Would you like to learn how to make these beautiful little cakes?

It’s not that hard…it just takes a little practice and the right recipes.  Give it a try!

The most important part is the cake.  I’ve tried several recipes, and I ended up with my own version of the perfect white petit four cake.

Pure White Petit Four Cake

1 cup solid coconut oil
2 cups sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup egg whites (about 5 large egg whites)
1 cup 2% milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

Start by buttering the bottom only of an 11 X 15 jelly roll pan.  An insulated pan will give the best results.  Next cover the bottom with waxed paper.  Pull out enough so that the paper overhangs the pan on the short sides.  Using scissors, trim the long sides of the paper so that they only cover the bottom of the pan.  Butter the bottom and sides again.  Do not coat with flour for this cake.

Cream together the coconut oil and sugar.  Add the egg whites and mix well.  Add remaining ingredients and mix until blended.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until the edges start to release from the sides of pan or until a toothpick tests done.  Cool 10 minutes in the pan.  Invert onto a cooling rack and remove the waxed paper.  When the waxed paper is peeled off, most of the browned crust should also come off with it.  This keeps your little cakes as white as possible.

After the cake has cooled, it is iced with a thin layer of white frosting.  I use a delicious buttercream for this, that is also used for the final decorations on the top.

No-Crust Decorator Icing

1 cup butter, melted
2 cups solid vegetable shortening
2 pounds powdered sugar
2 teaspoons clear vanilla

Place shortening in large mixing bowl and mix slightly.  Add hot melted butter.  Add all of the powdered sugar at once and mix on low speed while scraping the sides of the bowl.  Add vanilla and mix.  Keep mixing on low until it is creamy.

This buttercream has a very low water content, so it doesn’t form a crust when left uncovered…or on your cake.  Since it doesn’t crust, it’s very forgiving for beginners.

Place your cake on a cutting board.  The top of the cake should be on the bottom.  Ice the cake with a thin layer of buttercream.  This stage of icing does not need to look good, and you don’t need to get much, or any, icing on the sides.  The idea is to make the top of the cake white and add more flavor and creaminess to the cake.

The next step is THE most important step, if you want your petits fours to look really perfect.  You must measure, mark and cut exactly 1 ¼-inch squares.  I use a serrated bread knife and a dough scraper.  My dough scraper has measurements on it.  If you don’t have one, you can use a ruler.  Your guests will appreciate it if you wash it first.

Make 1 ¼-inch marks on the long sides of the cake.  Hold the knife over the cake and bring it down so that it comes down on both marks.  Just score the icing, do not cut through the cake yet.  Mark half of the cake.  Once you’ve got half the cake scored, cut through the cake to make 5 rows.  Use a gentle, sawing motion.  And make sure you hold the blade straight.  If you come down at a slant, your cakes won’t be perfect little cubes.  After you have 5 rows cut, make sure they’re still nicely lined up.

Now make 1 ¼-inch marks on the short side.  And more marks on the last row that you cut.  Line up the knife along a pair of marks and cut through the cake, as before.

You don’t have to cut all the cakes at once.  Depending on the exact size of your pan, you will get between 7 and 8 cakes on the short side of the pan, and 10 cakes on the long side.  The cake will yield 70 to 80 petits fours.

Now it’s time to ice them!  I have experimented with several different icings.  This is my favorite one for white icing (as opposed to chocolate).

Petit Four Icing

¼ cup butter
2 pounds powdered sugar
1 cup half & half
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
Paste or liquid food coloring (optional)

Prepare a double boiler.  The water in the bottom doesn’t need to boil.  If it does, turn the heat down or off.  Place the butter in the top of the double boiler and let it melt.  Add the remaining ingredients.  Heat, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula, until smooth.  It takes very little food coloring to achieve the pale shades that are commonly used on petits fours, so add coloring in tiny amounts…about a drop or two at a time.  Remove from the heat and place the icing on your work table.  This icing recipe will make enough to cover 60-75 petits fours.

You will need 2 or more cooling racks for icing the cakes.  Place the cooling rack over a sheet of aluminum foil, next to your pan of icing.

As you ice the cakes, the icing will cool and start to thicken.  Reheat the icing when it becomes too thick to stream down the sides.  You may also need to add tiny amounts of half & half to it.

You will get tiny crumbs in the icing.  This is OK.  Most of the crumbs will slide off of the cakes as you ice.  If you end up with too many crumbs in the batter, you will need to make a new batch of icing.

The cakes are iced individually.  Place a cake on a cake frosting knife.  Hold the cake over the pan of icing and spoon the icing over the top and sides.  Allow the excess icing to drip into the pan.  Set the spoon into the icing pan.  Use a fork to slide the cake off of the knife and onto the cooling rack.  Allow the cakes to air dry before moving.

Remove the cakes onto your serving tray, or onto whatever trays you will be using to transport them.  Decorate the tops as desired with the No-Crust Decorator icing.  My favorite decorations are tiny flowers, leaves, berries, swirls, initials and baby booties.  You could also use tiny cut-outs of rolled fondant.

Bon appetit!