Because I have had about 25 or so people PM me asking for these instructions I decided to go ahead and post them for everyone to see. I hope I am putting this in the right place.
When I decided to try to make petit fours I started looking all over the web for some instructions. I didn't find any that I completely liked so my method became kind of a hodge podge of a bunch of different methods.
I use a standard cake recipe, Which would normally make 2 8 inch rounds. I cook it in a 12x17 jelly roll pan, about 325 for 25-30 miinutes.
Once the cake is cooled completely I level it and trim the edges off, so I will have nice square pieces. Then I cut the cake in half and torte each half. I fill each half. Once filled I spread a thin, smooth layer of buttercream on each cake and then put them in the freezer for a few hours. The buttercream helps togive a nice flat finish to the top of your petit fours. Freezing helps the poured fondant to set up faster and better.
Once frozen I cut them into one inch sqaures and place them back in the freezer until ready to cover them in poured fondant.
Then I take out about 12 at a time, place them on a cooling rack, and cover them in quick pour fondant ( I use the Wilton recipe).
I have tried a number of ways to do this however the only way that turned out to be succesful was to put the icing into a squirt bottle, like those used for ketchup or honey, and quickly cover each petit four starting at the top and working around the sides, making sure not to leave any holes. I can do about 12 at a time with the size bottle I use. If you set the cooling rack over a large cookie sheet you can just scrape the extra icing drippings off the cookie sheet and back in the pan. After each bottle you will need to reheat the icing before refilling the bottle. The trick is to get the right consistency in your icing. If it is too thin it just runs off the cakes, too thick and you get too clumpy of a coat. I found that heating it just a little thinner, about 110 -120 degrees, than desired worked, because it would cool slightly by the time I got it transfered into the bottle.
The freezing of the cakes helps the icing set much faster than normal. Once the icing is completely set you can transfer them off of the cooling rack and and decorate them any way you like. I use royal icing for my decorations. When your decorations have dried you can then place each petit four into a paper candy or mini muffin cup.
Here's the quick pour fondant recipe:
6C confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2C water
2T white corn syrup
1 tsp. almond extract
coloring ( optional)
Combine water and corn syrup. Add to sugar in a saucepan and stir over low heat unitl well-mixed, thin enough to be poured, but thick enough so that it will not run off the cake. Stir in extract and coloring.
For chocolate poured fondant add 3 oz. melted chocolate before adding extract.
I attached a few pics of petit fours I have made using this technique. I hope this is helpful for someone!
Roxanne
Thank you for the very detailed instructions.
I do have one question though. When you bake in a 12x17 jelly roll pan, about how tall does your cake come out? I only have a 12x18x2 cake pan and was hoping to make this work, but want to make sure I will have the correct height.
thx
Leily
Thank you for the very detailed instructions.
I do have one question though. When you bake in a 12x17 jelly roll pan, about how tall does your cake come out? I only have a 12x18x2 cake pan and was hoping to make this work, but want to make sure I will have the correct height.
thx
Leily
That should be fine. The cakes are about an inch tall in the jelly roll pans. they fill the pans to the top. Your batter just will not fill the pan and your cake should end up about half way up the pan when baked. I think I have actually used a 12x 18 pan before as well.
Those are very beautiful petite fours! I bet it took a long time to make them.
Those are very beautiful petite fours! I bet it took a long time to make them.
Yes, they are very time consuming, but they are so worth it. They are just teh best thing ever to bite into, like a bite size little cake. And my cutomers love them! Plus, even thought the materials cost very little, I can get a good chunck of change for these guys. $27 per dozen! I know there is hours of work that are being paid for, but it still seems like more profit to me than a cake.
$27 per dozen!
Hmmmmmmm... I think I might have to give these little guys a try!! 
Thank you so much for your Petit Four recipe you sent the other day. It really helped in my petit four making. I'm attaching a pic of 2 batchs that I did. One batch I made a homemade pound cake, froze it, trimmed it and added filling, froze again overnight. Then I used the poured fondant recipe you sent. I adjusted the thickness a little thinner and KAZAM! these look halfway edible. The other batch is a chocolate cake (had some batter left over after making a cake) DH with pudding mix that I made. Never again. You can see that the cake crumbled alot. It never really froze in the freezer like the pound cake did. My DH said the pound cake is so moist, it is his favorite of the two. Next I will try adding some chocolate pieces and make a chocolate glaze. I tried my hand at mmf in making some flowers for the toppers. Just another experiment. Will go there another time. Again, thanks Roxanne for sharing your talents. Pam from Bama
Thank you so much for the recipe. Your Petit Fours are beautiful. I have two questions for you. Do I have to use Almond Extract in the poured fondant or can I use other flavors? And is there any way to ship these? I live in Alaska and have been asked to make some for a family reunion in the lower 48.
That was wonderful of you to post these instructions, and your petit fours look great!. 
My question is you actually tort the 2" high cakes, or just stack one half on top of the other. (It is early in the morning and my brain is not awake yet! LOL!!) 
Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful recipe. Your little cakes are gorgeous! I have always found them MEGA intimidating! But I'm going to save your recipe(the very first time I've ever saved a petit-four recipe in my life) for future reference. 
I had someone tell me yesterday they are going to marry within the year and will be needing me to make some..yikes! They obviously have not seen some of my cake ball attempts. 
Yes you can use other flavorings besides almond extract, however almond is the traditional petit four flavor, so people may expect it.
I do torte the 2 inch cakes. I cut the cakes in half first so they are easier to handle when torting. You could cut them down to quarters if it makes it even easier for you.
Also I have been expermenting at my house with petit fours and bought some really inexpensive petit four cutters. They make a really pretty presentation. I also recently decided to try to cover them in MMF. They turned out really cute, but very time consuming. However a lot less clean up than the poured fondant. Heres a pic of how they turned out.
BTW-
You can ship these pretty successfully. I have shipped them once. I placed each in a candy cup or mini muffin liner. Pack very tightly into a canister or air tight container, I used a disposable tupperware that you get in the suppermarket. Fill in any empty areas with bubble wrap so that the petit fours don't shift at all when shaken. Place 1 or 2 layers of bubble wrap on top of petit fours and place lid on careful not to pack too tightly or you will damage the decorations on top of the petit fours. Just make sure that the petit fours are not going to move around much when shaken. The ones I sent made it without any damage. Good Luck!
Thank you for sharing! My friend and I were planning on trying to make some next week, but did not know where to start. Now we do!! Thanks again!
Thanks so much! I can't wait to try these. A friend of mine and I are planning to have a "petit four day" when school is out. We will definitely give these a try.
Susan
Here is a personnal Thank You, from me. I have done these but yours turns out much better than mine. I will have to keep this in my files.
Thank you very much for posting your way of doing these ... I've always had trouble with the dipping method so will try this next time - mother's day is coming!!!
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