Make Petit Fours?

Baking By MammaG Updated 13 Mar 2011 , 5:59pm by ddaigle

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MammaG Posted 11 Mar 2011 , 4:44pm
post #1 of 13

Here is what a friend told me, and it didn't work so well:

Bake a cake. Freeze it. Ice it. Cut it however I want and then do the poured fondant.

Well. . . .I don't know how long to wait before cutting the cake because I've never frozen one before. I tried to level it, and it was horrible. I liked icing the whole cake because icing those little things are so hard. However, that means some are only iced on one side or only on top. . etc. So the poured fondant only looked good on those parts. Any tips on how to do these? My husband wants to take some to work for St. Patricks day, but I don't know that I want to try again. :\\

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CWR41 Posted 11 Mar 2011 , 4:47pm
post #2 of 13

Petit Fours Tutorial w/recipes:
http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-make-petit-fours

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ddaigle Posted 11 Mar 2011 , 5:13pm
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I've made TONS and I'm part of the minority that have no problem doing them. Most people loath doing PT4's. Here's what I do:

1. First, I level off the entire top of the cake so I only have a 1" cake. Then I spread a THIN layer of icing. (Many people do not put icing under their poured fondant, so this step is optional.)

2. If you cannot ice the top smooth, don't worry, put a piece of wax paper over the entire top, smooth with your hands and pop in the freezer for about 30 mintues to an hour.

3. Pull off the wax paper and cut off all 4 sides off the cake to get rid of the "edges".

4. Next measure out your vertical and horizintal lines. I like 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 squares..or you can do 1x1. Use a ruler and make your vertical and horizintal lines.

5. Next, dipping a non serrated knife in hot water, cut each vertical line, then horizintal (or vice versa), dipping in hot water after each cut.

6. Put the little squares on a cooling grid that is sitting on a thin baking tray.

7. After preparing my poured fondant, I put it in a 4 cup measuring cup. Reheat in the microwave until thinned and hot. Not too hot though...syrup consistancy hot. Stir.

8. I then, holding the measuring cup very close to each cake square quickly pour horizontally and then vertically covering all of the cake square. If you cover each square 100%, your poured fondant will not go far. But that's ok.

9. Lift the grid off, take a bench scraper (metal one is the best for this) and scrape up all the poured fondant, put back in measuring cup, reheat and repeat.

10. If your cake squares were cut while slightly frozen, you will not get crumbs. If you have a couple..that's ok. They will probably not show up..if so, your top decoration will hide.

That's how I do them...there are many ways. I've tried many. This is what works for me without making me lose my religion. They can be a real PITA! Good luck!

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Marianna46 Posted 11 Mar 2011 , 5:22pm
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No doubt about it - if you're not working in a commercial bakery, petit fours are a PITA to make. But that mahalo video has some great ideas in it, especially the one about pouring the fondant on the petit fours with your hand over a bowl in the sink. I think many people crumbcoat each petit four before they pour on the fondant (at least they do where I buy them), but in this video they didn't. These things can be as simple or as complicated as you make them. I have a photo how-to somewhere that has the cakes torted into about 8 super-thin layers before they are cut, but I like the ones that are just a solid piece of cake best.

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metria Posted 11 Mar 2011 , 5:34pm
post #5 of 13

i'm making some tonight, but i'm going to use candy coating (aka almond bark) instead of poured fondant. i took a short petit four class and we tried both ways of coating. for both, they need to be pretty warm when you do it, so have your bowl of coating over some simmering water. we dipped them just like cake balls!

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icer101 Posted 11 Mar 2011 , 5:45pm
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MammaG Posted 11 Mar 2011 , 9:44pm
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Thank you all so much!

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MammaG Posted 11 Mar 2011 , 9:51pm
post #8 of 13

Okay the guy with his hand in the fondant is kind of grossing me out though! lol (regarding the mahalo video)

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scp1127 Posted 11 Mar 2011 , 10:08pm
post #9 of 13

I know!!! Can't he wear a glove?

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infinitsky Posted 12 Mar 2011 , 1:54am
post #10 of 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marianna46

No doubt about it - if you're not working in a commercial bakery, petit fours are a PITA to make. But that mahalo video has some great ideas in it, especially the one about pouring the fondant on the petit fours with your hand over a bowl in the sink...




thumbs_up.gif

At first it grosses because he is working with liquid and swooshing it in his hands is not pleasant. But don't we knead fondant with our hands?! As I see in some cake shows the decorators even carry big pieces of fondant on their arms to cover a big cake! icon_confused.gif

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Marianna46 Posted 12 Mar 2011 , 2:41am
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Well, I think I'd probably wear a glove if I were doing it, but you've got to admit it's efficient! In fact, I'd seen this video before, and for some reason I remembered (wrongly, as it turns out!) that he WAS wearing a glove. Let's just suppose he washed up with surgical soap or something!

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Debcent Posted 12 Mar 2011 , 8:49pm
post #12 of 13

Can any of you please share a good poured fondant recipe that is not transparent and looks and tastes good? I am dying to know of one.

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ddaigle Posted 13 Mar 2011 , 5:59pm
post #13 of 13

Debcent...most poured fondant recipes are transparent. I always add almond extract (clear) to my recipe. Also, the hotter it is....the thinner it is. You have to find that perfect consistency. It will still be transparent though. Most recipes are quite the same. I'd google or get some here in the recipe section.

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