Marzipan Pumpkin Petits Fours Recipes

MARZIPAN PUMPKINS

Steps:

• Place marzipan on a clean work surface. Cut in half. Add a few drops of orange food coloring to one half; knead with your hands until uniform in color. Add more food coloring as needed to achieve desired color. Shape into 3/4-inch balls. Use a toothpick to make indents in tops of balls for stems and press creases along outer edges from top to bottom for pumpkin ribs.
• Divide remaining marzipan half into two pieces. Add a few drops of brown food coloring to one piece; knead with your hands until uniform in color. Add more food coloring as needed. Roll into small ropes to use as stems.
• Add a few drops of green food coloring to remaining piece of marzipan; knead with your hands until uniform in color. Add more food coloring as needed. Roll out to a 1/8-inch-thick round. Cut out leaves using a small leaf-shaped cutter. Attach stems and leaves to tops of balls, pressing with a toothpick to adhere.

MARZIPAN PUMPKIN PETITS FOURS

Steps:

• Make the cakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat nonstick mini-muffin tins with cooking spray.
• Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Whisk the sugars and eggs in a medium bowl. Whisk in pumpkin and vanilla. Whisk in butter until combined completely. Fold flour mixture into pumpkin mixture until no trace of flour remains (batter may be lumpy).
• Scoop batter into tins, filling cups 1/2 full. Bake until testers inserted in the centers come out clean, 14 to 16 minutes. Transfer to wire racks, and let cool. (Cupcakes can be covered and refrigerated up to 2 days.)
• Make the frosting: Beat cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, spices, and vanilla with a mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• Assemble the pumpkins: Cut tops from 2 cupcakes, and reserve bottoms for another use. Using a small offset spatula, spread 1 teaspoon frosting on the cut side of 1 cupcake top. Sandwich with other cupcake top, creating a round pumpkin shape. Spread 2 teaspoons frosting smoothly on sides of cupcake sandwich, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining cupcakes and frosting. Refrigerate until very firm, at least 3 hours (or overnight).
• Knead together equal amounts fondant and marzipan, adding orange or brown food coloring until desired color is reached. (Reserve some fondant and marzipan to make white pumpkins if desired.) Dust a surface lightly with confectioners' sugar, and roll fondant mixture to 1/4-inch thickness. Using a 4 1/2-inch round cutter, cut out circles.
• Place 1 pumpkin cake in center of 1 fondant circle. Bring sides of circle over cake, smoothing out folds, and press to enclose. Flip pumpkin over, and using a toothpick, make vertical grooves along sides. Poke a hole on top for a stem, and insert a chocolate stick. Repeat with remaining cakes and fondant. Using a clean, dry pastry brush or paintbrush, brush pumpkins with luster and pearl dusts if desired. These pumpkins will keep at room temperature up to 1 day.

JAPANESE GREEN TEA PETITS FOURS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Grease an 11x7 inch pan. Line bottom with parchment paper and grease and flour paper. Sift together the flour, cornstarch and 1 tablespoon green tea. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat eggs, yolks and 6 tablespoons sugar until tripled in volume, about 5 minutes. Fold flour mixture into whipped eggs. In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add 2 tablespoons sugar, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter, then quickly fold in remaining whites until no streaks remain. Spread batter into prepared pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until center of cake springs back when lightly tapped. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, then invert onto a flat surface. Let cool.
• To make the Green Tea Whipped Cream: In a medium bowl, whisk the heavy cream with the 4 teaspoons superfine sugar and 2 teaspoons green tea until stiff peaks form.
• To make the Decorative Green Tea Marzipan: Knead the almond paste with 1 teaspoon green tea. Roll out between 2 sheets of plastic wrap, or lightly dust with confectioners' sugar while rolling.
• When cool, remove parchment paper from bottom of cake. Cut cake horizontally down the middle to make two layers. Spread bottom layer with 1/2 of the whipped cream, then cover with top layer of cake and spread top with remaining whipped cream. Cut assembled cake into 12 pieces using a knife or decorative cutters. Roll out the marzipan and cut into 12 pieces to match the shapes of the cakes. Place the decorative marzipan pieces on top of cakes.

FONDANT GLAZED PETIT FOURS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment whip the egg whites until stiff but not dry. In a mixer fitted with a whip attachment cream the butter until smooth. With the mixer running, slowly add the sugar and mix. Add the vanilla and almond extract and mix well.
• Sift the flour 3 times with the baking powder (this is to lighten the cakes). Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix. Add 1/2 of the milk to the butter mixture and mix. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix. Add the remaining milk and mix. Add the remaining flour and mix until smooth. Fold in the egg whites.
• Pour the batter into a parchment lined jellyroll pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake until firm to the touch 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan then chill.
• To make the fondant: Whisk the corn syrup into the hot water until dissolved, then whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth. Stir in lemon extract. Divide into smaller bowls and color with food coloring, adding color until you achieve desired shade.
• To make the petit fours, cut the cold cake into small squares, rectangles, and circles using small cookie cutters. Place the cakes on a wire rack over a pan to catch the drippings, inverting them in order to have the golden layer on the bottom. If the fondant has become stiff, just whisk until smooth again. If the fondant is has not become to stiff, proceed to the next step. Either dip the cakes into the fondant and place on the rack to drain or ladle the fondant over the cakes, making sure all sides are coated. Once they are set, they should be coated again. Let dry, then with melted chocolate or colored fondant, pipe thin decorative lines or use silver dragees.
• Notes about the recipe: There are many options for these darling little cakes. You can split the cake in half horizontally and spread it with jam, you can spread jam on the top and stick down a thin layer of rolled marzipan or do the simplest plain version like I did here. You can also tint the fondant different pastel colors.

MARZIPAN PUMPKINS

Steps:

• Place almond paste and fondant in a mixing bowl with the dough hook attachment, set on first speed, beat until soft. Gradually add the syrups, then the powdered sugar to form a nice clay-like dough. Add food coloring by kneading it into the paste, by hand, on a board with a little powdered sugar. Shape into a 1-inch diameter log. Cut into 1-inch pieces and roll into a ball. Take a paring knife and gently make the indentations of the pumpkin.

ICED PETITS FOURS

Steps:

• TO MAKE TOPPING, press jam through a fine strainer into a small saucepan; stir in water. Cook, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes or until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly. Brush over top of cake.
• Roll out marzipan thinly between 2 sheets of waxed paper. Remove 1 sheet of waxed paper from marzipan. Invert marzipan on top of cake; peel off waxed paper.
• Trim marzipan edges even with cake. Chill 30 minutes.
• Using a very sharp knife, cut cake into 1-inch squares and chill to firm. Place on a wire rack set over a baking sheet.
• If making round petits fours use a pastry cutter to cut circles of cake. Brush top and sides with topping. Cut circles of marzipan with pastry cutter. Place on top of cake. To coat sides, roll on strip of marzipan.
• TO MAKE ICING, combine corn syrup and 2 Tablespoons water in a bowl or top of a double boiler set over a pan of simmering water. Add powdered sugar and mix well. Add 1 to 2 more Tablespoons of warm water. Warm until mixture is smooth. Tint with food coloring, if desired. Carefully spoon icing over marzipanned cake. Leave to set. Decorate with flowers or fruit or pipe with melted chocolate.
• TO MAKE GENOISE: Preheat oven to 350°F Grease and flour bottom and sides of a 14 inch x 10 inch baking pan. Shake out excess flour.
• Combine eggs and sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Place bowl in a pan of hot water. Beat until mixture is very thick and just warm. Mixture should form a ribbon when beaters are lifted. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Continue beating until mixture is almost cool. Fold flour into egg and sugar mixture. Mix in butter.
• Pour batter into prepared greased pan; level top. Bake in a preheated oven 20-25 minutes or until set on top. Cool pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Run a knife carefully around the edge. Remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. Use within 36 hours or wrap and freeze up to 6 weeks.
• TO MAKE MARZIPAN: Combine ground almonds and sugar in a medium bowl. Add lemon juice, sherry or brandy, and almond extract, if desired.
• Gradually mix in enough egg white to ensure that paste is sticky, but not wet.
• Knead paste until smooth on a pastry board dusted with powdered sugar. Wrap in plastic wrap. Store in refrigerator up to 4 weeks.
• Chocolates & Petits Fours.

PETITS FOURS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10x15 inch jellyroll pan.
• In a large bowl, beat the eggs and egg yolks using an electric mixer. Add sugar, and beat until thick and pale, about 10 minutes. If you have a stand mixer, use the whisk attachment. Sift the flour and baking powder into the egg mixture, and fold in by hand along with the milk. Stir just until the batter is mixed, then fold in the melted butter until smooth. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
• Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. When finished, invert the cake pan onto a sheet of waxed paper, and cool completely. This will give you nice even petits fours.
• Cut the cooled cake into small squares, rectangles or triangles, and arrange the pieces in rows on a wire rack or glazing screen with plenty of space between rows. (See Cook's Notes for flavoring suggestions). Set the rack over a shallow pan or waxed paper to catch the drips.
• Spoon or pour warmed petit four icing over the small cakes. The drippings may be scraped off of the pan or paper, and reheated for use again. Allow the petits fours to set until completely dry. Lift the cakes from the rack with a metal spatula, and trim the bottom edges with a sharp knife. Set into small muffin papers for easy handling. Decorate as desired.

VANILLA PETITS FOURS WITH RASPBERRY FILLING AND MARZIPAN

Steps:

• For genoise:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter pan and line bottom with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on each end. Butter paper.
• Make brown butter: Line a fine-mesh strainer with cheesecloth. Melt 1/2 cup butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat. Watch carefully and do not stir. Eventually, bubbling noise will quiet and solids will drop to bottom of pan. When solids have turned dark brown, remove butter from heat and strain through cheesecloth into a medium bowl. Cool to lukewarm.
• In the metal bowl of standing mixer, whisk together eggs and sugar. Set bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture is quite warm (about 3 minutes). Remove bowl from heat and lock back into mixer base. Using whisk attachment, beat at high speed until mixture has tripled in volume and cooled to room temperature, about 7 to 10 minutes.
• While eggs are being beaten, sift flour and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. Stir vanilla into brown butter and set aside.
• When eggs have tripled in volume, turn off mixer. Sift one third of flour mixture over eggs and fold in gently but thoroughly. Sift and fold in remaining flour mixture, half at a time.
• Stir 1 cup of batter into butter-vanilla mixture. Quickly fold butter mixture into remaining batter until just combined.
• Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake in middle of oven until top is browned and cake shrinks away from sides of pan, about 15 to 20 minutes. Invert onto a rack, peel off parchment paper, and cool. Cake can be made and cooled 1 day ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature.
• For cognac syrup:
• In a small saucepan bring water and sugar to boil over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in cognac. Syrup may be made 1 week ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before using.
• For assembly:
• Stir jam in a small saucepan over moderately low heat until hot and thinned. Pass through a fine-mesh strainer to remove seeds.
• Using a long serrated knife, cut cake into quarters. Cut each quarter horizontally into 2 very thin layers, for a total of 8 layers. Place 1 layer cut-side up on work surface. Brush lightly with syrup.
• Spread with a thin layer of jam. Top with a second layer, cut-side down, and apply syrup and jam in same manner. Add 2 more layers, both cut-side down, in same manner. Repeat to create a separate stack of 4 layers.
• Knead marzipan (before unwrapping) for a few seconds to warm and soften. Unwrap, press into a disk, and dust with confectioner's sugar. Dust a board and rolling pin with confectioner's sugar. Roll out marzipan to an 8- by 20-inch rectangle and cut into 2 8- by 10-inch rectangles.
• Carefully lay 1 rectangle of marzipan over 1 cake stack, smoothing top. Use a paring knife to neatly trim edges of marzipan flush with edges of cake. If sides of cake are not even, trim them as well. Repeat with other marzipan rectangle and other cake stack. Chill cakes 1 hour.
• Using a long serrated knife warmed in hot water and dried, cut cakes into 1 1/2-inch squares. Use a gentle sawing motion to cut through marzipan layer, then press down to cut through cake. During cutting process, frequently wipe knife with a hot, damp cloth and dry thoroughly.
• For decoration:
• Make simple syrup: In a small saucepan bring water and sugar to boil over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and keep warm. Place fondant in a metal bowl and attach a candy thermometer to side of bowl. Set over a pan of barely simmering water and stir gently. Do not let fondant get over 105°F, or it will lose its shine. When fondant starts to warm, stir in simple syrup, 1 tablespoon at a time, until mixture is thin enough to pour easily. Turn off heat, but leave bowl over water.
• Place a petit four on a fork and hold above fondant. Use a large spoon to pour fondant over cake until completely covered. Scrape bottom of fork against rim of bowl to remove excess fondant, then use a second fork to gently slide petit four onto a wire rack.
• Repeat with remaining petits fours. (Stir bowl of fondant regularly to prevent a crust from forming. If fondant begins to thicken during dipping process, rewarm over pan of simmering water, taking care not to overheat.) Cool petits fours 20 minutes.
• While petits fours are drying, prepare royal icing according to package instructions. Transfer half of icing to a medium bowl. Add pink coloring, a very small amount at a time, and mix with a spoon until icing is evenly pink. Tint remaining icing pale green in same manner. Fit one pastry bag with #101 tip and fill with pink icing. Fit other bag with #1 tip and fill with green icing.
• When petits fours are dry, pipe a pink rosebud on each. To make first petal of rosebud: Position #101 tip with wide end touching surface of cake, thin end raised at a 45-degree angle and pointed slightly to the left (about 10 o'clock). Squeeze and pivot the tip (thin end should travel around thick end to about 2 o'clock) to form a fan. Continue squeezing as you raise tip slightly off surface of cake and move it toward you and to the left (ribbon of icing should fold over itself). Stop squeezing and pull away.
• To make second petal of rosebud, start with tip tucked to left of inside edge of first petal, wide end down. Squeeze as you lift tip and move it toward you and to the right (ribbon of icing will curve up and over first petal). When you've covered bottom of first petal, stop squeezing, touch surface of cake, and pull away. Pipe rosebuds on remaining petits fours in same manner.
• Add green sepals and calyx to each bud. To make sepals: Position #1 tip just below rosebud and pipe 3 short lines up onto bottom of bud (1 line in the middle and 1 on either side). Lines should start from same spot just below bud.
• To make calyx: Insert tip into point where sepals converge just below rosebud. Squeeze for a moment, letting icing build up, then pull away 1/8 inch and stop squeezing.
• Once assembled, petits fours can be kept, covered, at room temperature for 2 days. Keep dry - fondant will melt if exposed to moisture. Do not refrigerate.
• *Available at baking supply stores and from New York Cake, 800-942-2539.

PUMPKIN PIE PETIT FOURS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F Grease and line 4 x 4" cake sandwich pans with baking parchment.
• In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and spice.
• In the medium bowl, beat together the oil, eggs, sugar and pumpkin puree until smooth. Add to the dry ingredients and mix together well.
• Divide the mixture between the prepared tins and bake for 15 minutes until firm to the touch and a skewer, when inserted into the center, comes out clean.
• Leave to cool on a wire rack.
• To make the frosting-beat the butter until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla and finally beat in the cream cheese, a little at a time.
• Split the sponges in half. Spread half of the frosting over the bottom half of each cake. Place on the top half and press down firmly. Cut each into 8 wedges and place in the freezer for 1 hour.
• Heat the candy melts in the microwave until melted, adding a little shortening to get a smooth, fluid, dipping consistency.
• Dip the cake wedges into the candy melts and leave on a wire rack to set. Finally, fill the piping bag with the rest of the frosting and decorate the pies. Sprinkle with the non pareils.