lime-raspberry petits fours
Did anyone get up to see the Aurigids this morning? We actually dragged our carcasses outside at 5 am (mountain time) and caught several gorgeous meteors despite the brilliance of the moon overhead. Wonderful.
This afternoon I set about making petits fours glacés. These are what I always think of when I hear petits fours, but in fact, they are merely a subgroup. The ones we made in pastry class were chocolate, dry, and rather large. Today, I made mine lime, moist, and tiny.
start with a big bowl of limes
I made vanilla chiffon cakes instead of lime chiffon because I wanted to use that second sheet for something else. I wrapped it up and chucked it into the freezer.
vanilla chiffon cakes in sheets
I love pairing raspberry and lime, so I grabbed some tired raspberries from my refrigerator and made a quick jam out of them. The idea was to soak the cake in lime syrup, spread a layer of raspberry jam, then a layer of lime buttercream, then top it with cake and glaze it in poured fondant icing.
cut pieces ready for glazing
I had never used poured fondant before and the first few tries came out too thick. I added a little more liquid and reheated the fondant before I achieved the right consistency. Still, I think I hate that stuff. Pretty isn’t worth it if it tastes like crap (which is one reason I really hate traditional wedding cakes). I dyed mine with a drop of red food coloring since the vanilla extract gave it a sort of pukey beige color that doesn’t lend well to fruity themes.
topped with raspberries and lime zest
sweet, tart, moist and creamy
Here’s my write up for the recipe which was partly done on the fly. My chiffon cake recipe is adjusted for my elevation (8500 ft.) and the original I got from my pastry class was written for Boulder, Colorado (5300 ft.). I don’t know how the Boulder recipe fares at sea level, so you might just want to substitute a favorite genoise or chiffon cake recipe of your own.
Lime-Raspberry Petits Fours
1/2 sheet chiffon cake
1-2 cups lime swiss meringue buttercream
1 cup raspberry jam
1 cup lime syrup
poured fondant icing
garnish of choice
chiffon cake
makes 2 11×17 sheets or 2 9×3 rounds (you need only 1/2 of one sheet)
this recipe originally intended for baking at 5300 ft.
14.5 oz cake flour
8.75 oz confectioner’s sugar
6.75 oz whole milk
6 oz canola oil
3.25 oz eggs
0.5 oz baking powder
13 oz egg whites
9.5 oz granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Oven 375F. Prep pan by buttering bottom and sides. Place parchment in pan and butter the parchment. Sift dry ingredients (except granulated sugar) into a large bowl. Mix all ingredients (except the 13 oz of egg whites and granulated sugar) in the large bowl until combined. Whip whites and granulated sugar to medium peaks. Fold into batter gently. Bake until set, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and remove from pan. Let cool on a rack. Cut one sheet in half. Wrap the other half and the other full sheet for other use. Wrap the half sheet you want to use in plastic and place in the freezer for a few hours. Remove from freezer and with a large serrated knife, cut the cake into two layers.
lime swiss meringue buttercream
makes about 1 quart
8 oz egg whites
16 oz sugar
1 lb butter, room temperature
1 tbsp lime zest
4 tbsp lime juice
Combine egg whites and sugar in a Kitchenaid mixing bowl. Whisk constantly over a bain marie until 140F is reached. Place on mixer with whisk and whip until stiff. Turn down whip speed to 3rd and whip until cool to the touch (this takes a while - should be cooler than your hand). Change to a paddle and gradually add soft butter by tablespoon pieces. Mix to emulsify. Once desired consistency has been reached, add lime juice and zest.
lime syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2/3 cup lime juice
Heat water and sugar in a pot until sugar is dissolved. Bring to boil and turn off heat. Let cool. Mix in lime juice.
poured fondant icing
4.5 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
drop of food coloring (optional)
Combine all in double boiler except coloring. Heat until lukewarm. Remove from heat and stir in food coloring. Ladle over petits fours.
assembly
Set first cake layer on a sheet of wax paper on a cutting board. Use a pastry brush to apply the lime syrup to the layer. Spread a thin layer of raspberry jam, then carefully spread a layer of lime buttercream on top of the jam. Set the second layer of cake on top and brush with more lime syrup. Using a ruler and a good sharp serrated knife, cut the cake into 1×1 inch squares. Place the squares on a rack over a pan or wax paper (to catch the drips) with enough space between each square for glazing. Take warm glaze and pour over the squares. Garnish and serve.
September 2nd, 2007 at 5:06 am
Your Petit four is lovely, so delicate. I truly appreciate the recipe.Thanks for sharing
September 2nd, 2007 at 8:09 am
This is absolutely beautiful!
Your whole blog is just gorgeous - fabulous photos.
September 2nd, 2007 at 10:11 am
They look so good,
And I like the way you take pictures between steps with detailed instruction on how to make this yummy sweet!
Good job!
September 2nd, 2007 at 10:03 pm
Those are so pretty! And dainty looking!
Little things require much more patience than I have.
September 3rd, 2007 at 7:49 am
really lovely photos. looks delicious.
September 3rd, 2007 at 6:54 pm
this is the first time i have visited your site and it is now securely bookmarked on my browser.
just wanted to let you know that i am going to give these beautiful little things a go this weekend. much more advanced that i would ever try. but they look just so lovely.
does the distance above sea level make that much of a difference though? i live at the bottom of australia and have no idea whow high or low i am!
September 3rd, 2007 at 9:30 pm
kristy, the distance above sea level can make a difference, but it only really comes into play over 1000 meters above sea level and we live nearly 3000 meters above sea level. that just means i have to think a little harder about standard recipes. sometimes they work just fine without adjustment, and sometimes i have to do things like omit leavening agents. for instance, water boils at 196F instead of 212F for me. good luck!
September 10th, 2007 at 10:12 am
Thanks for the comments all. I just want to mention that I think the poured fondant tastes like paste - so thinner is probably better unless you can find a better way to frost/coat/whatever.
November 11th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
[…] adored these Lime-Raspberry Petits Fours Glaces from Jen Yu at Use Real […]
November 12th, 2007 at 10:47 am
Saw your pic on the DMBLGIT … n fell in love with these right away. Well done :)
November 12th, 2007 at 11:19 am
Congratulations on your win! Those raspberries look really good in this :)
November 13th, 2007 at 4:29 am
this is the first time I viewed your site after the feedback from the bake or break contest results and I truly commend the way you describe the step by step method on how to make the glorious petit fours - it makes you want to rush to the kitchena & try it out. I will explore all the other avenues on your site and sure it will be as interesting !
Carol in sunny Muscat
November 13th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
Kate, Suganya, Carol - thanks for your sweet comments!
February 19th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
your chiffon recipe makes enough for 2 11×17 jelly roll pans; are the fondant, syrup and butter cream recipe’s enough for the total 2 sheet pans you are baking; or are they only enough for the 1/2 pan? my second question would be, is the fondant ample enough to dowse the cakes completely or should i double it for a carefree coverage? thanks s. groves
February 20th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
shag - well actually, i think all of the recipes are enough for the jelly roll pans. you may end up with extra buttercream (that’s not hard to use up). as for the fondant, it gets thick quickly and is a total pain in the butt to pour. if you are using both sheets of cake then i’d at least double the fondant? just a guess. better yet would be to keep it on a hot bath so it stays fluid enough to pour/drape, yeah?
March 28th, 2008 at 8:09 am
You capture the thrill of adventure in cooking beautifully - like a wander through a forest glen with unexpected twists and turns as some journeys fizzle out and others yield unexpecgted delights. I’ve been working on an intensely lime-flavored white cake with white frosting and discovered your site. I am going to try your lime cake today. I wish there was a way to make the lime curd so that it would be white instead of yellow, and I share your disappointment in not being able to preserve the vibrant green of the limes. I hope I’ll be able to accurately turn your weight measurements into cups in the chiffon cake recipe - I’ll do my best and let you know how it turns out!!! Thanks for sharing your cooking adventures.
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Christine - thanks for stopping by! As for the weight measurements - it might be worthwhile to buy a kitchen scale? These recipes are from my culinary program I took last year and our chef instructor warned that conversion was not always straightforward (considering density issues, especially for things like flour). Good luck!!