Homemade chocolate petit fours filled with strawberry buttercream are moist and delicious. They are a perfect bite sized dessert that can be made ahead of time for a perfect treat.
Imagine a bite sized bit of chocolate cake filled with creamy buttercream and dipped in chocolate. If that caught your attention, you are going to love these wonderful petit fours.
They are perfect for everything from a casual party to an elegant soiree. Serve them as the dessert course or as part of a larger sweet buffet.
I have the honor of making treats for an upcoming wedding. They want a cutting cake for pictures, but instead of serving a traditional cake to their guests they would like to do a dessert bar.
So we are whipping up several flavors of no bake cheesecake. They will be served in small portions in cute little dessert cups.
Then we were debating doing a few flavors of mini cupcakes. But they want everything to be gluten free and I felt like the cupcakes were drying out more quickly than I would like.
If you have any tips for avoiding that, please let me know. I am all ears.
So we decided to do a couple of flavors of petit fours instead. The little bite sized cakes are as cute as can be and the fact that they are dipped keeps them moist for so much longer.
Can you make chocolate petit fours gluten free?
Yes! I have tried this recipe with King Arthur Flour’s Measure for Measure Flour with great success.
Making the petit fours
With a lot of recipes to make, being able to do some of the prep work ahead of time is crucial. Luckily because there are a few different times the cakes go in the freezer so you can easily spread the work out over several days if you would like.
The batter comes together quickly. Pour it over a parchment paper lined half sheet pan.
It creates a nice thin layer of moist cake. Freeze the cake for a bit to stiffen it up and then cut it in half across the long edge of the pan.
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Spread some buttercream over half of the cake. I used strawberry buttercream but any flavor of American buttercream would be delicious. Imagine them with chocolate buttercream for a triple chocolate threat!
You can use small cookie cutters to cut the petit fours or just use a sharp knife to cut it into 1 inch squares. If the cake feels to soft or sticky, put it back into the freezer for an hour and try again.
Freeze the cut petit fours for at least a couple of hours, then melt the chocolate and get ready to coat them in chocolate
Coating them in chocolate
You want to use a high quality dipping chocolate if you can. This isn’t a place to skimp as it’s going to be the star of the show.
The dark chocolate Ghirardelli melting chocolate works well. A little bit of shortening helps to give it a great texture that is soft enough to bite but solid enough to hold its shape.
The more frozen the petit fours are, the easier they are going to be to work with. So you may only want to pull a handful out of the freezer at once.
I find it easiest to hold a cake on the very edge a fork over the bowl of melted chocolate. Then use a spoon to pour melted chocolate over the little cakes making sure to get all of the sides.
Gently scoot the cake off the fork and onto wax or parchment paper to set up. If using sprinkles, be sure to put them on right away before the chocolate sets.
Decorating Your Petit Fours
Adding sprinkles while the chocolate is still soft is the easiest way to add a little extra flare to your little cakes. If you aren’t in the mood for sprinkles, you can leave them plane, drizzle them with a little bit of melted white chocolate or pip a small buttercream decoration on top of the set chocolate.
Storage
Petit fours can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for three to four days.
Store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Or freeze petit fours for up to three months.
You can also hold the petit fours in the freezer for several days or weeks at a time in any of the steps that already require freezing. Just make sure they are in a freezer safe container to prevent them from taking on any freezer flavors.
Homemade Chocolate Petit Fours
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- ½ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ cup hot coffee or water
Filling
- 1 cup buttercream
Coating
- 10 oz. dark dipping chocolate
- 2 Tablespoons shortening
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 13×18" sheet pan with parchment paper. Spray the pan and parchment paper with cooking spray.
- Stir the 1 teaspoon lemon juice into the ½ cup milk and set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup all-purpose flour, ⅓ cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda and ½ teaspoon salt.
- In a separate bowl, stir together 1 large egg, soured milk, ¼ cup vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and ½ teaspoon almond extract.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the ½ cup hot coffee and mix until smooth.
- Spread batter in prepared sheet pan, then bake for 11-13 minutes or until the center springs back when lightly touched with a finger.
- Cool cake, then put in the freezer for at least one hour.
- Cut frozen cake in half across the equator of the pan. Spread 1 cup buttercream over on half of the cake, then top with the other half.
- Cut with small cookie cutters if desired, otherwise use a sharp knife to cut into 1 inch squares.
- Return the cakes to the freezer for at least one more hour.
- When the cakes are frozen solid, start to melt the 10 oz. dark dipping chocolate and 2 Tablespoons shortening together.
- It is best to pull the petit fours out of the freezer in small batches. Place one on the end of a fork and use a spoon to coat the exterior in melted chocolate. Scoot the chocolate coated cake onto a sheet of wax or parchment paper to set. If using sprinkles, apply immediately. Then continue working until all of the petit fours are coated.
Notes
Video
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Adapted from A Spicy Perspective
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All the love for this perfect love treat! Happy Valentine’s Day sweetheart!
Happy Valentines Day!