Angel Food Petit Fours Recipes

PETITS FOURS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 13x9-inch baking pan; set aside.
• Combine flour, baking powder and salt in bowl. Set aside.
• Beat sugar and butter in another bowl at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, until creamy. Add 1 egg white at a time, beating well after each addition. Add almond flavoring; mix well. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, beating at low speed after each addition just until mixed.
• Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on cooling racks 10 minutes. Loosen edge of cake by running knife around inside edge. Carefully remove cake from pan; cool completely.
• Trim edges from cake; cut cake into 48 (1 1/2-inch square) pieces.
• Combine sugar, cream of tartar and water in 3-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 12-14 minutes or until mixture comes to a full boil. Cover; boil 3 minutes. Uncover; continue cooking 15-20 minutes or until candy thermometer reaches 228°F to 234°F, or small amount of mixture dropped into ice water forms a 2-inch soft thread. Remove from heat; cool to 110°F (about 1 hour) or until bottom of pan is slightly warm to touch. (Do not stir.) Stir in powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon almond extract and food color, if desired.
• Place cooling rack over waxed paper. Place 1 cake piece on fork; drizzle icing over top and sides of cake, making sure each side is covered. Place onto rack; let stand until icing is set. (If icing becomes too thick, reheat over low heat 2-3 minutes or until thin consistency and easy to drizzle.)
• Garnish each petit four with candy flowers or frosting flowers, if desired.

PETIT FOURS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Brush 3 (12 1/2 by 9-inch) rimmed baking sheets (otherwise known as quarter sheet pans) with melted butter. Line the pans with parchment paper, leaving a few inches of overhang on opposite sides. Butter the top of the parchment paper as well, then set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the almond paste and sugar on medium speed until well combined, about 5 minutes. Add the almond extract. Roughly cut the room temperature butter into pats and gradually add to the almond paste-sugar mixture. Beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating to combine after each addition. Add the flour and salt and beat until just combined.
• Divide the batter evenly among the prepared baking sheets, about 2 1/4 cups each sheet, smoothing the batter out with an offset spatula. Gently tap the baking sheet on the table to remove any air pockets in the batter. Air pockets will cause holes in the baked cake and give a ragged look to the finished product. Bake until just set, but not browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Give the baking sheets a turn halfway through baking, after about 8 minutes, for even baking, if needed, but don't worry too much because we're covering the cakes. Test with a toothpick or skewer and if clean, remove from the oven and transfer to wire racks to cool.
• To make the jam easier to spread and to prevent tearing the cake, puree the raspberry jam in a food processor. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Turn 1 cake layer out onto the lined baking sheet. Spread half of the raspberry jam in an even layer over the cake. Carefully flip the cake out of the baking sheet and top with a second cake layer. Spread with the remaining jam. Carefully flip the final layer out of the baking sheet and top the cake. Place a piece of parchment paper over the final layer and top with a second baking sheet. Weigh down with 2 large (28-ounce) cans. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
• Remove the cake from the refrigerator and cut into 1-inch squares. Place onto a wire racks over at least 2 baking sheets, leaving at least 1-inch between each cake piece.
• Place each of the tinted royals icings in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, with the bottom of the bowl not touching the water, until pourable. You should have about 8 cups total. You'll be using about 1 heaping tablespoon icing on each. Carefully place a cut cake on a chocolate fork/dipper (or a small fork). Place the cake over the icing and spoon the icing onto the cake. If the cake drops into the icing, carefully pick it up with your spoon and place back onto your fork/dipper. Place back onto the wire rack using another dipper or fork to slide onto the wire rack. Top with decorative dragees, as desired. Repeat with the remaining icing and cakes. Alternately, for each tinted frosting, set 3 cooling racks over baking sheets and divide the cut cake pieces evenly among the racks. Pour the tinted frosting slowly over the cake pieces. If you need extra frosting, just remove the cooling rack, scrape the excess frosting from the baking sheet, melt or microwave until pourable and touch up any area that the frosting didn't coat the first time. Let stand until set, about 30 minutes at room temperature or cover and place in the refrigerator for up to 1 week until ready to serve.
• Put your raspberries and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan over medium heat. Once it's at a simmer, partially cover and cook 8 to 10 minutes. Pass the berry mixture through a food mill and measure the liquid that remains. You need 3 1/2 cups. Add more water if there isn't enough.
• Put the berry liquid into a new saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer again. Once it simmers, start adding your sugar in 1/2 cup increments. Give it a stir to incorporate and bring it back to a simmer before adding of the next 1/2 cup sugar. Once the last 1/2 cup is added, bring the liquid to 216 to 218 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Stir constantly.
• Let this cool to room temperature prior to using. If not using right away, refrigerate for up to 1 week. Yield: 2 cups.
• In a large heatproof bowl, combine 1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon water, corn syrup and almond extract. Once incorporated, slowly whisk in the sugar until fully combined. Alternately, slowly mix together in a stand mixer and transfer to a heatproof bowl prior to icing cakes.
• Divide the icing into 3 heatproof bowls. To make a pale green color, add a little less than 1 drop green food coloring to the first bowl. To the second bowl, add 1 drop purple coloring for a lavender color. And leave the final bowl white, or add another color, as desired.

CAKE PETIT FOURS

Steps:

• Slice cake into 1/4-inch thick slices. Spread jam on the cake slices and then top with sliced strawberries. Cut cake slices into 1-inch circles and stars and set aside.
• Separate the frosting into 3 bowls and add food coloring to reach desired colors (1 to 2 drops of red to make pink, 1 to 2 drops of green to make seafoam and 1 to 2 drops of brown to make cream). Make a glaze by combining the sugar and milk in a medium bowl. Separate the glaze into 3 bowls and tint each to match the frosting colors.
• Place cake cut-outs on a wire rack. Fill 3 resealable plastic bags fitted with a star tip with each color of frosting and then pipe desired frosting over. Using a melon baler, add a scoop of ice cream and then sandwich the cut-outs. Drizzle glaze over cut-outs. Let glaze set. Pipe a star on the top of each petit four with the corresponding color of icing. Garnish with a small strawberry slice.

PETIT FOUR QUILT

Steps:

• Cover the 11-inch square board with purple gift wrap, taping the wrap on the back side of the board. Cover and the wrapped board with clear cellophane in the same way. Set the board aside. , Cut a thin slice off the top of the pound cake to make it level. Split the cake in half horizontally. Cut each half into 20 squares., Place a rack in a 15x10x1-inch pan. Arrange the cake squares 1/2 inch apart on the rack. , In a bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, water and orange extract. Beat on low speed just until blended. Beat on high until smooth. , Apply the glaze evenly over the tops and sides of the squares, allowing the excess glaze to drip off. Allow the glaze to dry. Repeat if necessary to thoroughly coat the squares. Let them dry completely., Save four of the petit fours for another use. Arrange the remaining petit fours in a square shape on the covered board as shown in the photo above. , With decorating gel, decorate the petit four to look like a Dutchman's Puzzle quilt pattern as shown in the photo. Or create another quilt pattern of your choice.

PETITS FOURS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10x15 inch jellyroll pan.
• In a large bowl, beat the eggs and egg yolks using an electric mixer. Add sugar, and beat until thick and pale, about 10 minutes. If you have a stand mixer, use the whisk attachment. Sift the flour and baking powder into the egg mixture, and fold in by hand along with the milk. Stir just until the batter is mixed, then fold in the melted butter until smooth. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
• Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. When finished, invert the cake pan onto a sheet of waxed paper, and cool completely. This will give you nice even petits fours.
• Cut the cooled cake into small squares, rectangles or triangles, and arrange the pieces in rows on a wire rack or glazing screen with plenty of space between rows. (See Cook's Notes for flavoring suggestions). Set the rack over a shallow pan or waxed paper to catch the drips.
• Spoon or pour warmed petit four icing over the small cakes. The drippings may be scraped off of the pan or paper, and reheated for use again. Allow the petits fours to set until completely dry. Lift the cakes from the rack with a metal spatula, and trim the bottom edges with a sharp knife. Set into small muffin papers for easy handling. Decorate as desired.

PETIT FOUR EGGS

Steps:

• Prepare cake according to package directions. Pour into a lightly greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. , Bake at 350° for 18-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Cut cake into eggs (or other desired shapes) with a 2-1/2-in. oval cookie cutter. , In a large bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, water and extract; beat on low speed until sugar is moistened. Beat on high until smooth. , Place petit fours on a rack with waxed paper beneath. Spoon the glaze evenly over tops and sides, letting excess drip off. , Allow glaze to set; repeat with second coat if necessary. Let stand until set. Decorate with gels.

ANGEL FOOD PETIT FOURS

Steps:

• Cut the angel food cake into 1 inch squares. Prepare the frosting. Use one hand to roll the cake in the frosting and the other hand to roll the frosted cakes in coconut. I usually tint the frosting in pastel shades and sometimes leave them white and decorate each with an icing rosebud and leaf.
• I have used raw eggs in this recipe for 30 plus years without any incidence of salmonella. I sell cookies professionally and this has never presented any problems.
• The yield is approximate, depends on your cutting of the cake. I cut the loaf in 7-8 slices and each slice into 9 cookies. I count on two per person for a serving.