CHOCOLATE PETIT FOURS ICING RECIPE RECIPES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and spray a 9''x9'' cake pan with non-stick cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, combine the whites only of 4 eggs (reserve 2 of the yolks for later). Try to avoid any 'goldfish' (little bits of yolk in the egg whites). If you do get goldfish, it's okay for this recipe, just realize that you won't get peaks when you beat it.
• Add the 1/4 t cream of tartar and 1/4 t salt to the egg whites. Beat until foamy.
• Add the 1/3 c Splenda/sugar to the egg white mixture and beat until stiff peaks form (or until foamy and well-mixed if you had goldfish).
• Beat in egg yolks and vanilla.
• In a small bowl, mix together the 1/4 c flour and 1/4 c cocoa.
• Lightly fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture.
• Pour batter into prepared cake pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until cake springs back lightly to touch.
• Once the cake is finished baking, turn out onto parchment lined baking rack to cool.
• When the cake is cool, slice into two layers using a long, sharp knife with a serrated blade.
• To make the simple syrup: combine the 1/2 c water and 1/2 c Splenda/sugar in a small saucepan and heat until sugar is dissolved.
• Using a pastry brush, coat both sides of the two cake layers with the simple syrup mixture.
• To make the frosting: cream the 3 T unsalted butter with 1/4 t vanilla. Add the 1 1/2 c powdered sugar and 1/4 c cocoa and blend gently to avoid the powders flying everywhere. CAREFULLY add just enough water to get a thick frosting (caution on this because if you add way too much you'll need to start over with the frosting, it only takes just a little water).
• Spread the frosting over one layer of the cake. Top this layer with the other layer and then frost the top of your layered cake.
• Using your sharp serrated knife again, cut the cake into 36 pieces (5 equal cuts in both directions). To make the pieces perfectly the same size you can measure and insert toothpicks as markers before you cut.
• To make the glaze: In a double boiler, melt the 16 oz bittersweet chocolate, the 1 c unsalted butter, and the 2 T light corn syrup. Stir often until well-blended.
• Set a baking rack over a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Set the layered cake pieces on the backing rack with spaces between each piece to let the chocolate flow over their sides.
• Pour the glaze over the cake pieces, taking care to cover the sides. The excess glaze will pool on the cookie sheet and may be reheated and reused. **For less waste, you can half the amount of glaze and coat in two phases, or have another recipe ready to use the excess glaze in.**.
• Allow the glaze to cool. I relocate the baking rack to the freezer to speed up the process once the pieces are slightly cooled.
• For the white hearts decoration: melt the white chocolate chips in a clean double boiler. Once the petit fours are well-hardened, use a clean paintbrush to paint the white chocolate hearts (or whatever decoration you'd like) on the tops. You may need to go over them more than once to get a nice white color without mixing with the dark brown glaze.

Steps:

• In a saucepan, stir together the white sugar, cream of tartar and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook without stirring until the temperature is between 223 and 234 degrees F (106 to 112 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dripped from a spoon can spin a long thread.
• When the syrup comes to the proper temperature, remove from heat, and stir in confectioners' sugar about 1/2 cup at a time until the icing is thick enough to coat a metal spoon. (You may use a food processor for this step.) Test by pouring over a small piece of cake. Adjust the amount of confectioners' sugar as needed to get a good pouring consistency.
• Use while warm, or reheat over simmering water. Keep covered with plastic wrap when not in use to prevent a crust from forming on the top.
• To decorate cakes: place sliced petits fours on a cooling rack set over a jelly roll pan. Pour the frosting over the cakes, moving slowly down each row and back again, letting the icing spread over the cakes and drip down through the rack. You can re-use icing by reheating it.
• When the frosting has set and the cakes are dry, lift them from the rack with a spatula and trim the bottom edges with a sharp knife. Decorate as desired.