Petit Fours

Photo: flickr user Brisbane Falling

Ingredients

lb Cake or butter cake

cup Apricot jam

Fondant

Sugar

Water

Flavouring, lemon, almond,

Preparation

The day before, bake a pound cake in an 11x18 jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate. Heat and strain the apricot jam. Set aside.

Combine equal parts of sugar and water and dissolve over low heat and then cool. Set aside. Remove cake from refrigerator and from pan to counter top or baking surface. Brush 1/2 of the cake with the apricot jam. Now you have a cake that is 1/2 glazed and 1/2 unglazed. Use various shaped high sided cookie cutters. Insert the cutter on the unglazed side but do not remove cake from cutter. Go to the glazed side and use the same cutter again. Push the cake through the cutter and place on rack. Now you have a 2 layer petit four. Continue cutting the cake in this way until the it is used up. The remaining pieces of cake can be used for

Fondant can be made but requires a lot of strength and the patience of Job.

It is much easier to buy it. Put a large amount in the top of a double boiler over boiling water and then lower the heat a bit. If the fondant becomes too hot it loses the shine. Work fondant with a wooden spoon until it is loose. If it needs to be thinned use a very little, 1-4 drops of the sugar water. Remove from heat (if it starts to thicken too much it can be returned to heat) Fondant must be flavoured at this point and it must be used in minute quantitiy - 1-3 drops. Mix well. If colouring the fondant use only a liquid paste in very small quantity - 1 drop. Petit fours are always pastel shades, with contrasting coloured

(pails of 20 kilos) but they usually know where you can buy it in smaller batches. Or ask at a cooking school. The professional baker I learned this from says it is the only way to go.

You could also make watercress sandwiches or cucumber sandwiches. The bread can be white or brown and cut very thinly as are the cucumbers.