Would you rather decorate petit fours or mini cakes to accomodate 200 people?

third choice, id rather shoot myself. actually, id pick petit fours, although ud probably be making well more than 200, if you are using pouring fondant to do them, it might work out faster than trying to do 200 mini cakes. although, i wouldnt be doing them to a perfectly flawless finish - id call it 'rustic'.
xx

I like that..."rustic"

I'd refer that client to someone else. That just makes me draw up to imagine doing that order.

I would try to talk them into cupcakes, but that's about it.

I'd rather do petit fours with poured fondant. Doing 200 bc iced or rolled fondant mini cakes will take FOREVER. If you do them, charge accordingly! They'll be a ton of work.

when faced with this, I talk people into mini cupcakes.......given the right decorations and icing they can be just as elegant as petit fors but SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much easier.

These were made and then dipped into fondant mixed w/ water and microwaved until I could dip the cupcakes in them.

I made 100 of them in about an hour!

If I had to choose, I'd rather do petit fours with poured fondant, too.

*choose to poke self in eye with stick*..... 200 of either is a heck of alot of work. I hope your not doing it cheap.

petit fours definitely, but those mini cupcakes are super cute!

hahahahah .... princess & jammjenks...that is hilarious!!! Cupcakes sounds like a real winner here!!

Unfortunately, not for a client! I have to do them for the graduation reception at my child's school. There will be other food but the baking is my contribution. The school colors are white and orange and the mascot is the Longhorn.

Not really excited about the idea of petit fours for 200. How can you really decide how many to do?

I was thinking about doing mini cupcakes without liners, turning them upside down and using pourable fondant to cover. I think if they are presented well on a cupcake tower then they will be just as pretty and will require a smaller quantity than petit fours.

I'm not so sure they won't get mini cupcakes with a swirl on top with the school's colors.

Thanks for all the suggestions! Any more suggestions are welcome!

BTW, Cute mini cupcakes KHalstead!

thanks for the compliments.


How about this for your orange and white???

I think I've got it!!! I did a practice run today with the petit fours. I used a squeeze bottle to do the pourable fondant and it covered them perfectly!!! I will try to post pics tonight of the "practice petit fours."

KHalstead, all of your stuff is beauftiful and I do love that cupcake bouquet! Have NO idea how to do one though. I think I'm gonna need some lessons from you!

Thanks for all the help from everyone! Stay tuned for pictures!!!

have some tylenol or aspirin nearby. my wrists would give out before i hit 100 of anything.

How do I change the size of my pic so I can post it on this thread? TIA

I cant wait to see your pictures doing it with a bottle.....

AAHHHH... the things we do for our kids.....I feel for you...I did 400 cookies with our school logo and anniversary year on them (with help from 1 other parent).....needless to say I will NEVER volunteer for something like that again. (at least not for free!)

I posted my practice pics to my photo gallery. I couldn't figure out how to resize them. Please take a look and let me know what you think. I'm not sure that the orange flowers will be decorations for the real ones but I wanted to try something to get an idea of a finished look. I also plan on using white liners, I just grabbed the pastel ones out of the cabinet.

Those look great! How long did they end up taking you to do? Very cute. That sounds like something I would volunteer for, and then get totally carried away with... The things we do...

Oh and btw, you can change the size of your pics by going to a site like http://www.shrinkpictures.com/ or just google 'resize photos'

They are beautiful... Love the bottle idea. Can you please give me your recipe for the covering.....
And thank you for sharing. This is why I love the people on cake central.

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Fondant by Gale Gand
2/3 cup corn syrup
2/3 cup hot water
7 cups powdered sugar
6 drops lemon extract
Food coloring

To make the fondant: Whisk the corn syrup into the hot water until dissolved, then whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth. Stir in lemon extract. Divide into smaller bowls and color with food coloring, adding color until you achieve desired shade.

To make the petit fours, cut the cold cake into small squares, rectangles, and circles using small cookie cutters. Place the cakes on a wire rack over a pan to catch the drippings, inverting them in order to have the golden layer on the bottom. If the fondant has become stiff, just whisk until smooth again. If the fondant is has not become to stiff, proceed to the next step. Either dip the cakes into the fondant and place on the rack to drain or ladle the fondant over the cakes, making sure all sides are coated. Once they are set, they should be coated again. Let dry, then with melted chocolate or colored fondant, pipe thin decorative lines or use silver dragees.

I found this recipe on another thread about petit fours here on cake central. The best part is that it doesn't have to be cooked!!!! And my taste testers loved it!!!!

chelseak-- It took me about an hour to cover 50. I got quicker as I went along though. I'm baking and freezing all the cakes today and my goal is to cut and ice 100 petit fours each day over the next 4 days. The reception isn't until Tuesday evening.

Thanks Sunshime Sally for the recipe. How neat that you dont have to cook it.

I did it! 400 Petit Fours all in one day...I posted the pics today. They were a HUGE hit at graduation!

Sunshine Sally,
First thanks for the recipe.....Love the no cooking. And your pictures look great the orange flowers really show up well.

I am going to try them. Question, were they frozen when you covered them?
And dont know if this is true. As I read it and havent tried it myself. But, I read if you add some white icing color they will be more opaque and not see through where you can see the layers. I think I will at least try it.

And thanks again for following it through and sharing!

Here's how I did them: Hope this helps someone else! Thanks to everyone that gave me advice on how to do these little boogers!

1) Used a Betty Crocker Pound Cake Box Mix, baked exactly as directed on the box. Used a 9 x 13 pan. Let it sit on cooling rack for 10 mins and then turned it out onto cooling rack to cool completely. I got about 50 petit fours from each pan.
2) After completely cooled, wrapped with wax paper, saran wrap and then aluminum foil. Freeze for at least 12 hours. I baked ahead of time so mine were frozen for 2 days.
3) Mixed up the pourable fondant and poured it into those squeezable wilton candy bottles.
4) Take the cake out of the freezer, unwrap and start cutting the cake while still frozen. I put the squares on a cooling rack that was sitting over this huge stainless steel bowl that I got at Sam's for $10. (Much easier to scrape the drippings out of a bowl than a sheet pan)
5) The cake was starting to thaw a good bit at this point but still a little frozen. Nuke the candy bottle filled with fondant for 20 seconds in the microwave (with the top off). Shake well.
6) Start squeezing the fondant over each square to cover them. I let the rack sit over the bowl for about 5 minutes until most of the dripping stopped and then moved that rack of covered petit fours to a sheet pan to finish drying. Then started with another one.

How do you get the sides to cover? Every time I've tried it the sides don't completely cover and they're bumpy from the cutting.

Cut with a smooth knife and straight out of the freezer. I start squeezing the icing in the center of the petit four and make a circle motion and then I squeeze a square shape following the edges of the petit four. There were very few that didn't completely cover on the edges and the edges weren't bumpy at all. HTH