Petite Fours

So these take a bit of patience with the assembling, but it's all pretty easy and for an impressive result. These ones are composed of the following layers: Genoise cake, almond custard, strawberry puree, brandy syrup and chocolate ganache.


Genoise

1 c sifted cake flour
2 tbsp sugar
pinch of salt

4 eggs
1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp butter, melted

• Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease an 8 x 8 baking pan, line with parchment and dust with flour

•Sift together first three dry ingredients

• Whisk eggs together in a medium sized bowl placed over a dish of hot water.
• Whisk in the 1/2 sugar, mixing until warm.
• Beat with whisk attachment until pale yellow and frothy.
• Add in vanilla.

• Fold flour in a 1/3 at a time. Careful not to overmix and to keep volume.
• Add a bit of mixture and blend with melted butter. Pour back into main mixture.
• Pour into baking pan and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the top is light brown.
• Let cool ten minutes in pan, the transfer to wire rack to cool completely.


Almond Custard

1/4 c sugar
5 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt

1 c milk
2 eggs

2 tbsp amaretto

• Put sugar, cornstarch and salt in medium saucepan.

• In another bowl, whisk together milk and eggs. Pour into saucepan.
• Heat over medium heat, whisking frequently. Bring to a slow boil and and continue for 2 minutes. The mixture with thicken fairly quickly, so whisk often to keep it a smooth consistency.
• Remove from heat. Add amaretto.
• Chill completely before layering.


Strawberry Puree

About 3/4 pack of strawberries (Maybe about 2 cups?), hulled
About 1/4 c of sugar
Squeeze of lemon juice

• Throw strawberries into food processor. Pulse until smooth.
• Add a bit of sugar and lemon juice, mix well. Add sugar as needed for desired sweetness.
• Mine was looking pretty runny, so I added a bit of gelatin. It seemed to help thicken it up.
• Chill in the fridge until ready to layer.


Brandy Syrup

2 c water
1 c sugar
2 tbsp brandy

• Bring water and sugar to a boil. Let boil for about 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let cool.
• Add brandy and pour into sealable bottle (it makes lots).


Once you have all your layer components completely cooled, you are ready to assemble:
• Cut cake in half. This makes cutting the layers way easier.
• Cut each half into four layers using a serrated knife. The cake is spongy and should cut easily. If you want to make sure the layers are a consistent thickness, mark with toothpicks first. You can also take the easy way and just do 3 layers of cake. Your call.
• Place first layer down. Brush with syrup.
• spread strawberry puree over evenly.
• Stack on second cake layer. Brush with syrup.
• Spread an even layer of custard.
• Cake layer number three. Brush with syrup.
• Another strawberry layer. Top with top cake layer and scrape of any excess filling. Wrap in plastic and throw in the fridge. Repeat with the second half of cake.


Chocolate Ganache

1 c heavy cream
9 oz bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
1 tbsp amaretto (or rum, or whatever)

• Bring cream just to a boil over medium heat.
• Throw chocolate in bowl. Pour hot cream over. Stir until chocolate is completely melted.
• Add booze. Mix again.


You want the ganache to cool SLIGHTLY before icing, but not too much. All it really needs is the time to cut the layer cakes into cubes:
• Take layer cakes out of fridge. Cut into roughly 1" squares.
• Working a few pieces at a time, place cake onto wire rack. Be sure to have a baking sheet or the like underneath to catch runoff.
• Pour a spoonful of ganache over each piece, spread lightly over the top so a drizzle of chocolate runs off each size.
• Carefully tranfer iced pieces to platter to cool. Keep going until you've done them all. Then let them chill in the fridge. It helps the ganache set much faster.


(So it looks like a lot of work, but the active time isn't too bad. It just takes some patience. And defs not a dessert you can throw together in the last hour. They look pretty fancy. I wish I took a picture.)

Saturday, September 15, 2007.
Drunken tea party with everyone.