Petit Fours are dainty French cakes perfect for serving at bridal showers, tea parties, or anytime! My carefully tested recipe is the BEST and easiest way to make these sweet treats at home. Recipe includes a how-to video!
Precise and Pretty Petit Fours, Made Easy
Petit Fours (translates to “little oven” in French) are quintessential tea party and bridal shower treats. While they have a reputation for being fussy and difficult, I’ve developed my recipe to be as simple as possible. We’ll use a sturdy, but soft, cream cheese version of my favorite pound cake (it’s actually a bit closer to my well-loved bundt cake) to create beautifully stacked, melt-in-your-mouth cakes filled and coated in an amazing, albeit non-traditional, icing you’ll love.
Typically, petit fours have a poured fondant or a white chocolate coating, but I found these to be either too sweet, too difficult to use, or simply not very tasty.
I instead dedicated quite a bit of time to developing my own solution and instead use what is essentially a melted buttercream frosting. It drapes the petit fours smoothly and evenly, dries firm, colors well, and, most importantly, tastes excellent! It took me many attempts to get it right, but I am so happy with the final result, and I know you will be too ❤
What You Need
I prefer to make two separate cakes not only because it produces perfectly level, thin cakes, because also because it gives us the options to make two flavors of petit fours! Today I’m making just one flavor.
Here’s an overview of what you need:
- Softened cream cheese. Adding this to our pound cake gives it a beautifully plush (but still sturdy!) and crumb. Please don’t use the tub-style cream cheese!
- Milk. I recommend whole milk, and it’s best if it’s room-temperature.
- Fillings. I used fresh lemon curd and homemade raspberry cake filling for fresh, summery petit fours; however, you can use just about any sturdy filling. You’ll need about two cups total (so if you’re going for two different flavors, one cup of each).
- Corn syrup. This is not the same as high fructose corn syrup. Adding this to our icing gives it a sleek, firm finish that you can easily pick up once cooled.
SAM’S TIP: The cakes will most likely still look very pale (see above) even once they’re finished baking. Don’t over-bake or the layers will be dry!
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Petit Fours
- Bake the cakes as instructed, let them cool, and them cut into thirds.
- Working with the first cake, spread two of the slices with a thin layer of filling (or fillings!).
- Stack the layers and top with the final plain cake layer.
- Cut the cake into 1½” squares and place onto a wax paper-lined baking sheet
- Repeat with the other cake, then cover with plastic and freeze while you prepare the icing.
SAM’S TIP: Before cutting into the cakes, gently but firmly press your hands over the surface to squeeze out any extra filling so that your layers don’t slide! You can cut the petit fours into shapes with a large knife or with small cookie cutters. I used a 1 ½″ square cookie cutter for uniform cakes (see above).
- Combine the butter, heavy cream, and light corn syrup in a double boiler until melted.
- Stir in the vanilla, then gradually add the powdered sugar and stir until the frosting reaches the proper consistency.
- Coat the frozen cakes with icing and let them firm up before decorating with additional icing or enjoying.
SAM’S TIP: You can make this icing in the microwave or on a double boiler. I highly recommend a double boiler for best results; it keeps the icing fluid and allows you to easily adjust the consistency as needed. If you use the microwave, you will frequently have to reheat your icing to keep the proper consistency.
After the icing dries completely, you can decorate your petit fours using my royal icing recipe, as I did here. I modeled the decorations here after my funfetti cake and used several small open star tips to decorate. This is completely optional, but don’t they look pretty!?
Frequently Asked Questions
Petit fours should be stored in an airtight container. They will keep at room temperature for two days or refrigerated for up to a week. They may also be frozen for two to three months.
While I love the combination I’m using today, you can certainly get creative with your petit four fillings. Here are a few other great options:
Salted caramel sauce (cool before using!)
Chocolate ganache (cool to a thicker, spreadable consistency before using!)
Nutella
Peanut butter frosting
Cream cheese frosting
Yes. I recommend a gel food coloring; a little goes a long way, and it doesn’t flavor the icing like many liquid dyes do.
While my recipe is more simple than most, I still recommend you watch the video in the recipe card before beginning.
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Petit Fours (easy step-by-step recipe!)
Ingredients
FILLINGS
- 1 batch lemon curd (click the link for the recipe) or 1 cup of your preferred filling
- 1 batch raspberry cake filling (click the link for the recipe) or 1 cup of your preferred filling
CAKE
- ⅔ cup (150 g) unsalted butter softened
- 4 oz (113 g) cream cheese softened
- 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature preferred
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250 g) all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ cup (60 ml) whole milk
PETIT FOUR ICING
- 15 Tablespoons (221 g) unsalted butter cut into pieces
- 1 ½ Tablespoons (22 ml) heavy cream
- 6 Tablespoons (88 ml) light corn syrup
- ⅛ heaping teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 ¾ cup (600 g) powdered sugar
- Gel food coloring optional, only if desired
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- I strongly recommend you read through the post and watch the video before beginning. It will help you, especially when it comes to icing the petit fours as flawlessly as possible!
- If making fillings listed from scratch, prepare these in advance of beginning the recipe.1 batch lemon curd, 1 batch raspberry cake filling
CAKE
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and grease and flour or spray with baking spray two 10×15” jelly roll pans (if you only have one, you can bake one cake at a time, just let the pan cool completely before washing it and re-using).
- Combine butter, cream cheese, and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until creamy, well-combined and lightened in color.⅔ cup (150 g) unsalted butter, 4 oz (113 g) cream cheese, 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- Add eggs, one at a time, stirring wella after each addition (about 10 seconds on medium speed after each egg).4 large eggs
- Stir in vanilla extract. Mixture should be very smooth, light, and creamy when finished mixing. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl periodically to make sure all ingredients are well-combined.2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.2 cups (250 g) all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder
- With mixer on low-speed, alternate adding flour and milk to the butter mixture until ingredients are completely combined (scrape sides and bottom of the bowl as needed).¼ cup (60 ml) whole milk
- Divide batter evenly into prepared jelly roll pans and spread so the layers are even and smooth. Transfer to 350F (175C) oven to bake for 12-13 minutes (if baking one layer at a time) or 15 minutes (if baking both at the same time) or until baked through and cake springs back when lightly touched. Cake may still appear very pale even when baked completely through, don’t over-bake or it will be dry.
- Allow cakes to cool completely then, working with one cake at a time, cut first cake into three even pieces, each just under 5” wide.
- Transfer each piece to a clean surface. Evenly spread lemon curd or filling of choice on one third and raspberry cake filling or filling of choice on another. Leave the last third plain, this will be your top layer,
- Stack the cake thirds with the plain layer on top and gently press down all over wit your palms to gently squeeze out any excess filling. Using a 1 ½” round or square cookie cutter (or use a sharp knife to cut into even 1 ½” squares) firmly press down to cut out square and transfer to a wax paper lined baking sheet. Repeat until you have cut out as many cakes as possible. Set aside and repeat with remaining cake.
- Cover petit four cakes with plastic wrap and place in the freezer while you prepare icing.
ICING
- Heat about 2-3” of water over medium-low heat in a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a simmer. In a medium or large heat-proof bowl that fits snuggly over your saucepan without touching the water, combine butter, heavy cream and light corn syrup. Stir frequently over simmering water until melted.15 Tablespoons (221 g) unsalted butter, 1 ½ Tablespoons (22 ml) heavy cream, 6 Tablespoons (88 ml) light corn syrup
- Add salt and vanilla extract, then gradually add sugar until combined and mixture is smooth. Test the consistency of the icing by lifting your spoon out of it. If it drizzles smoothly back into the bowl and holds its shape for a second before dissolving into the bowl of icing, it’s perfect. If it’s too stiff, add a splash more cream as needed. Stir in any food coloring here, if desired.1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract, 4 ¾ cup (600 g) powdered sugar, Gel food coloring, ⅛ heaping teaspoon salt
- Remove petit fours from the freezer and place on on a large fork over the bowl of icing (so that any drips fall back in the bowl to be re-used). Using a spoon, spoon icing over the petit four until it is completely covered. Use your first petit four as a gauge for testing how smoothly the icing covers and adjust as needed. Return cakes to the baking sheet, and repeat with remaining cakes until all are covered.
- Allow to cool completely for icing to harden before enjoying (this can be done at room temperature or in the refrigerator). If desired, after cooling completely decorate with royal icing.
Notes
Video Note
After making the recipe as shown in the video a few times I decided to scale up the frosting by 50%. The recipe written here is the same as shown, just scaled up to give you more to play with.Storing
Petit Fours will keep stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, refrigerated for up to a week, or frozen for 2-3 months.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Tina Sobolewski
Hi! can this recipe be halfed? thank you
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Sure! Enjoy, Tina 😊
Danya
These came out oh so yummy! We used Trader Joe’s raspberry jam and lemon curd to fill. We found a firm buttercream frosting to pipe the flowers. These were a ton of work, but the recipe was worthwhile and easy to work with! My husbands idea was to use a round apple slicer to hold the cakes instead of a fork while coating the cakes. This gave a bit more of a working surface and allowed the frosting to freely drip back into the double boiler. Then we used a cake server to transfer them to a board or rack to cool. We waited overnight to cool before frosting.
Would highly recommend!!!
Donna P
Can I add cocoa powder to the icing recipe?
Sam
Hi Donna! I think that would be fine, you may need a splash more cream to get the right consistency but if you play around with it I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Enjoy!
Colette
I enjoy your videos and recipes.
Amy Wilson
I FINALLY made petit fours, thanks to your very easy to follow directions. They tasted divine and since I have so much raspberry filling and lemon curd remaining, I MUST make more. I’m considering using almond extract instead of vanilla extract for the cake batter; do you think that would still taste good?
Sam
Hi Amy! I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Almond extract could work, but you will want to use less as it’s more potent. 🙂
Ann
The petit fours were delicious; however, the frosting was not what I expected. The frosting was like a standard buttercream you would use on a cake. I expected to get a thin pourable frosting that would thinly and evenly coat the squares. Perhaps you have such a recipe elsewhere? Thanks! And the lemon curd recipe is out of this world!
Sam
Hi Ann! If it wasn’t pourable it just needed to be heated more. It should evenly coat the squares. I demonstrate how I do it in my video, too, if that is helpful. So glad you enjoyed! 🙂
Georgette Costa
used your cake & frosting recipes & took them to an English Tea party, they were a big hit! i have leftover frosting, can this be frozen? thank you for the tutorial
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Georgette! I’m not sure the frosting would freeze well to use later. It will freeze just fine on the petit four but I’m not sure it would do well on it’s own.
ruby
Hi Sam- is it possible to freeze the petit fours overnight before icing and then ice the next day, or will they turn out poorly or dry?
Thanks!
Sam
Hi Ruby! You could freeze them overnight as long as they are in an air tight container or wrapped tightly so they don’t dry out. 🙂
Calli
I am confused by the cake pan size. The recipe says to use 10×15 but the link is for 11×17.
Sam
Hi Calli! I’m sorry for the confusion. There are lots of different pan options on that link and sometimes Amazon changes them on me. You will want the jelly roll pan. I will make sure to update that. 🙂
Shelly
Hi Sam,
Hubby & I love to bake & we made Petit Fours last summer & they were beautiful & amazing. We just coated them in Ghirardelli white chocolate melts & that worked well. Now we are wanting to pipe royal icing onto the Petit Fours to decorate them, but the royal icing flakes off quite easily, off of the chocolate melt coating. We came across your recipe where in which your Petit Four icing contains no chocolate. We are going to give it a whirl to see if that detailed piped royal icing adheres better. Your video and you written recipe has discrepancies in the measurements for the icing. Which one should we follow?
Thanks
Shelly 🐚
Sam
Hi Shelly! I hope you love this one! You will want to follow the written instructions. I decided to increase it after I finished the video to make sure there was adequate icing. 🙂
Linda
Can you substitute cream cheese with something else
Sam
Hi Linda! Unfortunately I do not have a good substitute for the cream cheese. 🙁
Amy B
Making this tomorrow and excited to see the results. I’m loving that this doesn’t contain any nut allergy ingredients as I’m catering to someone in that category and so many of the petit four recipes call for almond extract!
Thanks!
Leisa
I followed the video recipe and my frosting came out pretty thick. I added more cream but still was thick. any tips?
Sam
Hi Leisa! It may hve just needed to be warmer, I would warm it a bit more.
Pamela L Lyons
Can I substitute 2 9×13 pans to bake the cake?
Sam
Hi Pamela! While you can, note that they will take a bit longer to take and your petit fours will be thicker/taller.
Marie
Is it possible to make a chocolate cake instead of a vanilla and if so how would I substitute that into the recipe?
Sam
Hi Marie! I haven’t yet tried these as chocolate, I’ll have to experiment and let you know!