Lesson I: Nature of Petits Fours

Petits Fours
A petit four is a small bite-sized confectionery or savoury
appetizer. The name is French, petit four, meaning "small oven." The name of
these small treats refers to the tradition of baking small pastries in a slow oven
after large pastries have been removed and oven temperature is reduced. In a
French patisserie, assorted small desserts are usually called mignardises, while
hard, buttery biscuits are called petit fours. The term petits fours is traditionally
used to describe the miniature cookies and tartlets that may accompany an
afternoon coffee or tea or that are served after a meal. Petit four can also be
described as a miniature cake, which can be made in a rich variation of flavors and
creative decorations. Petit fours are considered very simple to make desserts and
are regarded elegant little delicacies perfect to be served in buffets and parties.
Petits fours were traditionally made in a smaller oven next to
the main oven. Petit four recipes were inspired by a fancy cookie “careme” during
the 18th century, and the name petit four was later introduced, inspired by the
small brick ovens, in which these cakes used were baked at a very low
temperature. In the 18th century, some bakers made them during the cooling
process of coal-fired brick ovens to take advantage of their stored heat, thus
exploiting coal's high burning temperature and economizing on its high expense
relative to wood. In 19th century France, gas ovens did not exist. People largely
used the breadmakers' ovens which only had two settings, a very strong and high
heat setting used for roasting meats and vegetables, or the petit four setting. This
setting was of a lower temperature allowing the correct heat to cook pastries.
Petits fours have numerous characteristics, including light,
delicate, crisp, and refreshing. The common defining characteristic of petits fours
is that they can be eaten in one or two bites. These are often based on larger
versions of traditional pastries and are made up from all the different types of
bases-dough, batters, creams, fillings, and icings-that are found in the pastry shop.
Petits fours are largely a concept of size and delicacy and can be adapted from
many traditional larger items. Some adjustments may need to occur in the handling
of the dough, the baking process, and the assembly.
 There are two styles of sweet petits fours, traditional and
contemporary. Traditional petits fours include petits fours sec, petits fours glaces,
petits fours frais, and petits fours deguises. Contemporary petits fours include
petits fours prestige, as well as the list of the traditional petits fours.
Categories of Petits Fours
Petit fours recipes can be broadly classified into two categories – Petit fours glacés
(iced version) and petit fours secs (dry version).
• The dry version of these delicious desserts includes baked meringues, puff
pastries, dainty biscuits and macaroons.
• The glacés variety on the other hand, includes decorated petit four pastries
that are usually iced, such as, tiny fondant cakes, glace iced pastries, tartlets
and small éclairs.
In a typically French patisserie, petit four is the name mostly used for referring to
buttery, hard biscuits while the assorted small pastries are called mignardises.
Petits fours salés- are yet another variety of these small delicacies which are
savory or salty in taste. However, these bite sized savories are usually relished as
appetizers instead of desserts like the rest of the petit fours recipes and are best
enjoyed in buffets and cocktail parties.
Petit fours are divided into five broad categories based on preparation method,
texture or principal ingredient:
➢ Dry such as fragile, crunchy dainty cookies

➢ Fresh such as tartlets filled with creams and fresh fruit

➢ Iced such as delicate layer cakes cut into small squares

➢ Almond such as French-style macaroons

➢ Glazed Fruit
Petits four sec are just small pastry items that have come from the oven. Modern
interpretation could include deep fried items also as long as they are small and are
not iced after cooking. Petits fours sec have a signature dry, crisp texture from
being baked at a lower temperature for longer periods of time. The simple nature of
this category makes attention to detail a crucial consideration to ensure the quality
and presentation. Common dough used for petits fours sec include shortbread,
sable breton, and puff pastry to make items like duchesses, sable beurre, Spritz,
speculos, palmiers, allumettes glacees, tuiles, and langue du chats.
A popular petit four sec is the Parisian macaron, a delicate cookie made with
sugar, egg whites, and ground almonds. The Parisian variety of macaron is
becoming increasingly popular and is defined by two cookies, sandwiched together
with a flavored filling. Macarons should be shiny and smooth on the outside with
color representative of the filling inside. The inside of the cookie should be soft
and moist, never crunchy or tough. It is common for these cookies to go through a
"curing" stage in the refrigerator to soften the cookie and infuse the flavor of the
filling throughout the treat. At 70 percent relative humidity, macarons can remain
in the refrigerator uncovered for up to 3 days. If the humidity is too high, the
cookie can soften too much and take on a very soft texture. Macarons are most
commonly flavored with buttercream or ganache, which may be flavored as
vanilla, pistachio, chocolate, praline, lemon, and raspberry, among others.
Petits fours glaces are small, bite-sized cakes with a thin coating of glaze,
typically fondant, which is applied at the end of the production process. Assembled
in large sheets and then cut after setting up, petits fours glaces contain thin layers
of cake alternating with jam and/or butter-cream. The top of the cake is adorned
with a thin layer of marzipan to add flavor, as well as a smooth surface for the
glaze to settle on. Marzipan is made from almond paste, with the addition of sugar,
a cooked sugar syrup, and sometimes glucose and/or egg white. After the cake is
cut, it can be enrobed in fondant, or sometimes chocolate. Petits fours glaces are
typically finished with intricate, stylized piping. This type of petit four is not as
common as it once was as petits fours frais and petits fours prestige have become
more popular.
Petits fours frais are characterized by items that are served the day they are made
because their composition leads to deterioration of quality the longer they sit. This
group includes cream-filled items, such as eclairs, tartlets (fruit, cremeux,
ganache), and some petits fours deguises. Parisian macaroons may be classified as
petits fours frais when they are filled with fresh fruit and a mousse or similar light-
textured cream. Petits fours frais may also include "spongy" petits fours such as
almond cakes, madeleines, and financiers.
Petits fours deguises are made from fresh, dried, or candied fruits that are coated
in cooked sugar, fondant, chocolate, or any combination of the three. Fruits
commonly dipped in sugar include gooseberries, kumquats, cherries, grapes, and
candied fruits such as pineapple or mango. The fruit is simply dipped into the
cooked sugar solution and then transferred to a silicone mat or lightly oiled granite.
Some fruit may benefit from drying out slightly before dipping. Any fruit dipped in
sugar should be used in a timely fashion or should be stored with humectant, to
avoid the softening of the sugar.
A standard syrup for dipping includes:
100 percent sugar
35 percent water
35 percent glucose
5 drops of tartaric acid solution per 1 kg sugar.
This syrup should be prepared as other supersaturated syrups by bringing the water
and sugar to a boil, brushing down the sides of the pot with cold water and then
adding the glucose.
The syrup needs to be cooked to;
320[degrees]F
160[degrees]C).
The sugar should then be removed from the heat, and the cooking should be
stopped in cold water. After the bubbles have subsided, the fruit can be dipped in
the sugar. The sugar syrup may be colored to enhance the presentation of the petits
fours.
Traditional fruit petits fours deguises are usually first coated in marzipan and
then dipped in sugar. Decorator's marzipan (20 percent fruit content) is commonly
used as a filling to replace the pit in pitted fruits, and as a thin outside layer used to
cover some dried fruit before dipping in sugar. Whenever marzipan is used to
cover fruit to be dipped, it should be allowed to dry for a couple of days before
dipping in sugar. After the marzipan is dry, it may be dipped in the sugar syrup. If
fruit is coated with fondant, the fondant should be dry and slightly hard before it is
dipped into an additional ingredient like chocolate.
Products that are dipped in fondant should be candied or of relatively low moisture
to ensure the fondant sets. To partially enrobe petits fours deguises which have
been dipped in fondant with chocolate, the fondant must set first. Common fruits
using this technique include strawberries, candied orange slices, and candied citrus
peels.
Two factors should be considered when whole or sliced fruits are dipped
in cooked sugar.
First, fruit should be properly cleaned and thoroughly dried before dipping to
avoid sugar crystallization, as well as problems where the water dissolves the
fondant, seizes the chocolate, or deteriorates the fruit pieces.
Second, fruits with a higher moister level on the surface should be coated with
marzipan to keep the sugar from crystallizing due to the presence of natural liquids
or moisture. In addition, syrup for dipped fruit can range from hard crack to
caramel, depending on the flavor and desired color.
Petits fours prestige, which are composed of more advanced preparations, mirror
current trends in pastry. Petits fours prestige may be smaller versions of
contemporary entremets or other desserts. Components used for petits fours
prestige may include cake bases such as biscuit or Dacquoise, creams such as
creme mousseline or cremeux, egg foams like Italian meringue, and fresh fruit.
Additionally, many of the finishing techniques used for advanced cake production
may be used for petits fours prestige such as glazing and chocolate spraying. Often
these small pastries will even include small decorative chocolate or sugar elements.
The production of these items is labor intensive; however, with the use of specialty
molds and working out of the freezer, petits fours prestige can look consistent and
sharp and can be produced efficiently.
Fresh petits fours - include bases prepared from choux or sweet paste with an
appropriate filling, topping and decoration.
Petits fours glacés - may include sponge bases assembled with appropriately
flavoured fillings cut into a variety of shapes, iced and decorated.
Marzipan-based petits fours - may be modeled by hand or shaped with the aid of
moulds and may be appropriately flavored and colored and sealed with cocoa
butter or food lacquer.
Caramelized petits fours - include fresh or dried fruits and nuts, filled or unfilled,
coated with a pale amber-coloured caramel.
 Lesson II: Preparing Petits Fours
The traditional petit fours recipes require ingredients which include
milk, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder and butter. This batter created is spread on
the jelly roll pan and baked until completely done. Once the petit four is
completely baked, it is cut into rectangles, triangles or squares.
The pound cake petit fours recipes are also quite popular, where a
pound cake is laid on its side and cut lengthwise into four strips, which could be in
the shape of rectangles, squares or triangles. Now, a petit four frosting is prepared
with sugar, cream of tartar, water, food essence and food coloring.
The frosting is made by boiling all the ingredients together to a syrupy
consistency in a saucepan, which is cooled and to it, confectioner’s sugar is added
slowly while sifting over it and continuous stirring of the mixture. When the icing
becomes enough thick to coat a spoon, food coloring and essence is added as
desired. After that, this frosting is poured over the petit four slices, allowing the
icing to drip down the sides of these cakes.
One of the most popular of these cakes is the one that is made with frosting with
ganache or rolled fondant. These delicious desserts can be decorated with coffee
beans, sugared flowers, dragees (a bite-sized form of confectionery with a hard
outer shell; a sugarcoated nut or candy), candied fruits or nuts. White or dark
chocolate drizzled petit four desserts are quite common. Often these cakes come
with a filling, which is created by slicing the cakes into halves and layering their
bottom half with a teaspoon of jelly, lemon curd or jam, after which, the tops are
placed back on these halves and the petit four cakes are frosted.
Petit Four Components
Petits Fours Bases
➢ Sponge

➢ Shortbread

➢ Meringue

➢ Marzipan

➢ Japonaise

➢ Chocolate
➢ Choux pastry
Cut and Assemble
➢ Any shape

➢ Assemble layers before cutting

➢ Press firmly

➢ If using layers of sheets then assemble then cut to shape.

Fillings:
❖ Simple filling:
▪ Jam - thinly applied just enough to bind
❖ Complex fillings:
▪ Flavoured ganache
▪ Butter creams - colored and flavored
❖ Fillings need to be simple.

❖ Apply jam thinly; if applied too thickly will make it soggy

❖ Use only enough to bind sheets together.

❖ Remember: petit fours are small; layers add up quickly.

Marzipan
❖ Marzipan is a mixture of ground almonds and sugar; 1 part almonds and up to 2
parts sugar. It is a simple product; its flavor can be flavored and it can be colored
as desired for visual effect. Some mixtures are cooked; some of the sugar is cooked
then added to mixture of almonds and sugar. However, marzipan can also be
considered a premium product. Hence, it is important to keep flavors and colors
subtle. Flavour should be subtle so as not to take the flavor of almonds away from
marzipan. Marzipan is high in sugar and can be rich to eat. Thus, smaller portion is
recommended. It can be used in cakes to add variety and texture modification to
product.
Guidelines in shaping marzipan:
➢ Can be rolled and cut

➢ Can be shaped

➢ Sizes need to be consistent

➢ Small portions

➢ Any shape can be achieved

➢ Novelty animal shapes can be made

➢ Fruit shapes are popular
Petit four sec Selections of petit four sec:
• Shortbread
• Puff Pastry
• Meringue products
• Japonaise
• Honey doughs
Prepare and flavour filling to required consistency
Ganache
• Flavoured and softened
Jams
• Small amounts, adds flavour; good binding
Buttercreams
• Can be flavoured, coloured; adds mouth feel moisture
Curds
• Lemon curd; lemon juice butter eggs: expensive but intense flavour
Marzipan
• Can be flavoured, softened and coloured
Dried fruits
• Bound up in jams or curds; adds richness and variety
• Filling will vary
• Petit fours are just examples of larger cakes and pastries
• Filling are made for lager cakes can be used in petit fours.
Mixing Methods
❖ Emulsion or creaming method
Procedures:
1. Sift four and make a well.
2. Soften the fat and put it in middle of well.
3. Add sugar.
4. Combine sugar properly with the fat.
5. Add eggs to the fat and sugar.
6. Using the fingertips, pinch and work the sugar, butter and egg together until
well blended.
7. Using two hands, gradually work in all the flour to bind the mixture together.
8. Smear until smooth, to ensure all ingredients are thoroughly mixed and wrap
the dough.
❖ Sablage method
Procedures:
1. Sift flour.
2. Cut fat into chunks.
3. Rub fat into flour until a sand-like texture is achieved.
4. Make a well.
5. Mix salt and sugar into water add to the well.
6. Add as much water as necessary.
7. Smear to ensure ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
8. Cover the dough