lime-raspberry petits fours
Recipe: 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
[print recipe]
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-inch sheets or 2 9×3-inch 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 375°F. 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 ounces 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 tbsps lime juice
Combine egg whites and sugar in a Kitchenaid mixing bowl. Whisk constantly over a bain marie until 140°F 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!!
May 18th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
thank you so much for the inspiration, and the recipe!
I’ve tried a bunch of fondant variations, and while all
are tough to work with, I got the best results with
yours. . . isn’t chiffon wonderful, too? xoxoxoxo
May 20th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Christine – great!!
March 31st, 2009 at 11:40 am
I just came across this entry and I have to say ‘wow!’. I’m so excited about trying this recipe. I’ve been trying to find a good petits fours recipe with good reviews (not many out there) and I’m definitely going to go with this one. I also love the raspberry/lime combination, so this one sounds fantastic :). Thanks for posting this!!!
April 4th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Alexis – you’re welcome. I just hope you’ll try using the squeeze bottle trick for applying the fondant that I emailed you about. It helps tremendously.
April 11th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
I tried it but wasn’t sure how to make the raspberry jam :P mine came out pretty bad but it was my first time ever doing petit fours and I couldn’t get the meringue buttercream right. :( Also my fondant was really runny and I poured it over and over again like about 4x and it’s still not as thick as yours. :( Maybe I can try again later. :P
April 13th, 2009 at 9:23 am
Katherine – I’m pretty sure I purchased my raspberry jam. The buttercream takes some practice, but once you get it right, the frosting is fairly stable. As for the fondant… I hate that fondant, but it’s the only one so far that doesn’t taste like paste. It has to be at the right temperature for pouring otherwise it is too runny if hot and too gloppy if cold. Hope that helps.
July 27th, 2009 at 7:57 am
Your buttercream recipe sounds absolutely amazing–there’s nothing quite like Swiss meringue buttercream! I just have one question:
Is the 8oz of egg whites in the recipe in volume ounces or mass ounces?
July 28th, 2009 at 9:04 am
Frank – egg whites are weighed in all of my recipes. It’s a great buttercream recipe!
September 21st, 2009 at 12:02 am
Jen, I say screw the fondant–I made Royal Icing with Chambourd and freshly squeezed lime juice and added 1 drop of red food coloring– mix the confectioner’s sugar with the lime juice and add Chambourd until glossy. Add food coloring and stir til blended. You can either pour or dip–I chose to dip cake in frosting with skewers. Do everything else the same and wait to dry–I went to a movie and dinner–Came back, loaded on a plate–finished decorating next day..try the icing–I think you will like WAY better! :)
September 22nd, 2009 at 10:54 am
Suzi – thanks. If I ever lose my mind and decide to make these again, I’ll consider it :)
March 1st, 2010 at 5:43 pm
First of all i gotta say that i LOVE chiffon cake…i found a good recipe and can’t beleive that i ever used a box to make my cakes……i make some petit fours and covered them with white chocolate..actually it was that vanilla candy chips that you can melt down….and it worked really well because it is way less sweet…..but it sets pretty hard and when you bite into them it can crack and get messy….anyway thanks for the blog post can’t wait to see what you do next
September 24th, 2010 at 7:19 am
[…] Van Dammu in si takrat naredila mentalni zaznamek , da jo moram poskusiti. In ko sem delala tele limonsko-malinaste petit fourje (ki so bili obupno presladki, kljub temu, da sem namesto limet uporabila limone, tako da recepta, […]
December 17th, 2010 at 10:07 am
Waaah this recipe looks really delicious. Especially your cake!!! I cant wait to try this out, they look like they’d make the most adorable gifts.
July 1st, 2012 at 3:42 pm
[…] Petit Fours with Raspberry Jam and Lime Icing: I’ve always heard that petit fours are very difficult to make and tedious, but they’re so GOOD that I think they would totally be worth the work, so I’ll let you know if thought is a dream or not (fingers crossed). Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:LikeBe the first to like this. […]
August 30th, 2012 at 4:18 am
It will be really great if you can record the baking of this receipe and post it on YouTube, there isn’t any good quality videos on making petit fours especially like yours. I think it will be a hit to see your petit fours on there.
September 2nd, 2012 at 9:21 pm
Nora – I’m sure a lot of things would be great ;) I have neither the time nor the desire to get into instructional videos, but thanks for your confidence in my untested skills! xo
September 3rd, 2012 at 3:20 pm
[…] Lime-Raspberry Petits Fours by Use Real Butter […]
December 5th, 2012 at 5:05 am
Hi, should these be kept refrigerated and also how long will they keep?
December 6th, 2012 at 11:34 pm
Michelle – if it isn’t too warm, then they should keep for a day at room temp. If it’s warm, then refrigerate them (covered) and probably no more than 4 days?
March 25th, 2013 at 10:57 pm
Poured fondant is super nasty – I dip my petits fours in tempered white chocolate colored with powdered food dye. Beautiful AND delicious. Stick a skewer in the bottom of each little cake, dip into the chocolate and then use a fork underneath the petit four to pull it off the skewer. Transfer it to a wire rack over a baking sheet by sliding the cake off the fork with the side of the skewer against the bottom edge of the cake.
April 10th, 2013 at 3:17 am
[…] 11; 12; 13 the setting 1; 2; 3; 4; 5 the outfit 1; 2; 3; 4; 5 the menu top 1; 2; 3; 4; bottom 1; 2; 3 the table top 1; 2; 3; 4; bottom 1; 2; 3 Share this:TwitterPinterestFacebookTumblrLike […]
May 10th, 2013 at 11:02 pm
[…] at making petit fours. I came across some beautiful lime-raspberry ones at the following website https://userealbutter.com/2007/09/01/lime-raspberry-petits-fours-recipe/ They were amazing looking and I was completely inspired. Her step by step instructions were […]
December 31st, 2013 at 8:12 pm
Boulderite here!! So excited to come across your Petit Fours recipe. I am hosting a baking challenge in June and would love to use your recipe as an example. I would give you full credit for the recipe with a link back to your website. I will browse your site and I’ve signed up for emails!! Cheers, Cecilia
January 4th, 2014 at 11:56 am
Cecilia – not a problem!
March 19th, 2014 at 2:36 am
I found your recipe through pinterest and I love it. Raspberry-lime combo is perfect. I was actually on the search for proper petit four icing recipe and your comment on the recipe you used made my day.
“Pretty isn’t worth it if it tastes like crap” is something I can completely relate to. Its refreshing you mentioned it or noticed it even, since not many people would actually care. For big majority, pretty comes first and quality last.
January 24th, 2015 at 5:23 pm
[…] at making petit fours. I came across some beautiful lime-raspberry ones at the following website https://userealbutter.com/2007/09/01/lime-raspberry-petits-fours-recipe/ They were amazing looking and I was completely inspired. Her step by step instructions were […]
December 20th, 2016 at 9:46 am
Hello! I tried your fondant icing on some red velvet petit fours that I made recently. I blogged about it and linked/credited you! It was SO good!!!
http://teaandtopknot.com/2016/12/19/favorite-recipes-petit-fours/
May 28th, 2017 at 8:54 pm
About how long does it take to make these start to finish?
May 28th, 2017 at 8:59 pm
M – It depends on how experienced the baker is, but I would give it at least 4-5 hours.