Petits Fours
http://www.deliciousthingsbakery.com/cake/petit-fours-and-an-introduction
Ingredients:
| WHITE ALMOND SOUR CREAM CAKE: | |
| 1 (18-ounce) package | plain white cake mix |
| 1 cup | all purpose flour |
| 1 cup | sugar |
| 3/4 teaspoon | salt |
| 1 1/3 cups | water, room temperature |
| 1/8 cup | vegetable oil |
| 1 teaspoon | vanilla extract |
| 1 teaspoon | almond extract |
| 1 cup | sour cream, room temperature |
| 4 | large egg whites, room temperature |
| BASIC BUTTERCREAM: | |
| 3 sticks | butter, room temperature |
| 6 cups | powdered sugar |
| 1-2 teaspoon | almond extract |
| a little water if needed | |
| PETIT FOUR GLAZE: | |
| 9 cups | powdered sugar, sifted |
| 1/2 cup | water |
| 1/2 cup | light corn syrup |
| 1 teaspoon | vanilla extract |
| 1/2 teaspoon | almond extract |
Directions:
WHITE ALMOND SOUR CREAM CAKE: Place all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir together with a wire whisk.
Add the remaining ingredients and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
Pour into greased and floured jellyroll pan and bake at 325° until cake tests done, about 50 minutes.
BASIC BUTTERCREAM: Put butter into your mixer. Let it mix on medium for a bit til it lightens a touch and looks good and smooth. Add almond extract.
Turn off the mixer with each powdered sugar addition! Add powdered sugar in 2 cup increments and then slowly let it incorporate until it reaches the texture and sweetness you’d like. I find 6 cups is about right for me. If its a little too thick, add a few drops of water at a time til its a touch thinner.
PETIT FOUR GLAZE: Combine ingredients in microwave-safe bowl. Place in the microwave for 3 minutes. Stir. It should be noticeably warm to the touch. If desired, tint parts of icing with food color. Rewarm it for 30 second bursts as needed to keep it just at a hot temperature.
ASSEMBLY: 1. Make the cake. I use a jellyroll pan, but any pan will work.
2. Make your buttercream and ice the top of the cake. Easy enough.
Now here’s where my petit fours differ from other techniques I’ve seen:
3. Pop the cake in the freezer. You want that cake basically frozen before you take it out to cut.
4. Cut the cake. Get a standard metal ruler to do this. And put that bread knife away! You want a good, thin pizza cutter (seriously.) Line it up with the ruler and slice the cake. You want perfect cubes of cake and frosting. The width of the ruler should be the perfect size to go by. Put those suckers back in the freezer while you make the glaze.
5. Make your glaze. There’s a standard petit four icing recipe on the net and it actually is the best I’ve tried. I’ll include it below. You will have to keep popping it in the microwave to keep it hot and thin. The minute it starts to cool, it thickens something horrible.
6. Glaze the cake cubes. Do NOT follow the whole “put it on a rack and pour the glaze over them” stuff. Yuck. What a mess. If you have frozen your cake like I told you (and you did, didn’t you?) You can take a wooden skewer and stick it right in the bottom of the cube, dip and then lift it off the skewer with a fork. Voila- perfect glazed petit four, no dumping a hot bowl of glaze all over your counter! Put them to set on a cooling rack and fancy them up with a rosebud. You’re done and you now have a whole kitchen covered in glaze to clean up!