Petits Fours

by HHUNT

I am making petits fours, but there are soooo many recipes! I want a chocolate cake that won't crumble when I cut it, stays moist, and stores well. Also I'm not sure on the best icing choice! Pourable fondant(does it taste good?), icing glazes, sugar glaze? What kind of fillings are best to use?

Hi, Use a chocolate cake recipe that is made with butter versus oil for a firmer texture. Here is a recipe for a chocolate butter cake.
And another chocolate stout cake. I used this recipe for my sons wedding cake. It's delicious with a ganache (recipe on the same page) which you can use as an icing for petits fours.

If you want to have them white or pastel colors then you will want to use a poured fondant. You can thin and melt some rolled fondant by adding a simple syrup to it and heating it over a double boiler. It may take 15 - 20 minutes to melt it down. Use as much syrup as you need to thin it out enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not let the steam hit the fondant or it will lose it's shine.
Simple Syrup
Always good to have on hand:
4 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups water
Boil until mixture reaches 200F on a candy thermometer stirring until there are no more crystals left. Cool and store in a jar for future use.

You can brush flavored simple syrup onto your cakes to add moistness and extra favor. Use as a thinner as in the poured fondant, and added to buttercream if needed to thin it out.

or an alternate recipe:

6 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (about 1 1/2 lbs.)1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon no-color almond extract
Icing Colors, if desired

makes 2 1/2 cups

Both icings are very sweet. I don't think there is a way around that. Try using fillings that are not too sweet, such as a light buttercream in a variety of flavors, to offset the icing. You will need to either glaze the mini cakes with jam (apricot is good) buttercream or marzipan to keep the crumbs from getting into the finished icing. Marzipan being the best for a smooth end product.

Good luck and please let me know how it went. Would love to see pictures. Thanks