My husband is a truly wonderful man. One of the kindest I’ve ever met, so I really hate to complain about him, but I’m going to do it anyway. Aron has a habit of barreling through a doorway or narrow hallway without ever letting me through first, whether I’m coming from the opposite direction, or right by his side. In his defense, I don’t thing he’s aware of this behavior. In my defense, I am. I’ve tried pointing it out a few times (first nicely and then not so nicely), but that hasn’t done the trick. I’ve also tried being more assertive and just pushing him out of the way, but he’s stronger than me. I’ve since resigned myself to the fact that this behavior will never change. Now when it happens I bow, grandly move my arm in the direction that he’s going, and exclaim, “M’lady!” as he walks past. It cracks us both up, he gets to walk through first, and now I have something to write about in my post. It’s a win-win. Hey look, I made Holiday Petit Fours!
The last time I made petit fours was in October when I tried my hand at Mummified Petit Fours. I shouldn’t have called them petit fours because they were far too big to be labeled as such. This time around I got it right. These delicious confections are exactly two-bites in size, and more uniform in appearance. For the cake I used the Joy Of Baking’s almond cake recipe. It has a delicious almond flavor, and it’s perfectly moist. I used cherry preserves as my filling to pair nicely with the almond flavor. For the icing, I went with Gretchen’s Kitchen’s recipe for liquid fondant icing. After trying a few icing recipes, Gretchen’s has become my favorite– easy to work with and delicious to eat. Incidentally, both of these sites have great how-to videos on making petit fours. Check them out.
Let’s do it. After making the cake batter, smooth it out onto a greased and parchment-lined half baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes in a 375 degree F. oven.
Once baked, and cooled, cut the cake into thirds vertically. Spread cherry preserves on one third, and then place the second third on top. Spread the preserves on the second layer, and then place the third cake on top of it.
Trim the edges, and then cut the cake into 1 and 1/2 inch squares.
Place each square on a wire rack over parchment paper.
Pour the liquid fondant over each little cake allowing it to fall down and coat all sides.
With the help of tweezers, I placed little Chirstmas and winter candies on top.
- 2/3 pound (300 grams) Almond Paste
- 2/3 cup (135 grams) Granulated White Sugar
- 2/3 cup (150 grams) Unsalted Butter, at room temperature (cut into pieces)
- 1TBS Pure Vanilla Extract
- 4 Large Eggs, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup (85 grams) All-Purpose Flour
- 1/4 tsp.(1 gram) Salt
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) Cherry Preserves, heated and strained
- 2 and ¼ cups (270 g) Powdered Sugar
- 1/8 cup Corn Syrup, warmed to 120 degrees F.
- 1 oz. (28 g) White Chocolate, melted
- ½ tsp. Extract Flavoring of your choice
- 1/8 cup to ½ Warm Water
- Mini holiday candies
- Food coloring
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 17 1/2" x 12 1/2" x 1 " baking pan and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Set aside. In a food processor, pulse the almond paste until it becomes finer. Add the sugar and pulse until combined. Pour the almond paste/sugar mixture into a bowl connected to a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Gradually mix in the butter, and beat until light and fluffy (about 2 to 3 minutes). Mix in the vanilla extract, and then scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined. Finally, mix in the flour/salt mixture.
- Spread the batter evenly into the pan, and bake for about 15-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 5-10 minutes. Run a knife along the perimeter of the pan and then gently pull the parchment to slide the cake onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Next, trim the edges of the cake with a sharp knife. Using a ruler, divide the cake into three equal parts. Take one layer and gently place it onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Peel off the parchment paper and spread half of the cherry preserves evenly over the top of the cake. Take a second layer of cake and turn it upside down on top of the cherry preserves. Line up the edges as best you can. Peel off the parchment paper and spread the remaining cherry preserves evenly on the top of the cake. Then take the last layer of cake and turn it upside down on top of the cherry preserves. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and top with a heavy baking sheet or plate to compact the cake layers. Place in the refrigerator to chill until firm (2-3 hours or even overnight).
- Once the cake is firm, remove from refrigerator, and using a ruler, cut into 1 and ½ inch squares (you can also cut the cake into circles, rectangles, or diamonds). Place the mini cakes on a baking sheet, cover, and chill in the refrigerator while you get on with the liquid fondant.
- In a bowl connected to a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk the powdered sugar, warm corn syrup, melted white chocolate, and extract flavoring until it comes together. It may appear dry and crumbly. Don’t fear. Slowly pour in the hot water and mix. It will smooth out beautifully. Pour in enough hot water until you’ve reached your desired consistency.
- At this point, you can divide the icing into bowls and color each with colors of your choosing.
- Pour the liquid fondant icing in a piping bag fitted with a number 7 tip. Place the little cakes on a wire rack that is over a sheet of parchment. Pipe out enough of the fondant around the edges of the cakes, so that it will fall down and coats all of the sides. Fill in the top with fondant as well. If needed, use a small off-set spatula to smooth out the tops of the cakes.
- Using tweezers, place your candies on top of the cakes.
- Keeping the petit fours on the wire rack, place the rack in the refrigerator to chill for an hour to set.
- Food processor
- Standing mixer with whisk and paddle attachments
- 17 1/2" x 12 1/2" x 1" baking pan
- Ruler
- Saucepan
- Wire rack
- Parchment paper
- Candy thermometer
- Piping bag with #7 Tip
- Off-set spatula
- Tweezers (optional)
