Posts filed under 'baked goods'
If you’ve been keeping up with my blog for a while, you know that I like all things miniature. Especially desserts. I’m surprised it’s taken me this long to make petits fours. They’re the perfect mini dessert; a tiny layer cake, dipped in poured fondant and individually decorated. Bite sized individual cakes? Yes, please. Who on earth could say no to these?
Sometimes people use the term petit four generally. They might be referring to any small dessert, even a simple piece of chocolate. The majority of the time, however, they are referring to these fancy miniature iced cakes. They’re typically cube-shaped, though you’ll sometimes see diamonds, rectangles, and cylinders. The iced versions are technically called petits fours glacés, but rarely to people get so specific.
You can just dip a cube of cake into icing and call it a day (or rather a petit four), but the most traditional versions are layered with jam, soaked with liquor syrup, dipped in poured fondant and decorated. Pain in the ass? Yes. Worth it? Hell yes.
Let’s talk for a minute about the components of this type of petit four. The cake is typically a génoise, which is a French cake named after a city in Italy. Génoise cakes traditionally do not include any chemical leavening all, but instead trap air in the batter by vigorous beating before baking. In normal génoise recipes, eggs help to keep the air in the batter. In the oven, the heated air expands and causes the cake to rise. This recipe contains no eggs, however, so chemical leavening is used. I used Bryanna Clark Grogan’s recipe, but any fairly dense cake recipe (like a pound cake) will work for this. A tight crumb will make your life easier when slicing the petits fours. Make sure to visit Bryanna’s page, though; she has wonderful tips on making fancy vegan cakes, a nice buttercream recipe, and lots of photos.
I iced my petits fours with poured fondant. There are two types of fondant, rolled and poured. Before I started researching for this, I only knew of rolled fondant, which is the really neat sugar-dough stuff that is often used to decorate wedding cakes. Poured fondant is similar to rolled, but instead of rolling it out to use it, you pour it while it’s in a liquified state. Makes sense to me. It’s easy to make, but it does require a candy thermometer. You need to boil sugar, corn syrup and water until the soft ball stage, but we’ll get to that later.
Once you have the cake and the fondant figured out, give yourself a break and buy a jam, any jam, for the filling. Sure, you can pick berries and make your own filling, but store-bought jam works beautifully in this and saves you a step or five. You can also soak the cake with a liquor syrup if desired. I never do this for my cakes, but if you want to, use a ration of 1:1:1 water, sugar, liquor. In a saucepan, dissolve sugar completely in the water. Remove from heat, add liquor, and allow to cool.
Now you’ll also need a few tools. A candy thermometer ($10 for a standard one, $30 for an electric one that has programs and alarms and such), a jelly roll pan (aka cookie sheet with sides), a food processor, a large serrated knife, parchment paper, a rolling pin, and a cooling rack.
Right. Are you ready?
Petits Fours
Makes 30 1 1/2″ Pieces
1 Cake recipe, below
1 Fondant Recipe, below
1 1/2 Cups Jam, warmed (raspberry is nice!)
1/2 Cup Marzipan
Powdered Sugar, for rolling out marzipan
Melted Chocolate, for decoration, optional
Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Génoise
Makes 5 Cups of Batter
2 1/2 Cups plus 2 T. pastry or cake flour
1 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
3/4 tsp Salt
1/4 Cup plus 2 Tbs Earth Balance
2 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice and Zest of 1 whole Lemon
1 Cup Water
3/4 Cup Soy or Rice Milk
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Pure Lemon Extract
Preheat oven to 350º F.
Brush a Jelly Roll Pan (half sheet size, 12 x 17 x 1″) with oil. Use two sheets of parchment paper to cover the bottom, overlapping each long edge of the pan. This will allow you to lift the entire cake out of the pan without breaking it. The oil helps the parchment stick to the pan, so it doesn’t slip while pouring in the batter.
Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add Earth Balance, water, and lemon juice and beat well (with an electric mixer if available) for about a minute. Add the remaining ingredients and beat again. Pour the batter into the lined jelly roll pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the top is lightly browned, and the center springs back to your touch. Allow to cool in pan until just warm.
Gripping the parchment in the center on either side, gently lift the cake out of the pan and place it on a large cutting surface. It should look like this:
With a serrated knife, cut off all the caramelized edges (eat them!), and quarter the cake. Below is a photo of one of the four trimmed quarters:
Alright, here’s the first tricky part. With a large serrated knife, cut each quarter in half horizontally. You can take as much time as you need. Cut a little bit at a time, making sure your knife is being held level. Ideally you want two even layers.
Carefully separate the layers. You should now have this:
Spread the warmed jam on one of the sliced cake quarters. You don’t need a ton of jam, just enough to color the cake. You should still be able to see the cake through the jam.
Begin stacking, alternating cake and jam, until you have four layers of cake. You should have enough cake to make two stacks, each stack containing four layers of cake and three layers of jam. Trim the edges if needed.
Divide the marzipan in half. Knead it until it softens, then roll each chunk out separately using powdered sugar to prevent it from sticking.
Roll it out until you get a thin, even sheet that is larger in all directions than your layered cake.
Brush one side of the marzipan with water to make it sticky, then place it on top of your cake, sticky-side down. Trim the edges off with scissors. Repeat for the second rectangle of cake.
The cake is now ready to be refrigerated. It should be approximately 1 1/2 inches high. Cover it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight; this helps the jam set up and will help the cake stay together when you cut it into petit fours.
Now the cake has been refrigerated overnight!
Using a ruler, score the marzipan with 1 1/2 inch grid as a cutting guideline. Each rectangle of cake should have 15 full squares, and a little extra that you can cut off and eat. Here’s the scored, trimmed cake:
Keeping your knife as straight as possible, use long, sawing strokes to cut the cubes. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent the cake from drying out.
Prepare your fondant:
Helen Fletcher’s Poured Fondant
2 1/2 Cups Sugar
1/2 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Corn Syrup
Written directions copy and pasted directly:
Heat sugar, water and corn syrup to the soft-ball stage (238°F; 114°C). Pour into the food processor fitted with the steel blade. Wash the candy thermometer well and reinsert into the syrup. Let the syrup cool undisturbed in the workbowl to 140°F (60°C), about 30 minutes. Remove the thermometer.
Add any coloring or flavoring (vanilla, almond extract, etc.) and process 2 to 3 minutes, until the syrup completely converts from a glassy syrup to an opaque paste. When thoroughly cooled, store sealed at room temperature for 24 hours. Use or refrigerate for later use. [I just want to add: It will harden once completely cooled, simply microwave to liquify. It is warm enough to use for the petits fours immediately after processing.]
Place your petits fours on a cooling rack and pour your fondant into a small bowl. You’re ready to ice them!
In my opinion, icing is the hardest part. You need to keep your fondant warm and melty, and you’ll notice that it starts to set up fast. Give it a stir with a spoon before you dip each piece, as this will break any skin that has formed on top of the fondant. If it gets too thick (thinner is better), pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds and try again.
Start with the ugly ones, that way if you mess up on the first few you won’t be as sad. Hold each cube so your forefinger is on the top of the cake (touching the marzipan) and your thumb is on the bottom. Dip all four sides.
Place the dipped petit four on the rack. Use a spoon to ice the top.
Let the petits fours set. You may need the help of a sharp knife to remove them from the rack once the fondant is hardened. I drizzled some melted chocolate over them to decorate, but you can decorate them anyway you want. Piped buttercream, molded marzipan, whatever makes you happy.
January 8th, 2008
I was hoping to have a full post for you today, but the stupid winter sun set before I could perfect my cookies. I’ve vowed to not photograph after sunset for the sake of photo quality, so I’m bound to the constraints of daylight like some vegan reverse-vampire food blogger. Or something.
There are more recipes for chocolate chip cookies out there than I can count, but I’ve never found one I was happy with. There’s always something slightly off about them. I don’t know if I’ll be able to come up with a decent recipe or not, but I’m sure as hell going to try! The ones pictured here sucked really badly, if you’re wondering.
I’ll have a post for you tomorrow, whether the cookies are ready or not. I have some artichokes I want to stuff.
December 4th, 2007
Stewart and I went apple picking a couple weeks ago, and in the little farm store we saw pumpkin whoopie pies. Stewart asked if I would make them, and when I said yes, he bought a sugar pumpkin to increase the chances of me keeping my promise.
I’ll be the first to admit that these aren’t perfect. Don’t get me wrong, they’re really really tasty, but the verdict is that they’re not exactly like traditional whoopie pies. I need to work on the batter recipe, because these are more like soft cookie pies than whoopie pies. I think with an even softer, spongier batter, we’ll be in business, but these are perfectly serviceable cookie-whoopie pies if you want to give the initial test recipe a shot.
I used homemade pumpkin puree, but the canned stuff will work fine. The homemade version is easy, but obviously more time consuming than opening up a can. As far as I can tell, the only difference between the canned puree and the homemade is the color. Homemade pumpkin puree is considerably lighter and brighter. I’ll include the preparation for the puree at the end of the post.
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Makes 18-24 Small Pies (36-48 pieces)
1/2 Cup Non Hydrogenated Vegetable Shortening
2 Cups Sugar
2 tsp Molasses
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 Cups Pumpkin Puree
4 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Tbs Ener-G Egg Replacer
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Allspice
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375º. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Cream shortening and sugar together, using a stand mixer if available. You can also do it by hand. Add molasses and vanilla and beat well. Add pumpkin puree and whip until incorporated (don’t worry if the fat doesn’t mix in completely).
In a separate bowl, combine all the remaining ingredients and mix well. Add this dry mix to the wet until all incorporated. It will make a stiff batter.
I find it easiest to use and ice cream scoop that has a release lever to drop the dough onto your cookie sheet. The scoop I used holds 2 Tbs.
Wet your fingers and gently flatten the dough balls. This will prevent your pies from tipping over by creating a semi-flat surface for them to rest on.
Bake for 10-13 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, and the tops spring back when pressed in the center.
Remove cookies from the cookie sheet as soon as they come out of the oven to prevent over-baking. Cover them with a towel or plastic wrap to keep moisture/steam in, as this will prevent a hard crust from forming. Prepare the filling while your cookies are cooling.
Cream Cheese Filling
1/2 Container Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
2 Tbs Earth Balance
Whip ingredients together until smooth. Set aside or refrigerate until use.
I put my filling in a zip-top bag and sliced off the corner to pipe the filling into the center. You don’t need that much filling per pie. Make sure the sides of the cookies that were touching the cookie sheet are the side that touch the filling.
Traditional whoopie pies are chocolate. I think these would be awesome with some mini chocolate chips mixed in, or perhaps some melted chocolate drizzled over the top. Store them wrapped in plastic wrap or in an air-tight container to keep them soft.
If you’d like to read about how to make your own pumpkin filling, click the link below the last photo!
Homemade Pumpkin Puree
Makes 3-4 Cups
1 Sugar Pumpkin, 3-4 pounds
1-2 Cups Water
Preheat oven to 400º F.
Slice pumpkin in half. Scoop out the seeds and strings–if you’d like to save the seeds, place the seedy pulp large bowl and set aside, otherwise discard it. Place pumpkin cut-side-down on a rimed cookie sheet or inside a large roasting pan. Add 1-2 Cups of water and bake for 90 minutes, or until flesh is very soft and the skin has darkened. Scoop out the soft flesh into the work bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth.
Tip for Seeds
Place the pulp and seeds in a large bowl and cover with a generous amount of water. Squeeze the pulp to separate it from the seeds. The seeds will float. Use a slotted spoon to skim the seeds from the top of the water. Dry the seeds well and roast and season if desired.
October 26th, 2007
I saw this cake on FatFree Vegan Kitchen a few days ago, and I was devastated. I had, the night before, sat down and eaten every peach I had because they were all ripe and I hadn’t come up with a plan for them fast enough. Peaches and pears, the most elusively ripening fruits in the universe! “Not yet not yet not yet not yet not yet NOW! Too late!”
So I sliced them all up, divided them between two bowls and my husband and I ate them in one sitting. Now, it’s not that I didn’t enjoy them just as they were, unblemished, sweet and juicy. But when I read Susan’s post the next day, my heart sank. I wanted that cake! I wanted it right then!
Thankfully few days later I got another round of peaches from our CSA. And then a miracle happened - the ripened to perfection on the coolest day we’ve had in a long while. Why, it was downright chilly today! I could actually use the oven! The gods of ripened fruit had smiled upon me, and I was going to have my cake!
This sounds like the set up for bad news, but I assure you, there is no bad news. The cake is delicious. And the recipe is easy. I made it as Susan wrote it (with the optional added sugar, because I apparently am just begging for adult onset diabetes) and it worked out great! I think next time I will add some dollops of earth balance over the peaches to balance the sugary glaze with a savory note, but I’m seriously nit-picking here. This is a gem of a cake. You need to make it!
I discovered last week, however, that peeling a ripe peach can be a messy process. The darn things are downright unforgiving if you mishandle them. They will turn to mush in your hands, leaving you with a pile of glop roughly assembled around a pit. Granted, it’s a tasty pile of glop, but it’s glop nevertheless.
I know everyone says blanching peaches is the way to go. The skins come right off and all is well in the world. But I don’t want to blanch my peaches! I apparently cannot be troubled to boil water. It is a pain in the butt, right? For peaches? I don’t want to cook them, I want to eat them. Below is a tutorial for those of you who desire pretty peach slices without blanching. Now you have no excuse not to make Susan’s cake!
Begin by using a small, sharp paring knife to cut along the peach’s natural divide. Insert the knife until you feel the pit, then move the peach around the knife (not the other way around!) until you have a clean cut dividing the peach.
Place your thumbs were the stem of the peach was and gently pry the two halves apart. If your peach is overripe, you may have some trouble here, as the force you need to use will crush the peach before it separates it. Take your time if this happens, but just ripe peaches will separate fine
Now you have the two halves, one side containing the pit. This isn’t really a step, I just like adding in photos for no reason, apparently. Sometimes you can pry the pit out with your fingers at this step, but some peaches won’t let you win that easy. You might need loosen it a little more before you try, as shown in the next step.
Cut the pit-side in half, running your knife up along the pit. With really ripe peaches, you need to be careful even holding them. I definitely have accidently made thumb prints in the sides of what was otherwise a totally unblemished peach simply because I grasped it too roughly.
Now you should be able to pry these to halves apart. Again, be gentle.
You’re almost done. Try separating it from the other end if it begins to get mushy on you. Also, don’t lick the peach juice off your hands in front of guests!
Remove the pit and toss it. Or, you know, don’t toss it. Collect them and play games with them. The more adventurous among you can carve them into the likeness of Abe Lincoln. I’m not kidding.
I wouldn’t mind a peach pit ring. I’m a size 5.
Now cut the peach pieces you have so you have eight even slices.
The slices will be small enough that you can easily peel the skin off with your fingers. I’ve tried peeling the skin from larger slices, and it just doesn’t work.
Now all you have to do is make that cake!
August 10th, 2007
Yesterday, I made a trifle recipe for the cookbook. I used these adorable miniature trifle glasses (ahem, Target), and I was really pleased with the results. Then I tried to eat one. Now I certainly have a sweet tooth, but I got about half-way through that this puppy before I had to give up.
I wasn’t sure what to do about the proportion sizes for the cookbook recipe. Should I just make regular, large trifles? I’m too big of a fan of individual desserts to go that route. Then I started wondering who even owns trifle dishes, let alone miniature ones. What could I serve them in instead? What do people generally already own?
Since I was bloated from the “miniature” trifle, I started to think small. Really small. Shotglass small.
Ahhh. There. Much better! But why stop at shot glasses? Why not make an assortment of cocktail glass trifles? Not only does it look fun to have a bunch of mismatched glasses full of dessert, but this way your guests (should you be making this for a cocktail party, which I highly recommend!) can choose the size dessert they’re in the mood for. Just want a taste? Have a trifle shot! In for something more substantial? How about a trifle martini?
Bottoms up!
June 15th, 2007
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