I have been asked to do Red Velvet Petit Fours for a 40th Anniversary in May. The hostess experienced my first (and pretty horrible in my opinion) attempt at petit fours and wants me to do them anyway, so at least I am starting out on even ground.

I am wondering if anyone has advice for me before I get started. Should I use a regular Red Velvet Cake recipe (maybe Sarah's RV Cake) or would you recommend that I do something different? I haven't ever made a RV Cake, so this will be a new experience all around.

I am thinking a thin layer of cream cheese frosting and poured fondant glaze. I realize that the cake will show through the glaze, but there is no way around that. I am ordering a "40" candy mold and will probably use red candy melts for the tops.

There may be a forum that specifically addresses this topic, but they are all coming up empty for me right now. I will do a search again later, but thought I would just get some expert advice in the meantime.

Thanks to you all. Happy baking!

Martha

Your plan sounds pretty good, you just have to be very careful with red velvet. It can become very crumbly if over baked. If you have time, I would try a few different recipes to see which you like better and to get timing down. In my own experience, some of the recipes call for 2 oz of red food coloring, but I think it makes the red too dark. If you want a really bright red, I would only use 1 oz, or even less. If the recipe does call for 2 oz, use water to make up the extra liquid. HTH and good luck!

Amber

Thanks, Amber. There is a recipe in Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor that is almost identical to Sarah's Red Velvet Cake ... except for the cake mix, of course! Do you think that a cake mix base might be better for this purpose? No one will get enough cake in each petit four to know if it was scratch or not and it might hold up a little better.

I have never had a problem with doctored cakes, and they do tend to be a bit more stable. I think it is a great option. It should stay moist as well since its a mix. Scratch cakes can be picky

Also, I have seen a version where there is a layer of chocolate ganache under the cream cheese icing, and it is yummy! You could do something like this, or even invert it so the chocolate ganache is on top as you previously mentioned

"Chocolate chocolate" ganache or white chocolate? I have used ganache a lot - either bittersweet or semisweet dark - but not white. It is my understanding that you have to use twice as much of the white. That would certainly help to cover the cake though. You wouldn't still do glaze, would you?

I've seen chocolate chocolate (is there any other kind?) I think white chocolate would be way too rich for a red velvet cake. Not sure about the glaze though, I have never used one.