Petits Fours

yields: 1 full sheetpan

METHOD:

1) Blend the almond paste and sugar together until broken up and resembles sand.  Then slowly add the egg and blend till smooth.  There should be no lumps!

2) Add sugar, butter and vegetable shortening and cream till light and fluffy.

3) Add eggs and vanilla slowly.

4) Add sifted cake flour.

5) Spread into a sheetpan that has been parchment lined, buttered and floured.

6) Bake @ 375F until firm, 10-12 minutes. DO NOT allow edge to become dry!!!

1) Prepare the sponge recipe above. For a finished sheet of petits fours you will need 3 layers of sponge cake, each about 1/4" thick. The final assembled cake will be no thicker than an inch.

2) Lay one sheet of cake on the back of a parchment lined flat sheetpan, and spread a 1/8" thin layer of jam, ganache, buttercream, etc.on top. Top with a second sheet, and repeat by spreading on the filling.

3) Top with a third and final layer of cake, but this time spread a very thin layer of filling on top.

4) Roll out a 1/16" thick sheet of marzipan the same size as the cake. Roll it loosely around a rolling pin, transfer, and unroll on top of the cake. Run the rolling pin carefully over the top. Place a piece of parchment on top, then place a second sheetpan on top.

5) Flip the entire cake upside down, remove the sheetpan, and wrap the entire cake and bottom sheetpan with plastic wrap. Now place a flat sheetpan on top. Weigh this sheetpan down with a couple 4# weights. This procedure assures the layers are firmly sealed together, and will make cutting into portions easier.

6) Chill the cake for several hour to overnight.

7) Remove from the refrigerator, and cut out small squares, rounds, diamonds, ovals, rectangles, etc. Be exact with your cuts, and make sure your size does not exceed 1 1/4".

8) Prepare the fondant for icing. The fondant should be heated to 100F, and thinned with some simple syrup, corn syrup, and a little egg white for shine. The fondant should be of a consistency where it coats in very thin layers. The fondant may also be tinted in pastel colors.

9) Place the petits fours on an glazing rack about 1 1/2 inches apart. Place the glazing rack over a parchment lined sheetpan. Using a spoon, piping bag, or fondant funnel, pour the fondant over each piece. Make sure that the tops and sides of each piece are covered completely. Ideally, you should faintly see the cake layers through the fondant. Do Not Recoat, or the fondant will look clumpy!

10) When the icing has set, use writing chocolate, piping gel, buttercream, nuts, candied violets and fruit, to decorate the tops of the individual petits fours.