I’m obsessed with the upcoming Royal Wedding. As an L.A. girl who studied in London and always dreamed of bumping into some secret royal at the local Tesco and being swept off my feet, this is my chance to finally live my dream! In honor of Meghan and Harry, I decided to whip up some Royal Petit Fours. These tiny layered cakes coated in a poured icing shell are often served at tea and are the perfect single serving treat for any celebration!
Now, I have to admit, I’m a shockingly terrible sweets baker. I can whip up perfect baguettes, crisp and buttery croissants, pitas and pizzas and sourdough loaves but when it come to cakes and cookies, I’m just rubbish! So it was with much trepidation that I undertook this Petit Fours project. The steps were many and the ingredient list was long, but the results were adorable, delicious and totally worth it!
To create these tiny treats, I cobbled together several recipes from the internet starting with fellow Californian, Lindsay of Follow the Ruels’ Lemon Elderflower Cake recipe.
Step 1: The Cake
Lemon zest and juice, eggs, flour, Elderflower liqueur, milk, baking soda and baking powder are combined to create a lovely, lightly flavored cake. If you’re not familiar with Elderflower liqueurs like St. Germain, I highly recommend you acquaint yourself. This floral liqueur makes fantastic summer cocktails and is a great addition to whipped cream, frosting and of course, cake!
The cake batter was spread out on a half sheet tray and baked at 350 for about 20 minutes. The cake came out pale and even which is just what you want for Petit Fours.
Step 2: The Fillings
The fillings were comprised of Elderflower Simple Syrup, Lemon Curd and Vanilla Buttercream. I continued on with Follow the Ruels’ Elderflower Simple Syrup and Lemon Curd and Swiss Buttercream Recipes. These were really easy. The Simple Syrup came together while I made the Lemon Curd. I set both aside to cool and moved on to the Swiss Buttercream.
Whipping up a Swiss Meringue, I indulged in a little fun checking to make sure my meringue was stiff enough to start adding the butter.
Beating in four sticks of butter and a bit of vanilla, the buttercream was complete and delicious!
Step 3: The Icing
For the icing, I turned to Rose Bakes Petit Four Icing.
This simple recipe of powdered sugar, corn syrup, white chocolate almond flavoring and water came together quickly and was really easy to work with. I can’t wait to to try it on cookies!
Step 4: Assembly
For assembly tips, I also turned to Rose Bakes How to Make Perfect Petit Fours. This is an extensive tutorial on the art of Petit Four making from torting (dividing your cakes in half) to toppings.
Layers of cake were drizzled with Elderflower Simple Syrup then coated in Lemon Curd and topped with Swiss Buttercream before being sandwiched together and cut into squares.
The Petit Fours were finished with a coating of icing and a dash of sparkly sprinkles.
While I don’t know if these would quite cut it on the Great British Baking Show, they certainly hit the mark at my house!
To brush up on your own baking skills or acquire some new ones, join The Chopping Block for Piece of Cake Sunday, May 20th and Macaron Workshop Saturday, June 2nd. Or, for some American treats in honor of our very own Princess-to-be, join us for our All American Pie Workshop Saturday, June 9th. If you’ve got a teen who loves to bake, be sure to check out our Five-Day Teen Camp II: Baking and Pastry in August.
