I got my first order of petit fours yesterday. They are for my former boss's baby shower. We became really good friends through work and her sister-in-law asked me yesterday to make the petit fours for the shower. Here's my problem. Her SIL is very picky. And she is one of those kind of people that just can't stand it if all the attention isn't on her. For example, the mommy-to-be Leslie called me (while I was in the hospital) to ask me if I would make her cake for the shower. Naturally, I said yes after squealing for ten minutes from excitement ( this is her first baby). Well, the SIL got ticked off because she believes it is the resposibility of the SIL to throw the baby shower and noone else's and that SHE doesn't want a cake, she wants ptit fours. Ok no problem I'll just make Leslie a little cake as a gift for her.
So, yesterday, the SIL asks me to make the petit fours for the shower on July 23rd. Sure no problem. Here's the kicker: they aren't normal petit fours. She wants them 3" squares. OK. She wants pink poured fondant. OK. White scrolls. OK. Get this....she wants little Royal Icing tiaras on top of each one! 50 PETIT FOURS and she wants little tiaras on them???!!!!! 
OMG!!!!!
So here's my questions ladies. I could really use your help. First, how much cake mix will I need for 50 3" petit fours? Oh did I mention she wants no chocolate, no chocolate flavoring of any kind, no white cake, and no nuts or nut flavoring?! So that brings me to my second question: what flavors should I make? And do you fill petit fours? If so, what filling should I do? Then, how do I make tiny little RI tiaras? Any clues?
Thanks for any help!
Misty 
Not sure if I can help you very much. But when I make petit fours (you can see them scattered through my pics) I use one cake mix to fill a 12x17 inch jelly roll pan and it makes ahout a 1 inch high cake that I torte and fill. I am not very good with math, but you can probably figure out how many 3 inch cakes this would make.
As for the flavors. How about yellow cake with raspberry filling. Or Lemon cake with lemon curd filling? BTW, isn't poured fondant usually almond flavored? Are you just going to sub vanilla?
I have no idea on the tiaras! Is it possible to use fondant or gumpaste instead of royal? that might be easier!
Good Luck and make sure to post pics of what ever you come up with! I am sure it will come out beautiful!
Yes I was planning on making the poured fondant vanilla. I wanted to keep the price for the filling to a minimum considering I told her I would only charge her for materials. (I'm kind of hoping this order will bring me more orders.) I'm just so lost and overwhelmed by the thought of this order!
Well Raspberry buttercream is really yummy and fairly cheap to make. I just mix seedless raspberrry jam into buttercream. Or lemon curd is pretty easy to make as well. If you have access to a lemon tree it can be almost free. I can send you a great recipe if you need one.
I don't know anything about making petit fours, but I think it you told her you'd only charge for materials, you might want to mention that there will be an extra charge for the 50 tiaras! 
That sounds like hours and hours of work to make them! They'll be cute, but maybe you could offer to make tiaras to put on a few of them, and do dots or stripes or something on the rest.
Good luck, I can't wait to see the pictures!
Laura.
I have an order too and some of the same questions...reading this thread has answered a few. Instead of starting a new thread, maybe I can ask you....
You mentioned Raspberry buttercream...it that for the middle layer? I was thinking of using a raspberry jam or something....will this work, using it stright from the jar??? Or do I need to make it thicker???? I'm making a vanilla cake with a raspberry filling with the poured fondant.
If you have any advice on petit fours, I would really appreicate it. I have printed directions, I can't remember where I found them, but more advice would be lovely.
Thanks!
for the tiaras you could use the flower formers. use thicker royal icing and pipe them onto wax paper then put them on flower formers to make them dry curved. i would make extras if i were you, because a few will probably break. once you get the pattern down they shouldn't take tooo long.
Here is a link to another thread where I typed out my petit four instructions.
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-20365-petit.html
As for the raspberry filling. Yes you can use jam straight out of the jar, but I think the raspberry buttercream tastes better. The jam seems to soak into the cake a bit and doesn't hold up as well. The raspberry buttercream can be made so easily and tastes so much better in my opinion. Start with a stiff buttercream and just add seedless jam until it is as flavored as you want it and a good spreading consistancy. the buttercream will turn a really pretty pink color too, so it looks really pretty as well.
Euphoriabakery: THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!
I can't wait to try the buttercream and jam together. I bet it's good! I've seen your work while searching for what looks better...poured fondant or a glaze. My thoughts....I like the poured fondant. I hope it tastes good. The order is for 3 weeks from now...so I'm going to practice.
Thanks for your help, I can't wait to try these little tasty treats!
She's taking advantage of you. I agree with Laura-tell her there is an extra charge for individual tiaras or tell her she has to provide them. No matter what, 50 of anything is a lot of work whether it is small or large. As to flavors, make it easy for yourself and only make one flavor. Multiple flavors means more work for you. Yellow cake with one flavor of filling whether it be a curd or preserves.
SIL is definitely taking advantage of you. and technically it is not appropriate for family to host a shower (baby or bridal) because it looks like a plea for gifts to let the family off the hook.
Any way, 3" cakes are really individual servings. One flavor and one filling will make life tremendously easier. Seedless rasberry jam works just fine as a filling, and you may have to pour the fondant more than once to get a satisfactory cover. I add some melted white chocolate (not really chocolate for SIL) to make the icing more opaque.
The flower former idea will save you a ton of time. Draw or trace a small tiara on paper in on long string several times. cover it with waxed paper and place it on a flower former or part of a paper towel or wrapping paper tube. Trace the tiara's with your royal. It should take you very long.
Thank you JoAnnB. Since the fondant should be pink, I think I'll just do the raspberry filling, but she doesn't want white cake. UUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHH!! Thank you for the help on the tiaras, now I just need to find some good small patterns.
I also agree. I don't think family should do the baby shower, but I wasn't about to stress out my friend over the issue. I'll just do what I can and leave it at that.
Misty-
did you approach her about charging for the tiaras plus supplies? The petit fours that she wants probably cost $7-$10 each in a bakery especially if she wants a 3D tiara. That is because of their relatively large size and the complexity involved in making the mini-tiaras. Your friend will be appreciative of your gift regardless of the tiaras. Heck, everyone will be impressed with the petit fours without the tiaras. They will still be the hit of the party. Just because that is what the hostess wants doesn't mean you have to do it. You're not getting paid for your time and that is turning out to be the most expensive part of this project. Good luck with this and make sure to post pictures when they are done. I always love to look at all the identical petit fours marching across the table.
Did she say why she doesn't want white cake? I'd be tempted to add some pink food coloring and tell her it's not white! 
If you're doing the raspberry filling, you could add a bit of raspberry flavoring to the cake mix also.
I think 3 inch "petit fours" with poured fondant and royal tiaras are sounding much more like mini cakes at this point. You can tell the hostess that you didn't realize she wanted cakes that were so time- and labor-intensive, and offer an alternative that you're willing to do for free, or offer her a discounted price for what she really wants.
I can't imagine having the nerve to take advantage of someone like this hostess is doing to you! If I were planning an event and someone offered to do the cakes, like you have, at cost, I certainly wouldn't ask for the most complicated things I could think of, LOL!
I've never done tiaras, but I did do a lot of royal snowflakes last winter for a few cakes, and it really doesn't take that long once you get going.
Like a poster above said, figure out your pattern (keep it simple to pipe, but with enough intersecting lines that they'll be sturdy), make copies of strips of patterns and lay them on the flower formers covered with wax paper (or halves of paper towel rolls, if you don't have enough of the flower formers) and to make them extra glamorous, you can sprinkle them with silver or white or irridescent sanding sugar while they're wet.
Whatever you decide, good luck!
Laura.
I told her that I would only charge her for supplies. What a mistake that was!!!!
Tell her that the tiaras are "supplies" and pick a per-piece price for them! You could literally spend a whole day turning $3 worth of ingredients into decorations, but I can't imagine that she'd expect you to do that for $3.00!
Really, a three inch square of cake is not a petit...it is a slice of cake, 1X1 is the norm for these tiny-fit-in-your-mouth confections. The royal icing toppers won't take long once you get a pattern and begin piping. Print out a pattern on paper, cut squares of wax paper and place on top, pipe onto the wax paper, form on a flower former, or paper towel tube cut in half, until dry, this will be fast... Can't wait to see the pics, and hey, you are a blessing to your friend, keep that in mind when the SIL gets to you. Blessings, Shawn <><
Well. I guess your supply cost just went way up! LOL! It doesn't matter that you said you would only charge for the cost of supplies. That was on the basis of a reasonable cake. 50 large petit fours versus a beautifullly decorated sheet cake is not reasonable. If she wanted a replica of the Eiffel Tower you wouldn't do it, wouldja?
Misty,
Just MO but it sounds to me like she is trying to be difficult. Sounds to me that since someone else took it upon herself to ask you, the SIL is feeling nasty and has decided to ask for the most difficult thing...a tiara. Is she hoping you'll not be able to come through and she can gloat? Did you ask why she only wants a certain flavor, maybe other people would want chocolate and nuts. She needs to be thinking about everyone and not just what she wants. She sounds petty and just plain rude. Good luck with this order I'm sure you'll do great. 
wow, I totally agree with everyone else - I can't believe she has the audacity to be so rude and demanding! I've attempted petit fours a few times, and while delicious, found them EXTREMELY time consuming - this is why they are so very expensive! (the cheapest I've seen them is .95 cents each, and that's for 1x1! She is totally taking advantage of you, don't let her walk all over you! I'd tell 'er that the shower isn't for her and as a baker, it is my tradition to always ask the shower recepient (this is true) what her favorite flavor of cake and type of icing is, even what her nursery theme/colors will be, etc; I bake the flavor of cake and icing she prefers because I figure it is HER day, and then double check with the hostess on the cake decoration only, and let her know the price. This lady sounds VERY selfish and difficult! Ask your friend what she prefers (cake vs petitfours, etc) then do that - it'll taste delish and be beautiful, so you'll still generate business, you're not going to be losing very much $ since you only agreed to do it for cost anyway, (and surely a cake will cost less) not to mention you'll be saving yourself a ton of time and stress - even if she chooses petit fours w/out tiaras! JMO - but don't let her push you around out of spite and a power struggle w/her SIL. Whatever you decide, hang in there kiddo, it'll be over before you know it 
Okay her is the lemon curd recipe. It makes a lot! You may want to make a half batch. But you can freeze it if you will use it in the future.
Lemon Curd
8 large eggs
2 egg yolks
1 1/2lbs sugar
zest of 10 lemons
juice of 10 lemons (12 oz)
1 1/2 C butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces
Beat the whole eggs, egg yolks and sugar together in a stainless steel bowl until well combined. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and butter.
Cook over low heat or in a double boiler stirring onstantly until the curd starts to thicken ( about 15-20 minutes). The curd is ready when it coats the back of a spoon.
Store in a plastic container with plastic wap directly on the curd. This prevents a skin on the curd. Cover with a lid and refrigerate until ready to use.
Will last 2 weeks in the fridge. or 2-3 months in the freezer. Yeilds 5 1/2 Cups.
I would put this with a lemon cake. You can take a white cake mix and adda small white chocolate pudding mix. Add fresh lemon juice in place of the liquid.Add an extra egg and some lemon zest. Your host will never know it was once a white cake! Tell her it is a lemon cake. Or you could use yellow cake.
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