondant or ganache.
- Decorate petit fours with a nut, coffee bean, candied fruit, sugared flowers, or dragees.
- You can drizzle melted white or dark chocolate over the petit fours as well.
- For filled petit fours, slice the cakes in half before frosting, and coat the bottom half with half a teaspoon of jam, jelly, or lemon curd. Replace the tops and frost as above.
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