Strawberry Lemon Petit Fours

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These strawberry lemon petit fours are delicious pound cake bites perfect for all of your spring entertaining. Serve them for on an Easter dessert buffet, for Mother’s Day tea or brunch, or luncheon with girlfriends.

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Sweet spring petit fours.

This post is sponsored in conjunction with #SpringSweetsWeek. I received products from sponsor companies for the creation of the recipes. All opinions are mine.

Whenever I see petit fours they remind me of my girlfriend Kelly. She absolutely adores petit fours. More than 20 years ago I hosted a baby shower for her before her daughter was born. I surprised guests with petit fours. Way back then, I didn’t know how to make them.

Fast forward and now her daughter is engaged to be married. And I’ve finally made petit fours for the very first time! While they are not difficult to make, they are involved. The pound cake recipe I used would have made dozens! I definitely didn’t need that many in our current state of quarantine for the Coronavirus or COVID-19. 

A dainty strawberry lemon petit four perfect for spring.

So I decided to split the batter and make two small pans for the small cakes plus a loaf of pound cake. Now if you just don’t want to make petit fours, make 2 pound cake loaves. But this is a post for petit fours. The easiest way to make petit fours, in my opinion.

Not only will you get a petit fours recipe in this post, you’ll learn how to make a petit fours icing.

Tips for Making Petit Fours

  • First, make sure you have a cutting board large enough to cut the cakes into one-inch squares.
  • Use a ruler! This makes the task so much easier if you know exactly where to cut.
  • Pick a filling that’s easy to spread like a jam or curd. Whisking jam makes it spreadable.
  • Pound cake makes the best mini cakes. It’s more dense and holds up better.
  • Use a pourable fondant or glaze. Some recipes say to dip them. You’ll definitely get more coverage but they will also be uber sweet. I prefer to spoon the glaze over the top and let it drip down the sides. That way you see the filling too.

Use a ruler when cutting the cake for perfect squares.

I did not flavor the pound cake with anything other than vanilla. I used Adams Extracts. You could use almond, lemon or even peppermint during the holidays. Adams Extracts makes all those flavors. 

Zesting a lemon with the Deiss zester.

Rather, I choose to flavor the glaze with lemon zest. I used my new zester from sponsor Deiss. It’s very well made and comes with a plastic guard so you don’t scrape yourself while it’s stored.

When I was asked to pick sprinkles from sponsor Fresh April Sprinkles I immediately went for the Caribbean Sunrise. The blue-green, orange and yellow sprinkles remind me of our sunsets here on the Gulf Coast. I did briefly consider her pink lemonade which is a fun mix too.

The glaze recipe makes a lot but I did 2 passes on the the petit fours. It was plenty.

A dainty strawberry lemon petit four perfect for spring.

A short history of the petit four. They originated in France and the name literally means small oven. The delicate cakes quickly became popular throughout Europe as a tea time treat.

Strawberry Lemon Petit Fours

Sweet bite sized treats perfect for spring entertaining.
4.95 from 19 votes
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Desserts and Sweets
Cuisine: French
Servings: 69 petit fours and 1 pound cake

Ingredients

  • 3 1/2 cups flour sifted
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup butter room temperature
  • 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla I used Adams Extracts
  • 6 eggs room temperature
  • 1 cup milk room temperature

Petit Four Filling

  • 1/2 cup seedless strawberry jam or preserves

Poured Glaze

  • 7 1/2 cups powdered sugar sifted, I used Dixie Crystals
  • 1/4 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla I used Adams Extracts
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1/3 cup water
  • Caribbean Sunrise sprinkle set from Fresh April Sprinkles

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 5" loaf pan. Line two 9 x 12" rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. This will be for the petit fours.
  • Sift flour and baking powder in a medium bowl and set aside.
  • In the work bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar for 6 minutes, until mixture is light in color and airy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla and milk until combined.
  • With mixture on low, add flour mixture until completely combined, without over mixing.
  • Pour batter 3/4 way into loaf pan and divide remaining batter between prepared baking sheets.
  • Bake loaf for 60 to 65 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Bake sheet pans 30 to 40 minutes until edges are browning and each pan tests done with the toothpick method.
  • Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes on wire racks, then remove from pan to cool completely. Remove parchment when you remove from the pans.
  • In a small bowl, whisk strawberry jam (with a small whisk) until it is spreadable. Spread in a thin, even layer over one cake from the sheet pan. If you feel you want more of a filling, use more jam and repeat. Top with second cake, so you have two layers.
  • Using a sharp knife, cut one in squares. Line a baking sheet with foil and put a cooling rack on top. Place squares about 1" apart.
  • Make poured glaze: In a large sauce pan, over low heat, combine all glaze ingredients except sprinkles. Stir until smooth, remove from heat.
  • Spoon glaze over squares. Let set. Spoon a second coating, a few at at a time, and decorate with sprinkles. If glaze begins to thicken, warm in for a minute or so. Let glaze set before serving.
  • Can be stored, covered for up to 2 days.

Strawberry Lemon Petit Fours are a sweet dessert for spring entertaining.

Sunday #SpringSweetsWeek Recipes

Welcome to #SpringSweetsWeek 2020 hosted by Heather from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks!  What better way to celebrate the warmer weather and flowers blooming than with food? More than 25 bloggers from around the country have come together to share over 100 recipes perfect for spring!  Stop thinking about cold and snow and get ready to enjoy the best spring sweets like cupcakes, cookies, brownies, pies, and even beverages! 

 

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4 Comments

  1. I haven’t had petit fours in forever! I didn’t know they were so easy to make. These look perfectly delicious!

  2. Those looks AMAZING! I love the strawberry and lemon combo! Who is going to stop me from eating them all?

  3. I’ve always been intimidated by petit fours but after reading your recipe I think I can make them! They are simply stunning.

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