Friday, August 27, 2010

"Party" Petit Fours - Daring Bakers August Challenge





Daring Bakers to me is like a personal trainer. I see this personal trainer from time to time and she totally whips me into shape....or points out how out of shape I am.




PETIT FOURS, when I think of them I envision hundreds of year ago people at court enjoying them. They are dainty & sweet, a beautiful and neatly trimmed treat...well not mine! ha









So, Let's get started why don't we. Oh wait, a confession. This is store bought ice cream...









INGREDIENTS FOR THE BROWN BUTTER POUND CAKE

19 tablespoons (9.5 oz) (275g) unsalted (sweet) butter
2 cups (200g) sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring)
1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
1/2 cup (110g) packed light brown sugar
1/3 (75g) cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract



DIRECTIONS


1. Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C and put a rack in the center. Butter and flour a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan.









2. Place the butter in a 10” (25cm) skillet over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark chocolate brown and the butter smells nutty. (Don’t take your eyes off the butter in case it burns.) Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed, 15-30 minutes.



3. Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.









4. Beat the brown butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well, and then the vanilla extract.



5. Stir in the flour mixture at low speed until just combined.Scrape the batter into the greased and floured 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula and Tap the pan on the counter. Bake until golden brown on top and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.









6. Once cooled, flip cake out on a flat surface and split cake in half with a sharp knife - LIKE SO ...








So there is another part to this, let me explain - you can totally cook your own ice cream cake by paying attention to the next pictures.


Line a small baking pan with saran wrap. Place a couple large scoops of ice cream on the saran wrap and spread with you fingers and a spatula..like so









press press press press pat pat press









Now cover with the other half of the wrap and place in the freezer for at least 3 hours. Once it is frozen hard take out of the freezer and place on one half of the pound cake, like so









Now, pop the top on and trim to make it nice & neat.









Next place the whole cake in the freezer for at least 4 hours, remove and cut your petit fours. Then those little pain's in the butt need to be put back in the freezer...longer...few more hours


But you still have more work, time to make the Glaze...You tired yet?








Chocolate Glaze (For the Ice Cream Petit Fours)


9 ounces (250g) dark chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup (250 ml) heavy (approx 35% butterfat) cream
1 1/2 tablespoons (32g) light corn syrup, Golden syrup, or agave nectar
2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract



Stir the heavy cream and light corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and add the dark chocolate. Let sit 30 seconds, then stir to completely



Dip each Petit Four, tap gently and place on a parchment lined baking pan - and you guessed it...back in the freezer.



xoxo



47 comments:

Tracy said...

Your petit fours look so cute and yummy! Nice job on the challenge!

Ali said...

I would take these over a super perfect, neatly-trimmed petit four ANY day.

Susi's Kochen und Backen said...

I think they turned out great! Petit Fours is something I have long admired but haven't had the guts to attempt. You did wonderful :o)

shaz said...

very pretty and festive! I thought this would be simple to make but they sound like waaay more work than the baked alaska :) Great job.

GratefulPrayerThankfulHeart said...

Oh, boy, do these look good! My daughter asked me to make petit fours for her little ones "French" themed birthday party a couple of weeks ago. Wish I had your post them :)

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

What pretty Petits Fours! I bet they were delicious. Great job!

Cheers,

Rosa

Poires au Chocolat said...

They're so gorgeous and playful! Good step by steps too :)

WendyinKK said...

It's ok, store bought ice cream or not, the end product is beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Really nice job! I love the pictures and the descriptions.

Unknown said...

So much fun. These are so great for all sorts of parties. Nice job

Fun and Fearless in Beantown said...

This looks great to me! I think they are wonderful petit fours!

Koci said...

Your petit fours are so cute!! I love the sprinkles--they just make everything so fun and festive. Can a petit four be festive? I like to think so. :D

Heather Baird said...

Your step-by-steps are just awesome. And I love the sprinkles of course!

Anonymous said...

"Petit" or not, I think they're adorable! I love the sprinkles and the step by step photos, and I'm so happy I got to give you a bit of a "workout!" ;)

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Oh, snap! That's a lot of work for those little suckers. Was it worth it?

Happy Friday!
~ingrid

Unknown said...

thanks so much everyone! I served these at my life group and they were greeted with oooo's and ahhhhhh's - so they were back breaking...but the compliments and amazement of people made them worth it!

La Bella Cooks said...

Kudos to you for giving these a go as they look scrumptious!

Jeanne said...

They sure do look ready for a party with all those colors! Beautiful job and they look delicious!

Mary said...

The sprinkles make your petit fours look like so much fun! Even with store-bought ice cream this was still a lot of work. Yum!
:)

Amanda said...

Oh I think they came out beautiful! And I love store bought ice cream ;)

scrambledhenfruit said...

I love bite sized goodies! These are so cute and they look scrumptious. Store bought ice cream is perfectly acceptable as long as you get the good stuff!

Not Quite Nigella said...

Just gorgeous! They look so pretty and blingy! Perfect for a party :)

Monet said...

I think they look beautiful. And I"m all about the store bought ice cream and sprinkles. This looks perfect in my book!

Delishhh said...

Ohh i love your petite fours. Nice work on the challange.

Renata said...

Adorable Petit Fours! I love the colored sprinkles!

LittleRed said...

They look delicious and the sprinkles make them look fun! Great job!

Suz said...

I would totally have your petits fours at my court .. if I had one. :( They're so fun and eye-catching and delicious-looking. Love the step-by-step photo instructions too!

Jamie said...

Love the clean, sharp, pretty look of your blog. Glad I found you! Great petits four! Love 'em! And I feel the same way about DB - personal trainer. LOL!

Chef Dennis Littley said...

now that petit four is taken to the next level! usually they look pretty but not at all tasty....yours must have been so good!! Ice cream petit fours, I love it!

Julie said...

Oooh! Looks delicious :)

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

Your petit fours looks so pretty with those sprinkles. I used store bought ice-cream too. ;)
Never thought of DB as a personal trainer, more like the need for a personal trainer! LOL

Anonymous said...

I love your step by step photos! Your petit fours look delicious too.

Larissa said...

Those are beautiful. I never would have thought to try something so elegant, but you've inspired me!

Kerry said...

These turned out so cute! I love the sprinkles. And with all those steps, I would use store-bought ice cream too. They look delicious.

teresa said...

great job, these turned out just beautiful! i wish i could reach through my screen and grab one!

Debbi Does Dinner Healthy said...

These look excellent! So are they hard to dip without making a ginormous mess? And how many did you cut? I do want to make these!

Sue said...

Festive and delicious! Love the step-by-step!

Unknown said...

Debbi - Dipping them was only a bit messy transferring from bowl to parchment. I cut at least 24 of these from that cake...maybe even more. In all honestly the hardest part is all the various times you have to re-freeze - GOOD LUCK

Chef Bee said...

Thanks for the recipe. These look great and I would feel special if these were served to me.

Plan B

Angie's Recipes said...

These petit fours look so pretty! Well-done!

aipi said...

They look cute n scrumptious!!

http://usmasala.blogspot.com/

Delicious Dishings said...

Amazing.. brown butter cake withe ice cream filling and chocolate glaze... when are you having us all over for dessert?

Sara said...

your petit fours look amazing! I was not able to make them stand for 1 minute without melting :( great job! I'm already looking forward the next challenge....it is like a personal trainer :)

Clements Family said...

How cute are those! I bet the tasted amazing!!

Christina said...

They're so fun looking! Awesome job!

FOODESSA said...

Jennyfurla...I applaud your well succeeded effort on this challenge. I really appreciate this tip of putting together the ice-cream center ;O)...will become quite useful indeed.

Great job...these look delicious!!!

Flavourful wishes,
Claudia

Monica H said...

You did a great job with this. Though I think I'd like it as one big honkin' ice cream cake. :-)