Petit Fours have always fascinated me. They're just
so...petite. I love miniature food! You can certainly use a purchased
pound cake and get the same results but the homemade one was delicious! I
used Paula Deen's recipe for the icing and really liked her method of
spooning the icing over the cakes...it really worked well. I've dunked
the cakes in the past and it didn't work for me. I frosted about 45
petit fours in less than a half hour. So fun! I topped mine with a bit
of frosting I put in a pastry bag with a decorative tip but if you have
access to a bake shop where you can get sugar flowers...or if you are
incredibly talented and can make them...then that's fun, too!
Petit Fours
1 (1-pound) pound cake ~ purchased or homemade (I used the Simple Pound Cake...recipe #75)
Cut pound cake into 1 1/2 inch cubes. Remove crusts. Place pound cake cubes on a baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap, then foil, and freeze for 4 hours or overnight.
Petit Four Icing (courtesy of Paula Deen)
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
2/3 cup cold water
8 cups (two pounds or two boxes) powdered sugar
1 egg white
1 tablespoon egg white
Food coloring
In the top of a double boiler, dissolve gelatin in cold water. Add powdered sugar, egg white, and corn syrup. Whisk until well blended. Place over simmering water and heat until warm to the touch...about 110 degrees. Divide icing among several bowls (I used three colors) and add 1 drop of food coloring to each bowl. Stir well.
Place one cake cube on a fork and spoon icing over cake. Slide iced cake onto a cookie rack with a knife. Allow to dry.
I found that I had to warm the icing in the microwave a few times during the spooning process, as it tended to thicken as it cooled.
Petit Fours
1 (1-pound) pound cake ~ purchased or homemade (I used the Simple Pound Cake...recipe #75)
Cut pound cake into 1 1/2 inch cubes. Remove crusts. Place pound cake cubes on a baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap, then foil, and freeze for 4 hours or overnight.
Petit Four Icing (courtesy of Paula Deen)
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
2/3 cup cold water
8 cups (two pounds or two boxes) powdered sugar
1 egg white
1 tablespoon egg white
Food coloring
In the top of a double boiler, dissolve gelatin in cold water. Add powdered sugar, egg white, and corn syrup. Whisk until well blended. Place over simmering water and heat until warm to the touch...about 110 degrees. Divide icing among several bowls (I used three colors) and add 1 drop of food coloring to each bowl. Stir well.
Place one cake cube on a fork and spoon icing over cake. Slide iced cake onto a cookie rack with a knife. Allow to dry.
I found that I had to warm the icing in the microwave a few times during the spooning process, as it tended to thicken as it cooled.
Do
you do this at your house? I have to put notes on food so the fam knows
to stay away from certain things. But you need a poundcake. Make one or
buy one.
Slice it in half like this.
Then cut it like this so you have four long pieces.
Oops...I forgot to tell you to slice off the crusts.
Do that BEFORE cutting into chunks like this.
Here's the stuff you need for the frosting.
Dissolve the gelatin in the cold water.
Then add the powdered sugar, egg white and corn syrup.
Heat to simmering.
After it's cooked, color the icing to desired shades.
Place one cube of cake on a fork and spoon the icing over the cake. Don't worry about getting the bottom iced.
Slide the cake off the fork onto a rack and allow to cool.
I decorated the tops of mine with a dab of buttercream
frosting then put them in candy cups.
Cute!
