Classic Petit Fours Recipe: Step-By-Step Guide To French Mini Cakes

Petit Fours are tiny, delicate French cakes and are generally served with or after tea/coffee. They usually consist of sponge cake, filled with jam or cream, and are finished off with icing or a glossy type of finish. Their small size makes them look very appealing to everyone. Petit fours are generally served at wedding receptions, afternoon tea, and other special occasions where both appearance and taste are equally important.

These elegant and tiny bite-sized delicacies have been served at the tables of culinary royalty for hundreds of years. They are derived from the French words meaning "small oven," which was used to create these dainty desserts. For more than 200 years, there has been a rich history of petit four(s) serving as elegant delineations of skillful craftsmanship, elegance, and precision.

In many different tries in my kitchen, I discovered that how well the glaze is prepared determines what it looks like once complete. Improper consistency causes the coat to become either patchy or translucent. When applied properly, you can transform your cake cubes into a polished finish in no time.

What are Petit Fours?

A petit four is a small pastry served in bite-sized pieces. The size of a typical petit four ranges from 20-40 mm (2-4 cm). They are in the form of small cakes, small cookies, and confections, and due to their small size, multiple types of petit fours can be served together at tea time or during an event.

The term "petit four" comes from the French meaning "small oven". Traditionally, when bakers and pastry chefs bake bread in a hot oven, they would use the cooler temperature of the oven to bake delicate and small, elaborately decorated sweets that needed slower cooking temperatures.

There are four types of petit fours:

Petit Four Glacé

Small layer cakes that are poured over with icing/fondant or chocolate coating. These are the traditional cubes that you see in pastry displays and will be the type of petit four that this recipe will be focused on.

Petit Four Sec

Dry types of petit fours, e.g., macaroons, madeleines, and sablés. The dry type relies on the texture of the petit four itself and generally has no coating or icing.

Petit Four Salé

Savoury types of petit fours, e.g., cheese puffs or tiny tarts, are served at receptions.

Petit Four Frais

Fresh types of petit fours, typically filled with cream or fruit, usually need to be kept refrigerated.

The petit four glacé is distinguished from the other types of petit fours by having "sharp" edges, "smooth" glaze, and decorative toppings.

The Best Cake for Petit Fours

The cake base is what creates the structure for petit fours. Dense cakes create a better product than light sponge cakes.

Pound cake or almond sponge cake is ideal for this, as the crumb stays firm during the cutting and glazing process. In contrast to lighter cakes, such as chiffon or airy sponge cakes that will collapse easily, dense cakes will continue to support their structure and allow for easy cutting and glazing.

If cake crumbs get into the glaze, it creates a rough texture and a cloudy icing. A dense crumb will eliminate these problems and create clean edges after slicing.

Moisture also plays an important role in the finished product. If the cake layers are slightly firm, they will absorb the jam or buttercream filling while still providing structural support for the poured fondant glaze.

For the best results, make the cake a day in advance and chill it before assembly.

Types of Petit Fours

This dessert comes in many forms and flavors. Traditionally, petit fours have simple flavors and use a smooth (glossy) chocolate glaze over the top; however, some variations are very decorative.

Common examples of traditional petit fours include:

• Raspberry jam between vanilla cake
• Apricot jam on almond cake
• Chocolate ganache filling between layers of chocolate sponge cake

Decorations are relatively simple, as classic decorations for petit fours are typically buttercreamed piped dots, candied violets, ground pistachios, or drizzles of melted chocolate.

Pastry shops also offer colorful glazed style frosting (fondant) on a variety of different cakes, including; pastel colored frosted boxes for tea parties, wedding cake slices, birthday cake slices, or sprinkles, colored ( rainbow) frosted petit fours, on the dessert table, etc.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Baking the Cake Base

Ingredients:

• 220 g unsalted butter
• 220 g caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 240 g all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 60 ml milk

Instructions:

• Before baking your cake, preheat your oven to 175 degrees Celsius (or 350 degrees Fahrenheit).
• Place parchment paper into your 9 x 13" rectangular baking dish.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (this will be about 2-3 minutes).
• Add one egg at a time to the butter/sugar mixture; you’ll need to mix very well after each addition.
• In another bowl, combine the flour and baking powder together.
• Once all eggs have been added to the butter/sugar mixture, alternate between adding the dry ingredients and milk until they are all combined in the batter.
• Add in the vanilla extract.
• Spread out the batter evenly in your prepared baking dish.
• Bake for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

The edges of the cake will be very buttery and have a light, golden color. You should allow the cake to cool completely before assembling it.

Layering with Jam and Buttercream

• Cut the top of your cake to make it flat.
• Slice the cake into two even layers horizontally.
• Spread raspberry jam evenly on top of the first layer.
• Spread a light layer of vanilla buttercream on top of the raspberry jam.
• Place the second cake layer on top of the first layer and press down gently to make an even height cake layer for both layers.

Refrigerate the assembled cake for about 30 minutes to help set the filling.

Cutting Perfect Squares

Create a professional finished product when you have even square edges from the precision of cutting your petit fours.

• Place your layered cake in the freezer for 45 minutes until it has firmed up.
• Once firm, take a sharp knife and cut off the edges that you previously trimmed.
• Using the edge of the ruler to measure and cut, cut 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm squares.
• Use a clean knife in between cuts so that you have nice, sharp edges.

Freezing helps to avoid crumbling the cake when you are slicing, as well as keeping each layer intact when cutting.

Making the Poured Fondant Glaze

Ingredients:

• 500 g poured fondant
• 2–3 tbsp water
• Optional food colouring

Preparing Fondant for Glazing:

• Put some fondant into a heatproof bowl.
• Heat very gently over the double boiler.
• Stir constantly until the fondant becomes fluid and shiny.
• Once you have melted your fondant, you can add small amounts of melted butter to get the desired consistency.

Your glaze should flow like warm honey: if your glaze is flowing too quickly, it will create a thin, clear coating on your cakes.

Glazing Procedure:

• To glaze your cake cubes, place them on a wire rack.
• Pour the glaze evenly over each cube.
• Let the excess glaze drip from each cube.
• Once the excess glaze has been removed, place your cubes on a sheet of parchment paper to dry.

Within several minutes, it will have formed a smooth, shiny coating.

Tips for Success

• Glaze Breakage
• When cakes are too snowy or too heavy and have too much glaze on them, let the cakes sit for 5 minutes prior to glazing.
• Crumbs Lodged into Glaze
• Brush cake cubes lightly before glazing to remove any debris that may fall or move onto the glaze.
• Dry Cake Texture
• To keep the cake moist, use simple syrup brushed lightly on each layer before filling.
• Uneven Glazing
• To ensure your icing has the correct consistency, coat your cake with a fondant glaze that is neither too thin nor too thick.

Flavor Variations

• There is plenty of flexibility with the taste combinations used for petit fours.
• Lemon Petit Fours: Add lemon zest to the batter and fill with lemon curd.
• Almond Petit Fours: Refer to the almond pound cake recipe, using apricot preserve for filling and tossing with pistachios for topping.
• Chocolate Petit Fours: Use half flour and half cocoa powder to make the chocolate base, and for filling, use chocolate ganache.
• Raspberry Vanilla Petit Fours: Vanilla sponge cake filled with raspberry preserves covered in white chocolate fondant.

Storage and Freezing Instructions

1. When correctly stored, petit fours will remain fresh for a well-defined period of time.
2. At Room Temperature: Keep in an airtight container for 24 hours.
3. In the Refrigerator: Up to 4 days. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.
4. In the Freezer: Un-iced petit fours may be frozen for up to 1 month and glazed after thawing overnight in the refrigerator.
5. Please note: Do not freeze fully glazed petit fours. Condensation will make the glaze lose its shine.