Petit Fours Recipe

Petit Fours have always been a special treat for tea parties and fancy gatherings and these little cakes are perfect for such occasions. This is a simple and classic pound cake petit fours recipe with some delicious filling options and a pourable fondant to gives them that shiny and polished finish that we all love about petit fours. The bite-sized French confections lend an elegant air to any dessert table or tea service.

Petit fours are a classic choice for tea service, but are equally well suited for brunches, think Mother's Day, Easter, Bridal showers, or simply a bite sized dessert option after any meal. They are stunning on the dessert table.

How to Make Petit Fours

Let's make a batch of these lovely little petit four cakes. They are easier to make than they look, using a simple pound cake recipe and poured icing. Follow along here with step-by-step instructions as well as pictures to help you along. Hop down to the printable recipe card if you prefer.

The cake recipe makes about 18 petit fours.

Prep Time: 20 mins | Chill Time: 15 mins | Bake Time: About 15-20 mins

Tools Needed: Stand Mixer, Half Sheet Pan 13x18, parchment paper, non-stick spray, medium saucepan, large wide bowl, long serrated knife and straight edge knife, wire racks, candy thermometer, measuring cups & spoons, ladle, whisk, silicone spatula and spreader

Ingredients for Petit Fours

Pound Cake

• 1 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 6 large eggs (room temperature)
• ½ teaspoon almond extract or pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• ½ cup raspberry jam (preferably seedless), lemon curd or other filling

Note: No, there is no baking powder or baking soda in this pound cake recipe the eggs are sufficient to give just a little lift. The goal is a dense cake for the petit fours.

Poured Fondant Icing

• 6 cups powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)
• ½ cup water
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon almond extract or vanilla extract
• Food color (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees f. Prepare a baking sheet by lining the
bottom with parchment paper and then spray a non-stick spray around the inside edges. I use a half size sheet pan which is 13x 18 x 1”.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the softened butter for about 1 minute.

Add the granulated sugar and continue beating on medium high for an additional 2 minutes.

Add the eggs, one at a time while mixing
and the almond extract.

Gradually add the flour and mix to combine.

Pour into the prepared pan and spread cake batter evenly. (Make sure it gets in all the corners.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the cake springs back to the touch.

Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool for about 15 minutes before removing from the pan.

Place a large cutting board over the entire pan and invert the cake onto the board. You may need to loosen up all the edges before inverting.

Carefully remove the parchment paper from the bottom of the cake. Allow the cake to cool completely.

Using a large serrated knife, cut the cake in thirds.

Spread a thin layer of the jam evenly over 2 of the cakes and stack them evenly. Top with remaining cake and gently press together.

Place the stacked cake in the freezer for about 15 minutes to chill together for easier cutting.

Remove the frozen cake and trim edges if needed to create a more uniform size. Cut the cake into 2” pieces, keeping the pieces as even and uniform as possible. I use a long straight edge knife for this.

Place the frozen cake squares on a wire cooling rack, leaving space in between the pieces. Set Aside.

Make the pourable fondant: Fill a medium saucepan half full of water and place on medium high heat on the stove top. (The water should not
be boiling, just a simmer.)

In a large mixing bowl, wider than the saucepan, add all of the powdered sugar and the ½ cup water. Set the bowl over the simmering hot
water. (Essentially, this is a Bain Marie) If you have a double boiler pan that can be used.

Begin to whisk together until the powdered sugar starts to melt and liquify. Add the corn syrup and the almond extract. Continue whisking
until mixture is smooth and a pourable consistency. Check the temperature with a candy thermometer to make sure it is about 90 degrees. (If it exceeds 100 degrees, remove from the heat and allow to cool a little)

Place the cooling rack (with some of the cake cubes) over the edge of the bowl with fondant and ladle up a generous amount of fondant and pour icing over the cakes, allowing the excess to drip back into the bowl. Repeat until all of the cakes have been covered. You may need to repeat the process once the cakes have dried if you like them to be less opaque.

Allow the cakes to dry on the wire cooling rack. While the icing is still setting decorate the tops as desired with drizzles and swirls of colored icing, sprinkles, sanding sugar, or edible decorations like icing flowers or small sugared natural flowers, such as violets.

Helpful Tips

Here are a few things to keep in mind when preparing the petit fours recipe:

• The half sheet pan will create thin layers for a triple layer petit four. For a double layer, use a 13x9 pan which will give you thicker petit fours and only cut the cake in half, rather than thirds.
• If the pourable fondant begins to thicken up too much you can thin it out with a little bit of warm water, one teaspoon at a time.
• The little cakes can be cut to what size you prefer and works best for your pan. I wound up cutting them 1 ¾” to minimize waste and maximize the quantity.

Variations on the Petit Fours Recipe

Petit fours, like most cakes, are actually quite versatile. While sticking to batter ingredient ratios is important, the filling, icing or even type of cake used can be changed up. Here are a few ideas:

• The decorative icing drizzle can be made with melted white chocolate chips or almond bark. A sour cream or cream cheese icing would also work well. There are a few glaze options for my banana bundt cake that would work for petit fours as well.
• While a simple pound cake was used in this recipe, any dense cake recipe could work in petit fours.
• Any jam, marmalade or fruit curd can be sandwiched between the layers of cake. Vanilla buttercream even makes a great petit four filling.