Petit Fours

I used to roll my eyes at Mother’s Day and voice unoriginal complaints about how it’s a “Hallmark holiday,” but now that I’m a mom? I’ll take that Hallmark card and those flowers, thank you very much, and I wouldn’t say no to a box of chocolates, either. I had a fantastic Mother’s Day yesterday—the highlight was probably watching my two-year-old giggle as he helped carry the breakfast tray to me in bed, then having him cheer, “Eat, Mama! Happy Mother’s!” (He always forgets to add the “Day” at the end.) I hope all of the mothers out there had wonderful days as well!

Although Mother’s Day has passed (sniff), I’m still sharing recipes from our Mother’s Day tea party, because it’s my blog and I do what I want. And also because petit fours are welcome in my house any day of the year.

When I was a starry-eyed pastry pup, I dreamed about opening my own bakery that would sell only miniature desserts. That would be the cutest, right? I imagined the big glass display cases full of mini cupcakes, tarts, macarons, petit fours, and brownie bites, each adorably displayed and packaged. In retrospect, of course, this is kind of a terrible idea. With years of experience under my belt, and knowing what I now know about price points and labor costs and how many dang mini tarts I would have to sell to just break even, I think it’s a very good thing I never went through with this plan…but I do still sometimes think about how cute my imaginary mini bakery would have been.

There is a certain charm to miniature desserts, and all these years later, I’m still under their spell. I don’t make petit fours very often, because –real talk—they are time-consuming and a bit of a pain to make. (I don’t mean to dissuade you, because I do love them, but there are easier ways to get your cake fix, if a quick sugar high is all you’re after.) However, for a fancy-shmancy tea party, I knew that nothing but petit fours would do. And because we are the shmaciest of the fancies, these cake bites were topped with disco dust and edible gold leaf. They glimmered and sparkled and added just the right amount of glitz to our dessert table.

I made my petit fours with my favorite cream cheese pound cake recipe. It’s soft and moist, but sturdy enough to hold up to layering and dipping. I filled them with raspberry jam and vanilla bean buttercream, but you can vary the frostings and fillings—try other jam or frosting flavors, or even a layer or two of Nutella. (Just avoid curds and creams that are too soft to allow you to dip the petit fours.) This recipe yields about 64 petit fours, so it’s perfect for a party, shower, or very belated (or ridiculously early??) Mother’s Day dessert.

Now it’s your turn—what was one career or life goal you used to dream about doing? Tell me I’m not the only one with an impractical (some might say charmingly optimistic) side!

⇒ Click Here for the Recipe - Petit Fours

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