(If you don't know, petit fours are individual pieces of cake draped in their own frosting. They are the original cake pop. Bakerella, I mean that in the most respectful way).
I feel like I know exactly how it went when a Southern woman invented petit fours. I imagine a gentlewoman, much like Scarlett O'Hara, craving chocolate cake one day, but feeling hesitant to eat a slice in front of her gentleman. I imagine she thought if the apple of her eye saw how quickly she wolfed down a piece of chocolate cake, she would no longer be his lady. So, she got creative. She sliced delicate, lady-sized portions of cake, smushed two pieces together with jam and booze, and doused it in frosting. How dainty!
Are you with me? We are popping miniature pieces of cake in our mouth. And it is more delicious than regular cake exactly because: it has frosting on every square inch of it. Amen.
You have extra chocolate cake mix in your pantry after making my Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cupcakes, yes? Put the extra chocolate cake mix to use in these petit fours. They're fantastic for holiday parties. After making the cake, dice it up into bite size pieces. Stir some booze into your favorite jam or marmalade. I used orange marmalade and Grand Marnier:
The moral of the story here is to make sure your gentleman likes the way you look when you wolf down a hunk of chocolate cake. But, if you already married the sap, just make petit fours!
Chocolate Petit Fours {cake mix}
Petit fours made with a cake mix.
Ingredients
- 1 cup chocolate devil's food dry cake mix
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 tablespoon oil
For the filling:
- ¼ cup orange marmalade (or other jam of your choice)
- 2 teaspoons Grand Marnier (orange liquor)
For the frosting:
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- ¼ cup coconut oil (or butter)
- sugar pearls or sprinkles for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350, and spray an 8" square pan with cooking spray very well.
- In a medium bowl, combine the cake mix, egg, water and oil. Beat with an electric mixer for 1 minute.
- Pour into the pan, and bake for 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Let cool completely.
- Once the cake cools completely, slice it into bite-sized squares.
- In a small bowl, melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil (or butter) in the microwave in 15-second intervals, stirring between each. It should only take 2-3 pulses.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the marmalade and Grand Marnier.
- Assemble: press two squares of cake together with jam (see above photo for reference). Let set for a few minutes, then dunk in the melted chocolate mixture, making sure to coat all sides of the cake bite.
- Let the chocolate frosting harden onto the cake bites in the fridge for 30 minutes, but do not store in the fridge longer than that, because cold dries out desserts using cake mix.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 391Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 342mgCarbohydrates: 58gFiber: 2gSugar: 37gProtein: 4g
Laurie {SimplyScratch} says
These are adorable! I love the idea of small pieces of cake draped in their own frosting... it sounds so fancy! Love it!
Erin (@LawStudentsWife) says
This post absolutely gave me the giggles! You have diagnosed the origin of the petit four perfectly!
PS. I"m making giant ones since I'm already old and married. Or just eating an unlady like number of them ;-)
vanillasugarblog says
Oh my gosh. what a great idea!
You know I've never thought of doing these, but when you break it down, it's really not that hard.
I would love to share these on my friday link roundup!!
Christina says
Thanks! Share away :)
SuperCutePetContest says
Since they are petit fours, you get to eat at least four of them right? They look so good I'm not sure I could stop at four!
Trisha says
What is the water measurement? It shows as "? Cup water"...I want to use this recipe this weekend! Looks so easy & delicious!
Ashley says
I would also like to know how much water to use! Thank you in advance!
Christina Lane says
So sorry, Ashley! When I updated my site, some measurements were lost. I fixed it :)
Julie says
Maybe I missed it, but what size cake pan did you use for this? They sound so easy and yet so good!
Christina Lane says
The first step of the recipe says 8" square pan.
Bonnie says
I have a wonderful recipe for petit fours (makes twelve three inch petit fours) that calls for putting the jam (I use raspberry) on top and then (then!) cover it with a thin layer of marzipan and put the chocolate around the other sides. Delicious! But twelve!