|
Compiled by Diane Shavkin NY Layout & Editing by Diane Shavkin |
| From:
Dolores' McCann
ALL ABOUT PETIT FOURS OUTLINE: I bake 1 cake mix in my sheet cake pan, usually use a Pound cake recipe from side of Duncan Hines Box - Devils Food Pound Cake or Yellow Pound Cake. After the cake is baked and cold cut into circles with 1" biscuit cutter, this is easier if the cake is partially frozen, but I don't always freeze first. Melt 1 lb coating chocolate; Add 5 tb Paramount Crystals. Pour into 12 oz squeeze bottle with pointed tip (like honey bear bottle tip) Place cake on large rack with wax paper lined under. Usually I frost the tops first by filling a bag & using only the coupler with no tip attached place a mound of frosting on top of the cake, this way when I coat the cakes the coating runs down off the cake more easily. Using the squeeze bottle pour coating on top of & then all around the cake making sure there are no gaps left on the sides unfilled. I can usually do four or five in a row before they must be moved over. If you don't move them they will stick to the rack & be a real pain to move later. Just run a small angled spatula under the cake & slide over, continue coating cakes until bottle is empty, refill as needed. You can re-melt the coating that flows onto the wax paper, toss it back in the double boiler. I have found that the few crumbs that fall into the coating are easily knocked off the cakes with a toothpick while coating is still liquid. To get the rest of the coating out of your bottle, toss it into the freezer for a few min on its side & then squeeze it, the coating will crumble right out. I place my petit-fours onto candy cup, the same size you would use for turtle candies I usually just pipe a rosebud on top but sometimes I get fancy. Sometimes I just make them in mini-muffin pans, but I don't like getting the cake mix into all those little holes. If you have a concave cup flower form (a plastic sheet with 8 cup for holding gum paste flowers while they dry) this make a great place to set your cakes while you are coating them, the cakes are just slightly larger then the cup, the coating flows off the cake onto the plastic, you don't have to move them over, & you can place the plastic sheet into the freezer & pop the coating right off the sheet & reuse just like with the other method, but with a lot less cleanup. By the way all those little pieces left over when you cut the cake can be used to make candy or other types of petit-fours. I don't usually have a problem, with three kids there is usually nothing left TRADITIONAL PETIT FORS •16 oz POUND cake mix •2 tb Orange or almond liqueur •2/3 cup Apple jelly •ALMOND FILLING (below) •MOCHA-SUGAR ICING (below) •CHOCOLATE SUGAR ICING (below) •WHITE DRIZZLE (below) •CHOCOLATE DRIZZLE (below) ABOUT 4 HOURS BEFORE SERVING OR DAY BEFORE: •1. Prepare pound cake mix as label directs but bake in greased 15 1/2"x10 1/2" jelly roll pan. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert on rack and cool completely. •2. Meanwhile, prepare Almond Filling; set aside. •3. When cake is cool, sprinkle with orange-flavor liqueur. Cut cake cross-wise in half, forming two rectangles about 10 1/2"x 7 3/4" trim cake to make straight edges. •4. Between 2 sheets of wax paper, roll Almond Filling to about 10 1/2 x 7 3/4" rectangle. Peel off top sheet; invert bottom sheet with Almond Filling to one cake rectangle; peel off paper and discard. Top with second cake rectangle, liqueur-side down, press layers together firmly. With serrated knife, cut cake lengthwise into 6 strips, each about 1 1/4" wide. Then cut each strip crosswise into 7 pieces. •5. In 1-quart saucepan over low heat, melt apple jelly. With pastry brush, brush cut surfaces of cake pieces with jelly. Place cake pieces 1-inch apart, on wire racks over wax paper. •6. Prepare Chocolate-Sugar icing and Mocha-Sugar Icing. With small spoon, spread chocolate icing over 21 cake pieces, letting excess icing drip onto wax paper. Spread Mocha Icing over remaining cake pieces. •7. When icing is dry, prepare White Drizzle and Chocolate Drizzle. With spoon, drizzle WHITE DRIZZLE over chocolate iced ones by quickly waving spoon back and forth. Drizzle CHOCOLATE DRIZZLE over mocha petit fors. 42 petit fors. ALMOND FILLING: In blender at medium speed or in food processor with knife blade attached, finely grind one 4-ounce can slivered almonds (1 cup). In small bowl, mix ground almonds, 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, 2 tbs. butter or margarine (1/4 stick), softened, and 2 tbs. orange- or almond-flavor liqueur. CHOCOLATE-SUGAR ICING: In small bowl, mix 3 cups confectioners' sugar 7 tb. Water 1/4 cup cocoa 1 teas vanilla extract MOCHA-SUGAR ICING: In small bowl, mix 3 cups confectioners' sugar 1/3 cup water 2 tb cocoa 1 teaspoons instant-coffee powder 1 teaspoon vanilla. WHITE DRIZZLE: In small bowl, mix 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar 2 teas lemon juice. CHOCOLATE DRIZZLE: In heavy 1-quart saucepan over low heat, melt 2 squares un-sweetened chocolate Back to top? FRENCH CHOCOLATE PETIT FORS •1 cup Confectioner's sugar •7 oz Semi-sweet chocolate •5 tb Butter •4 tb Cold water Sift the sugar. Melt the chocolate in double boiler. Add sugar and butter (butter cut in pieces). Stir until smooth. Remove from heat. Add water one Tbs.. at a time to cool. Pour icing on petit fors or other cake while still warm. Is shiny, very soft, easy. Glazes 40 petit fors. Makes 1 1/2 cups of icing. TIP: Lace points look beautiful on petit-fours, you can also make lace points out of royal icing or... easy with coating chocolate & set them up off of the surface of the cake, really pretty. For a Christmas party last year I made 50 petit-fours with different designs I found in an old Wilton yearbook, Santa faces, snowflakes - of course each one of them different chocolate frosting with white royal piping & a silver dragee in the center, snowman's face, written Noel & Joy done in old English script in red & green with a touch of holly, poinsettias. I don't always get the chance to have fun with decorating & these were really fun to do - too bad everyone eats our works of art. PETITE FOURS 2 •3 cups Dry candy fondant •3 cups Confectioner's sugar •5 oz Water •2 teas Vegetable oil •1 teas Almond flavor, or as desired MARZIPAN: •1 cup Almond paste •2 Tbs.. Karo •1/2 cup Marshmallow cream •2 cup Confectioner's sugar CAKE: Heat over water to 100 degrees. Use large sheet cakes with crusts cut off. Cut 1 1/2" max. squares. Space on rack over pan. Quickly drip on top and curtain sides of pieces in one application. Scrape drippings and re-use. Remove any crumbs. Thin and re-warm as needed. NOTES: Coordinate flavor, color of cake, filling, icing color. Authentically, petit fors should have apricot filling (or other) between layers and have a thin coating of marzipan over the cake before poured fondant is applied. In USA many times, we do not use the filling or the marzipan. MARZIPAN: Break up paste in bowl. Knead with ingredients. Add more sugar, if necessary, to thicken. May add glucose or glycerin to thin. Cover tightly. PETIT FORS 3 •1 lb Chocolate coating •3-4 tb Paramount Crystals Melt chocolate as usual over a double boiler, add crystals & stir gently until dissolved. I put this into a squeeze bottle, (like the ones honey comes in only larger), place cake on rack with wax paper under, squirt chocolate mixture over top of cake & down sides until coated, move cake immediately to the side, otherwise the coating will stick to the rack, let dry. If your cake has a flat top, it may be necessary to run a knife along the top very lightly to run off some of the chocolate. When I make petit fors I usually put a mound of frosting at the top by using just a coupler with no tip in the bag, this way the frosting slides right down the side very nicely. You can reuse the frosting that collects under the rack, just scrape back into the pan & re-heat. If you have a concave cup flower form (a plastic sheet with 8 cup for holding gum paste flowers while they dry) this make a great place to set your cakes while you are coating them, the cakes are just slightly larger then the cup, the coating flows off the cake onto the plastic, you don't have to move them over, and you can place the plastic sheet into the freezer & pop the coating right off the sheet & reuse just like with the other method, but with a lot less cleanup. NOTE: Paramount Crystals is a mixture of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (coconut, palm kernel, palm soybean) etc. in other words it is fat. It is the best fat to use when thinning down chocolate, it comes in flakes that resemble chip coconut, I don't know why they call them crystals because they don't look like crystals at all. Avail at Sugarcraft. PETIT FORS - 4 •Pound Cake Mix •1 Marzipan paste •1 Batch buttercream icing Slice up the pound cake into several thin layers, (horizontally). Take two of the thin layers, and frost with the buttercream, set aside. Take the marzipan and roll it into a thin sheet, and put on top of your just put together layers, and then cut the layers into tiny squares. Put your tiny squares onto a rack, and frost with a thin mixture of powdered sugar and milk glaze. Add milk slowly to right pouring consistency). Decorate with sprinkles, or pipe tiny frosting flowers. I follow this recipe often. My guests think that I have gone to a lot of fuss, just for them. I use the same recipe here for Christmas sugar cookie frosting, one pound of powdered sugar and one fourth cup of milk. PETITE FORS - 5 •Pound cake Apricot Glaze; strained •Cake cutter ( Toffee Fork) •Petite Four Cutters; any shape •Dry Candy Fondant Water to thin fondant to consistency •Decorating kit Food coloring SIMPLE SYRUP: 50% water 50% granulated sugar ROYAL ICING •5 tb To 6 Tb Hot water •3 tb Meringue Powder •1 lb Confectioners' sugar; approximately Bake Pound cake (or other firm cake in jelly roll pan (1 cake mix approx.). Cake should be thin, only about 1-inch high. When ready to coat: Spread glaze over top of cake. Cut petite fours: Cut out each petite four with tiny cutter, each is 2 pieces, having the 2 stick together because of the glaze. Push out onto wax paper-covered tray. Glaze will stick the 2 layers together and help to keep cake fresh. Icing: Place Dry Fondant in a saucepan. Add water to consistency. Heat to warm, NOT boiling. IMPORTANT: If you over-heat the fondant, it will thicken and become very hard! You shouldn't have it too thin, as you want it to coat thickly so the cake won't show through. Color icing if desired. TO COVER: Place one petite four on the Cake Cutter fork. Pour glaze over cake, catching all drippings in a tray below. Scoot cake off fork using a skewer or toothpick. Re-heat drippings and re-use. When all the cakes have been coated, use a thin-bladed knife to trim Drippings from bottom of each cake. DECORATE: Decorate with thinned royal icing and tips 1 or 2, etc. . Decorations should be very fine and delicate. If desired, add a tiny rosebud, tip 101 or 102 and a tiny stem, tip 2, leaf tip 349. Place each finished cake in a paper liner. These keep longer than regular cake, if kept tightly packaged. When fondant icing gets too thick, heat and add Simple Syrup to thin it. SIMPLE SYRUP Add equal parts granulated sugar and water together in a pan and heat to a boil, until sugar is thoroughly dissolved. TIPS: Use small decorator bags filled only about half full, for greater accuracy in decorating. Keep icing and tips covered with a damp cloth at all times. SIMPLE PETITE FORS TIPS 1. I use Dry Candy Fondant. Add water to consistency (color and flavor). Heat but NEVER boil or get too hot. I forget what the exact temp is (tells on the Wilton box).... temp should not reach over 100 degrees! That's not very warm at all. Re-heat when it cools too much. Use of a candy thermometer is a great way to keep safe on heating. (Heating too much causes icing to thicken - add more water if this happens). 2. One great way to learn would be to buy Wilton’s® 'Candy Wafer & Fondant Mix' $3.99... includes recipe and directions. 3. Petit fors take a long time to do and are consequently very expensive! I refuse to do these - Too much trouble for too little money. 4. When I did
do them I always put a thinned down coat of buttercream icing on the petite
fours before I spooned or poured the fondant over them. Your fondant has
to be just right. Too thin and the cake will show through - Too thick and
they are not pleasant to eat. To hot and it is too thin - Too cold and
it won't pour.
From: Cakestmper Simple & Easy Poured Fondant Icing The only
poured fondant type icing I have ever used is to heat a container of Wilton
Ready to use icing. I heat in microwave until its thin enough to
pour.
From: ralphb@new.co.za I do
not know of a poured fondant to make, I have always used the
From: Minna111 This is the one I used to use for petit fours. Poured Fondant 10 -1/2
lbs. granulated sugar
Combine
all in a heavy sauce pan and heat until all sugar is dissolved. Brush down
sides of pan with wet brush to prevent crystalized buildup. Do this as
often as necessary to keep them from forming. Cook this to 240°. Remove
from heat and pour onto a good hard surface, preferably a piece of marble.
Let it stand to "set up" and then knead until it loses its transparency,
approximately 5 minutes. It will thicken and whiten. cover with damp cloth
and let rest for a few minutes. Knead until smooth and creamy. Store, at
room temperature, in an airtight container for future use.
From: amxdumas@earthlink.net Here's
a recipe for poured fondant using candy coating that works well. Good on
Louise Spencer's Poured Fondant 1/4 lb
summer coating (chocolate or pastel color)
From: babbitt@unnet.com Poured Fondant 3/4 c
skim milk (2 per cent)
Heat
over hot water in double boiler until the Crisco is melted. Remove
from heat and add:
Mix with hand
mixer until smooth.
From: BethGann Petit Four Icing Cook
to 226 degrees on candy thermometer.
Cool
to lukewarm (I make it to where I can hold my hands on the sides of the
pan.)
From: gourmet1@iname.com You can
nuke your regular buttercreme icing to liquify and it makes a
From: HJHiz Petits Fours Icing - Joy Atwood (An ICES Past President) 4 1/2
oz water
mix, heat to
lukewarm, arrange cut squares on a cooling rack and place over a cookie
sheet. pour icing over each square. save drippings on cookie sheet and
remelt ONE time only. May be spooned on corrigated mat for mints.
|
|
Back to Diane's Home Page |