Petit Fours make a delicious, delicate bite-sized cake perfect for your dessert table at a shower or party! Made of cake, a sweet filling, and covered in a poured icing, petit fours steal the show!
Looking for more dessert recipes? I think you’ll love my white cake, chocolate buttercream, and my bakery-style chewy sugar cookies!
Petit fours have always been one of my favorite things to find on a dessert tray at parties, showers, weddings, or other special occasions. They are just the perfectly sized dessert for so many occasions!
Table of Contents
How to Make Easy Petit Fours Recipe
Ingredients
Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full listing of ingredients, instructions, notes, and estimated nutritional information.
For the cake layer, I use my family’s favorite cream cheese pound cake recipe for the cake layer in my petit fours. It is always delicious and makes for a petit four that everyone loves. You’ll need cream cheese, butter, eggs, sugar, flour, salt, and vanilla extract for this cake layer.
For the buttercream filling I use my vanilla buttercream recipe. It makes a fluffy, white, sweet filling for the petit fours that is just amazing. You’ll need butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract, salt, and milk.
For the fruit filling, use your favorite flavor of homemade or store-bought jam. For these, I have used raspberry.
For the frosting, I use my poured fondant frosting recipe. You’ll need confectioners’ sugar, light corn syrup, water, and vanilla extract. For the vanilla extract, if possible use clear extract (you can usually find it online or at craft stores in the bakery section or in bakery supply stores).
You can then decorate your petit fours any way that you’d like with decorations, sprinkles, or with more buttercream frosting.
Step-by-Step Instructions
There are various ways of making petit fours, but, I like to take the simplest route possible!
I bake my cake on a rimmed baking sheet and then use a large serrated bread knife and cut the cake in half vertically so that it is easier to handle. Then, I slice each of those pieces in half horizontally to form layers for the petit fours. I only make two-layer petit fours, but you can easily stack additional layers if you choose.
Once I have my layers cut, I spread the buttercream frosting filling followed by fruit jam on top of one of the layers and then place the other layer on top. Then, I slice the cake for my petit fours.
Once I have all of my petit fours layered and cut, I place a wire rack on top of a rimmed baking sheet and then place the petit fours on top of the wire rack, leaving about an inch or so between each one. This allows the petit four icing to coat the petit four on the top and the sides as you pour it. Then, I decorate the tops with decorations and allow them to dry completely before serving.
Storage Tips
Store prepared petit fours in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, in the refrigerator for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Here’s the recipe for my petit fours. They take time and patience, but are so worth it!
Petit Fours Recipe
Ingredients
For the cake layer
- 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
For the buttercream filling
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 3 cups confectioners' sugar, sift, plus more if needed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- pinch kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons milk, or heavy cream, or half and half, plus more if needed
For the fruit filling
- 1 half-pint jar raspberry preserves or jelly, or your favorite flavor
For the Petit Four Icing (Poured Fondant Icing)
- 3 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 4 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, use clear extract when possible
Optional Toppings
- sprinkles or other decorations
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325º F and prepare 18×26 rimmed baking sheet with nonstick baking spray or greased and floured, being sure to tap out any additional flour.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), beat the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition until well combined. Add the flour, salt, and vanilla and beat until well blended but do not overmix the batter. Pour into the prepared pan and bake. Begin testing for doneness at about 30 minutes. You can follow my tips for how to tell when your cake is done.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for about 5-10 minutes before turning out onto a wired cooling shelf to cool completely. Trim cake edges.
- Cut cake in half vertically to make two equal sized cakes. Using a large bread knife, cut each of the cakes in half horizontally to form layers. Place the top layers to the side and spread either buttercream or fruit spread onto the bottom layer. Carefully place the top layer back on top. Cut into 2-inch pieces and place onto a wire rack ready for adding the petit four icing. Add sprinkles or other decorations and allow to dry completely, about an hour.
Notes
Storage Tips
Store prepared petit fours in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, in the refrigerator for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
Really enjoy the recipes and stories told. Keep up the good recipes! Thank ya!
These little sweet cakes look so delicate and delicious all at the same time! So pretty too! Lovely…
When I click petit four icing recipe, it takes me to a fudge icing recipe, which looks yummy, but certainly not the white icing shown in the petit four pics.
Where is that recipe?
So sorry about that! I think we have it all fixed for you now!
Hi,
I would love to make these for a. party and am wondering how far in advance could I make them? Also, can you freeze these?
Thanks
Marie, you can store petit fours about 2-3 days in an airtight container at room temperature. You can freeze these stored in an airtight freezer-safe container up to 3 months.
Hi Robyn,
My oven will not accommodate the 18×26 pan called for in the recipe. Is it possible to divide the batter into two smaller pans?
Thanks for the earlier response re freezing the petit four. Could I also just freeze the baked product without frosting and frost when removed from the freezer?