What are petit fours? French petit four cake Petit four - what is it?
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Today we will tell you how to make miniature cakes - petit fours. What it is, how to prepare and decorate an unusual dessert, you will learn from our article. Simple recipes, which you can find below, will help you create an original treat for the holiday table.
Petit fours - what is it?
Petit fours is the French name for a small oven. It was here that the famous pastry chef La Varenna (17th century) suggested baking small but elegant desserts. Nowadays, petit fours are made from shortbread or biscuit dough and then decorated with cream or glaze. They are served during lunch, cocktails or at formal functions. Petit fours, the recipes for which you will read below, can be easily prepared at home.
Coffee petit fours
These little cakes would look great at a buffet, cocktail party or bachelorette party. Remember that the weight of one petit four should not exceed 30 grams. This is canon. However, even such a small dessert should be appetizing and beautiful.
Ingredients for the dough:
- Flour - 300 grams.
- Butter - 200 grams.
- Egg yolks - three pieces.
- Baking powder - two teaspoons.
- Vanilla sugar - two teaspoons.
- White sugar - 100 grams.
Products for cream:
- 120 grams of sugar.
- Two teaspoons of instant coffee.
- 250 grams of butter.
Recipe:
- Pour three tablespoons of boiling water over the coffee and wait until it cools.
- Sift the flour and combine it with baking powder.
- Beat the yolks with sugar, add flour and vanilla sugar. Mix everything thoroughly.
- Cut the cooled butter into small pieces, then add them to the rest of the ingredients and knead the dough with your hands. Place the finished product in the refrigerator for half an hour.
- Turn on the oven and roll out the dough thinly. Using molds, cut out different shapes from it.
- Place the pieces on a baking sheet lined with parchment, and then bake them until done.
- Next, prepare the cream. To do this, beat the butter with sugar and vanilla, and then add coffee to them.
- Spread some of the cookies with cream, and place the other half on top of them and press.
Use to spread the cream onto the surface of the cake.
Chocolate petit fours
The recipe with the photo below will help the hostess diversify the sweet menu and please family or guests with miniature, but no less tasty confectionery products. The most interesting thing is that you can decorate the delicacy at your own discretion, which means that you can come up with something new every time, if you only have your imagination. We invite you to try baking chocolate petit fours. What are they - just miniature cookies or something more original?
There are many options for preparing this dessert. For example, these include small copies of traditional cakes (duchesse, eclair, tartlets). In addition, they can look like dry cookies decorated with chocolate or any cream. Try our version of petit fours made with sponge cake, filling and glaze.
Here is a list of necessary products:
- 600 grams of dark chocolate.
- 175 grams of sugar.
- 100 ml rum.
For chocolate glaze:
- 900 g of nougat (it can be easily replaced with chocolate spread);
- 90 g starch.
For the chocolate filling you will need:
- 1.5 liters of cream (fat content 33%);
- 100 grams of apricot jam;
- black chocolate.
For the biscuit:
- 150 grams of marzipan;
- 150 grams of butter;
- 100 grams of flour;
- 100 grams of sugar;
- seven yolks;
- powdered sugar;
- three vanilla sticks;
- 50 grams of butter.
Sponge cake recipe
- Separate the whites from the yolks and put them in the refrigerator.
- Beat marzipan with butter.
- Gradually add the yolks into the mixture. Add a spoonful of water and 75 grams of sugar to the dough.
- Separately, beat 100 grams of sugar and chilled egg whites. Combine them with starch and flour.
- Mix the ingredients and then pour the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment.
Thus, you need to bake three more layers. Each one takes about five minutes to cook.
Syrup recipe
- Mix sugar with water.
- Place the liquid on the stove and bring it to a boil.
- Cook the syrup for no more than five minutes.
Add rum to the cooled liquid.
Filling recipe
- Mix the powdered sugar and cream in a suitable saucepan and then heat the mixture over the fire. Add vanilla (this should be removed when the liquid boils).
- Place chocolate and flour in a bowl. Cook the filling for another ten minutes.
- Next, the mixture needs to be cooled and combined with the yolks.
Place the cream in the refrigerator for 12 hours.
Petit fours recipe
- Spread one layer of sponge cake with cream.
- Soak the second and third layers with syrup and then spread with cream.
- Apply jam to the last layer.
- Stack the pieces on top of each other, and then put them in the refrigerator for 12 hours.
When the specified time has passed, cut the biscuit into small pieces. Prepare the chocolate glaze and cover the petit fours with it.
Almond petit fours
Petit fours - what is it? As we have already said, these are small cakes decorated with cream or icing. They are conventionally divided into several types. So, some need to be consumed on the day of preparation, while others can be stored for a long time in the refrigerator or cardboard box. Try preparing a treat according to our recipe and surprise your guests with an original dessert.
Ingredients:
- powdered sugar;
- 75 grams of almonds;
- four proteins;
- 40 grams of sugar;
- 35 grams of flour.
Cooking process:
- Grind the almonds and sift them through a sieve along with powdered sugar.
- Beat the whites until foamy, gradually adding sugar.
- Combine the prepared products with flour, and then transfer the dough to a wide nozzle.
- Turn on the oven and line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Lay out the dough in the form of circles and sticks. After this, bake the petit fours until done (about 10 minutes).
Lubricate some of the blanks with chocolate cream, and some with fruit or berry jam. Place the cookies on top of each other and press down.
Conclusion
The petit fours, photos of which you saw on this page, can be easily prepared at home. Don't forget that small desserts need to be beautifully decorated and served with hot or cold drinks.
Petit fours is a type of baked product resembling cookies and cakes, the main feature of which is its small size. They are designed for one single bite.
Often the dough used for such baking is the same, but the additives, fillings, and decorations are different. The external shape can also be different. The result is a delicious assortment.
Most often during production petit fours They use biscuit or shortbread dough, and for decoration - icing, coconut flakes, powdered sugar, berries, fruits, nuts, chocolate.
Such sweet culinary products are usually served with tea, coffee, liqueurs, and dessert wines; salty - for cocktails and aperitifs.
The collective name “petit fours” is derived from the French phrase “petits fours”, translated as “small stove”.
These things appeared in France somewhere in the middle of the 18th century. At that time, in this country, food was cooked in huge ovens, where even a whole bull could easily be placed. It took a lot of time, effort and money to heat them up, since the fuel for them was coal.
But such stoves took a long time to cool down. In order to rationally use heat and avoid re-ignition, after cooking the main dishes, they began to bake many small products at the same time, which reached readiness much faster and at a lower temperature than large ones.
In modern France, many families serve petit fours at the end of dinner on Christmas and New Year.
Petit fours recipes
Almond petit fours recipe
Required:
for test:
- 300g flour,
- 200g butter,
- 100g granulated sugar,
- 3 eggs;
for almond mass:
- 400g granulated sugar,
- 200g peeled almonds,
- 100g flour,
- 4 squirrels.
Preparation:
- Shortbread dough should be prepared from the indicated amount of eggs, sugar, butter and flour.
- Keep in a cool place for 10-15 minutes, and then roll out into a layer.
- Bake on a greased baking sheet until half cooked.
- Egg whites must be beaten.
- Then add sugar and chopped almonds to them.
- Keep this mixture on the fire for a little while, stirring it constantly.
- Cool. Add flour. Mix.
- Spread the resulting mass onto the sand layer.
- Cut it into tiny pieces when a fragile film appears on the surface of the almond coating.
- Petit fours you need to place them on a baking sheet so that there is free space between them, and put them in the oven to dry the almond mass (at a low temperature).
Recipe for nut petit fours
Required:
- 500g peeled nuts,
- 200g granulated sugar,
- 8 proteins,
- a little oil (to grease the pan).
Preparation:
- Beat the whites until foamy, add sugar and grind everything into a fluffy mass.
- Separate 1 glass from it, and add nuts pre-twisted in a meat grinder into the rest.
- Mix.
- Form a “sausage” with a diameter of approximately 4 centimeters, cut it into pieces 2 centimeters long.
- In each product, you need to make a depression in the middle and place the protein mass left in advance in a heap from a pastry syringe (through a patterned tube).
- Place the petits fours on a greased baking sheet and bake in a medium oven.
Recipe for petits fours in the form of crispy cookies
Required:
for cookies:
- 300g flour,
- 125g granulated sugar,
- 120g butter,
- 90g ghee,
- 60g ground almonds,
- 50g candied orange peels, cut into small cubes
- 4 tbsp cream,
- 1 lemon (zest),
- 1 packet of vanillin,
- 1 pinch of salt,
- some raisins, prunes and dried apricots;
For decoration:
- 200g white (milk) chocolate icing,
- 200g dark chocolate glaze,
- colored sugar sprinkles.
Preparation:
- First you need to beat the butter until foam forms, while mixing it with salt, granulated sugar and vanillin until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mass acquires a creamy consistency.
- Then add cream and mix everything.
- Add flour, ground almonds, lemon zest and mix all ingredients again to form a dough.
- It must be divided into two parts.
- Roll one out with a rolling pin and cut out all sorts of shapes.
- In another - add dried apricots and prunes, pre-cut into small pieces and rolled together with raisins and cubes of candied orange peel.
- Form a “sausage” from the second type of dough and cut it into pieces about 3 centimeters wide.
- All products should be placed on a baking sheet and baked in the oven for 15 minutes at 180 degrees.
- Ready cookies need to be cooled.
- Dip some of the petit fours in the form of flat shapes into the melted white glaze, and dip the other half into the dark glaze.
- Sprinkle both with colored sugar on top.
Petit fours- this is not a separate dish, but a general name that refers to a whole range of confectionery products, the distinctive feature of which is their small size, allowing them to be placed in the mouth as a whole. The term comes from the 18th century, when kitchen stoves (four) were made of bricks. Modern petit fours, which are extremely varied, make up a significant part of the total production of the French confectionery industry.
Petits fours (from the French petits fours) can be called an assortment of various miniature cookies (or cakes), which are most often made from the same dough, while differing in design and additives used. As a rule, petit fours are made on the basis of biscuit and shortbread dough, filled with various fillings and decorated with cream or glaze. These mini-snacks are designed literally for one bite, which are usually served in a wide assortment at the end of the meal (with tea, coffee, cocktails).
In 1897, the famous Parisian chef Paul Coquelin created up to thirty types of petits fours, each of which had a Christian female name. Today, petits fours, which form an important part of the confectionery business, are served mainly at buffets, with cocktails, during lunch, and also accompanied by tea, ice cream and other dessert dishes. French gourmets prefer to eat petit fours for dessert or after it.
Some craftsmen cut out petit fours from a ready-made layer of simple delicate sponge cake or genoise in the shape of squares, diamonds, triangles, and then cover them with confectionery or butter cream, ganache or confiture, glaze and decorate. Other confectioners prefer to make petit fours based on dacquoise, chocolate, nougatine, meringue or marzipan, garnishing them with a cube of genoise soaked in liqueur and complementing them with cream, glazed fruit or candied fruit. After this, the products are glazed with fondant and decorated using a pastry bag with shaped nozzles.
Conventionally, petit fours can be divided into several categories, including “plain”, “fresh” and “savery” petit fours. The first are dry biscuits, which are stored for quite a long time and served with ice cream, dessert cream or sorbet, liqueur, tea and dessert wine.
Petit fours of the second category are unique brightly decorated mini-cakes that resemble a miniature Genoese sponge cake with fillings of butter cream, jam, custard, and apricot jam. This type can also be made from almond paste, chocolate, meringue, nougat, with the addition of fruit.
Petit fours based on butter dough, served with cocktails and aperitifs, are very common at receptions and lunches. They are prepared with a filling of aromatic butter, anchovies, foie gras, cheeses, mousses, mayonnaise, smoked salmon, game puree, and vegetables.
However, there is a more classical (so to speak, official) classification, according to which all types of furvs are divided into four categories.
Petit-fours sales or unsweetened petit fours, which are also called snack bars, are served as an amuse-gel for lunch with a glass of wine, an aperitif, or a cocktail. They are made from various doughs (breeze, puff pastry, butter, choux pastry) in the form of small barquette boats, croissants, bouches, straws, chaussons, sticks, quiche, pizza, etc.
Petit-four secs or dry petit fours are small gateaus or dry biscuits that can be stored for a long time. They come in the form of sticks, ladyfingers, tubes, croques, biscuits, cat tongues, macarons, meringues, Milanese, palais, rocher. They are mainly served with ice cream, dessert creams, sorbet, tea, dessert or liqueur wines.
Petit-four frais (fresh petit fours) are, in fact, petit fours, of which there are a great many varieties. These include mini copies of traditional cakes (duchess, barchette, choux, tartlet, baba, eclair) and the most numerous and varied glazed petit fours. They are consumed directly on the day of production.
Petit fours moelleux (tender petit fours or moelleux) look like small cakes or cookies that have a limited shelf life. Most often they are made from hazelnuts or almonds and dough. This category includes beignets, macarons, financiers, and noyer.
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Petit fours are tiny French cakes, their usual size is a third of a standard cake, and, as a rule, they are also beautifully decorated.
This elegant dessert owes its origin to the French pastry chef La Varenne. It was he who proposed, instead of giant ovens, to use special, small ovens for baking confectionery, which were called “petit fours” in French.
As a rule, petit fours are made individually, this is a piece, handmade, but if desired, you can turn a large cake into petit fours by simply cutting it into small pieces with a knife or using molds.
Today we would like to invite you to prepare chocolate petit fours with almonds and strawberry jam, according to a recipe with step-by-step photos. These cakes will be heart-shaped, making them a suitable dessert for a romantic meal, but you can use other cake tins if you wish.
So, let’s prepare chocolate petit fours, recipe with photo
To prepare petit fours for six people, take:
- 200 g quality dark chocolate;
- 100 ml cream;
- 80 g sugar (sand);
- 50 g each of chopped almonds, powdered sugar, butter;
- 25 g cocoa;
- four fresh chicken eggs;
- 20 g flour;
- 200 ml strawberry jam.
Baking the base for petit fours
Step 1. Melt 30 grams of chocolate and half the butter.
Step 2. Separate the yolks from the whites, beat the yolks with 20 grams of sugar with a mixer for five minutes. Mix the chocolate-butter mixture into the yolks.
Step 3. Beat the whites into a strong foam along with the remaining sugar, then mix with the almonds, flour and cocoa into the already prepared mass.
Step 4. Bake the dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet for fifteen minutes at 180 degrees. After this, tip the cake onto the kitchen rack.
Step 5. When the cake has cooled completely, cut it into two lengthwise pieces. Thickly coat one of the layers with confiture.
Step 6. After gluing them together, cut out hearts with cutters.
Making chocolate glaze
1. Melt the remaining chocolate and butter in hot cream.
2. Mix powdered sugar with 50 milliliters of water and bring this mixture to a boil.
3. While stirring, pour the sugar syrup into the creamy chocolate mixture. The glaze is ready. 
Cover the petit fours with glaze.
Decorate your products with edible beads.
One serving of this magic contains about 580 calories.
Svetlana Yankovskaya prepared the chocolate petit fours according to her own recipe.
Bon appetit!
These are small cakes weighing no more than 10-15 grams. That is, one-bite baked goods. You can take the petit fours cake and just put it in your mouth.
Literally they translate as small pastries. They were invented in Syria. This dessert was invented due to the abundance of almonds. Gradually the dessert moved to France. Small petit fours were simply adored at the royal court.
Now petit fours are very popular all over the world. It is very convenient to serve a large number of different mini-cakes for every taste.
Petit fours is the general name for a number of confectionery products that are distinguished by their small size, allowing you to put them whole in your mouth. The term dates back to the 18th century, when kitchen stoves (four) were made of bricks.
Brick ovens had a high temperature, so they first baked the main dishes (grosses pieces de om), which were fried over high heat, and then, when the heat subsided, small pastries were prepared in an almost extinguished hearth (a petit-four). So, initially the term “a la petit four” was used to refer to this method of preparing small biscuits.
During the Renaissance and the time of Louis XIV, the favorite delicacies were sweets, dragees, marzipans, pralines and candied fruits; later other sweets appeared, the production of which required imagination and a taste for miniature decorations from confectioners.
Modern petit fours are extremely diverse and make up a significant part of the confectionery industry.
Petit fours(petits fours) - assorted small livers I(or cake), which is often prepared from the same dough, but differs in design and additives. More often, petit fours are made from biscuit and shortbread dough, filled with various fillings and decorated with cream or glaze. These mini-snacks are literally designed for one bite, and are served assorted at the end of the meal (with coffee, tea, cocktails).
General meaning PTIFOUR is a confectionery product in the form of a small biscuit product of very small size, having varied and often bizarre shapes.
Caramels, dragées, pralines and marzipans were prepared in a wok (deep frying pan) during the Renaissance and the reign of Louis XIV. But pretty soon the time came for other mini-sweets, the preparation of which required confectioners to master the art of Lefty.
It was considered fashionable to decorate a table or buffet with various edible trinkets, also called colifichet.
Today, petit fours are the most important part of the confectionery business. They are served, for the most part, at buffets, lunches, with cocktails, but also with tea, ice cream and other desserts. French gourmets eat petit fours for dessert or after dessert.
- Petit fours have several conventional categories:
- Petit fours "plain" - dry biscuits, stored for a long time, served with dessert cream, ice cream or sorbet, tea, liqueur and dessert wines;
- Petit fours “fresh” are mini-cakes, cold and glazed, reminiscent of a miniature Genoese sponge cake with fillings of jam, butter cream, apricot jam, custard, brightly decorated. This type is also made from almond paste, meringue, chocolate, nougat, soaked in liqueur, crystallized, or frozen fresh fruit. Or, for example, they take the fruits of cherries, dates, plums, fill them with almond paste and cover them with powdered sugar;
- Petit fours “savory” - made from pastry for aperitifs and cocktails, this type is very popular at receptions and lunches, filled with anchovies, aromatic butter, foie gras, mousses, cheeses, smoked salmon, mayonnaise, vegetables, game puree.
Petit fours are cut out of the layer for genoise or delicate sponge cake in the shape of squares, triangles, diamonds, covered with butter or pastry cream, confiture or ganache, then glazed and decorated. Others are made with a base of chocolate, dacquoise, meringue, nougatine, marzipan, garnished with a liqueur-soaked cube of genoise, cream, candied fruit or glazed fruit, and then either glazed with fondant and decorated using a piping bag with a shaped tip, or covered with chocolate or sugar icing, decorated with candied fruits and almond or coconut flakes.
Everything can be divided into four categories.
Petit fours, unsweetened
Snack petit fours, which are served as an amuse-gel for an aperitif, a glass of wine, a cocktail, or for lunch. They are made from various doughs (puff pastry, brise, choux, butter) in the form of miniature barquette boats, bouches, croissants, straws, sticks, chaussons, pizza, quiche, etc. Any unsweetened mass is used as a filling (compound butter, cheese, mayonnaise, crustacean or foie gras mousse.
Dry petit fours