Petits Fours

[Joni]

Had the most delicious Petit Fours from a bakery in Portland, Oregon (Beaverton Bakery)..a very moist almond cake with strawberry fondant layered in between and the fondant is a white chocolate. The almond cake is very moist and probably 3 small layers inside. Has anyone had success in making these delicious cakes. The small ones are 1.5 inches squared.

[aguynamedrobert]

I made those for school when I went to Western Culinary Institute in Portland. Those are the tastiest little things you will ever try. I am a HUGE fan of almond cake and with everything else in those they turn out very tastey....

[takomabaker]

Isn't it just frangipane? That's what I was taught to use for petit fours.

[chefpeon]

Isn't it just frangipane? That's what I was taught to use for petit fours.

Same here. That's what I use.

When I have to make them.

Which I try to do as infrequently as possible.

They're such a hugh pain in the a$$!

[JeanneCake]

And I've been making biscuit, layering with jam and pouring fondant over. I hate doing these with a passion and am always looking for a better way to build this mousetrap. Are you baking the frangipane the way you do for rainbow cookies?

Edited May 22, 2007 by JeanneCake (log)

[Joni]

What is your recipe for frangipane?

[takomabaker]

What is your recipe for frangipane?

←

This is the recipe I use. It's from class notes, so it's kind of "shorthand" but I think pretty clear. The measurements for the vanilla, dark rum, and lemon zest were about 1 tsp. each and about 1/2 tsp. salt. You can find more detailed recipes pretty easily, though.

Frangipane

In order:

8 oz. butter

8 oz. sugar (add in 2 parts)

mix well before adding

8 oz. almond flour (or any nut flour)

5 eggs (2 at a time)

vanilla, dark rum, lemon zest

1-1/2 oz. AP flour

salt

Can use as tart filling, cake, or petit four base.

Traditional application

Apricot Glaze

glazed cherries

slivered almonds

Raw sucré shell

1. Put 1/8” raspberry jam in bottom of raw sucré shell.

2. Cover with frangipane

3. Bake 40-45 minutes at 375.

4. Glaze with apricot glaze.

5. Decorate with cherry and almond “flower”

[aguynamedrobert]

Oh woops...I haven't been on this post for a little bit...I will try to get that recipe tomorrow or the next day and post it up for your guys...Delicious!

[Joni]

Robert!! Thank you! I have a pre wedding party to attend that I need to bring the dessert, so that would be timely!

[JeanneCake]

I was inspired to use my Felchlin white choc to glaze my latest batch of petit fours. (well, more or less. A friend told me she stopped using fondant years ago and used this) It worked perfectly, so much better than the traditional fondant I'd been using. I never liked poured fondant petit fours because they were so sweet, but this choc is a different matter entirely.

I'm still using my regular old biscuit recipe, though. Would love to have other options - for those who are using an almond joconde, frangipane or whatever, what do you like/don't like about that particular sponge?

I like that my biscuit recipe is so versatile - I use it for the base of my cheesecakes, buche de noel, spring rolls, to line entremets, etc. I've never baked frangipane as a sponge cake before, and I'm not too crazy about the almond sponge from Bo Frieberg either (it seems a little "leathery" to me but that could be that I'm spoiled by the biscuit.) So a compare/contrast would be nice....

[aguynamedrobert]

Sorry for the extremely long delay! But here is a great recipe....

27 oz - Almond Paste

20 oz - Sugar

20 oz - Butter

-----------------

25 oz - Eggs

-----------------

9 oz - All Purpose Flour

1)Start with the Almond Paste...Cream that in a mixing machine(you can soften it by adding just a small quantity of the eggs if necessary).

2)Cream the sugar into the almond paste and then cream the butter into that mixture.

3)Add eggs in 1-2 at a time as to not get lumps...wait till it incorporates and then add more.

4)Mix in the flour until everything is incorporated and then you can bake.

Bake at 400 Degreees F on a flat sheet pan. You can then cut the different petit four pieces from that sheet layer.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Enjoy....

[gfron1]

I have a request for a white cake with "petit four" icing. What does that mean? Upthread I read poured fondant...what is that creature? Never heard of it. Oh, and by the way - I need to make it tomorrow! Thanks.

[JeanneCake]

Well, if you don't have any white coating chocolate (which is what the Felchlin Ultra Gloss is), you can use poured fondant. Do you have the Cake Bible? There's a recipe for "food processor poured fondant" in there, and it would work. It takes a while for the sugar to cool down (an hour), though so plan ahead. That's what I used until my friend told me she used the white choc with better results and far better taste. Poured fondant is similar in texture and taste (sweet!) to the icing you make with confectioner's sugar and milk or water - it's a fluid icing that will eventually firm up like ganache does.

If you freeze your petit four squares, you can dunk them in the fondant with fewer crumbs. Keep it over a water bath or double boiler so it stays fluid and doesn't crust while you're using it. If you use the white choc, you can dunk them too; either way you might want to dunk twice for better coverage. Strain whatever you're using because you will get some crumbs in it no matter how careful you are.

How many of these little darlings do you have to make? If you go with a half-sheet size, with 3 layers of sponge; you can get about 45-50 out of it; very probably more if you are making them dainty little 1" squares. Trim the edges all the way around before you start making your little squares or cuts.

[jumanggy]

Hi Rob, you can check out the recipe for poured fondant (sorry, no white choc) here, from when I made religieuses. It's a snap to make.

[cookman]

Sorry for the extremely long delay! But here is a great recipe....

27 oz - Almond Paste

20 oz - Sugar

20 oz - Butter

-----------------

25 oz - Eggs

-----------------

9 oz - All Purpose Flour

1)Start with the Almond Paste...Cream that in a mixing machine(you can soften it by adding just a small quantity of the eggs if necessary).

2)Cream the sugar into the almond paste and then cream the butter into that mixture.

3)Add eggs in 1-2 at a time as to not get lumps...wait till it incorporates and then add more.

4)Mix in the flour until everything is incorporated and then you can bake.

Bake at 400 Degreees F on a flat sheet pan. You can then cut the different petit four pieces from that sheet layer.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Enjoy....

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What size pan is this for? Half sheet?

[Mjx]

I've read that the petits fours layers are supposed to be weighted, but there was no indication of how long, or how much weight is to be used; anyone have experience with this?

[Smithy]

Anyone care to provide updates on the grand topic of petits fours? I have a ridiculous desire to have some for Christmas, and am torn between trying to make them or simply buying them from a catalog.

[curls]

3 hours ago, Smithy said:

Anyone care to provide updates on the grand topic of petits fours? I have a ridiculous desire to have some for Christmas, and am torn between trying to make them or simply buying them from a catalog.

 

This video looks like it will be helpful. Lots of detail and recipes. @Smithy I'm looking forward to seeing your petit fours.

 

 

[Tropicalsenior]

I certainly can't claim to be an expert on Petit fours but when I was working for a company that catered for the airlines out of Reno in the early seventies it was one of the desserts that was served In first class. I remember watching the pastry chefs make them. They were two layers of sponge cake filled with Jam. They cut them into two inch squares and put them on a rack and poured almond flavored icing over them. Each was topped with a Jordan almond and then decorated with a filigree pattern. They were delicious but very very sweet.

This article gives a very comprehensive description of the many types of petit four. Personally I can't see that the preparation of any of them warrants the price that they charge.