How to Make Petit Fours for Valentine’s Day

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This delicious petit fours recipe is layered with fluffy cake, fresh jam, and a decadent vanilla white chocolate icing. Learn how to make petit fours for Valentine’s Day — a perfect gift for your Valentine or Galentine!

how to make petit fours

I can’t get over how cute these little petit fours are – they make me feel like I’m a little kid playing tea party.

But they pack a delicious punch and are the perfect sweet treat to spread around to all your favorite people.

They’d be perfect for a Valentine’s date idea, too!

This recipe was created by our friends at Goodie2Spoons as a special Valentine treat! There are lots of ways you can put your own spin on these, so check out the recipe below and give it a whirl.

Psst — be sure to sign up for my VIP group, where I’ll send more of my very best recipe and DIY ideas straight to ya!

More Recipes to Love

And if you need a few more sweet treat recipe ideas, I took a moment to round up some of Lovely Indeed’s most popular.

Take a peek below and be sure to pin your favorites so that you can find them again easily.

how to make petit fours

Ingredients for Petit Fours

Petit Fours Cake

  • 1 1/3 cups sugar
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 1/3 cup shortening
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 ½ cup flour
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1/8 cup sour cream

Petit Fours Icing

  • 6 cups powdered sugar
  • ¾ cup water
  • 2 tbsp corn syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup white chocolate chips

Other ingredients

  • Sugar and/or sprinkles for decorating
  • Melted chocolate and food dye for decorating
  • Jar of Fruit Preserves (You can pick your favorite flavors! We really like the raspberry and strawberry jams, with a cream cheese frosting.)
  • Container of Frosting
petit fours recipe

How to Bake Cake for Petit Fours

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a quarter sheet pan with parchment paper, and grease the edges of the pan.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Cream together sugar, butter and shortening with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and the eggs (one at a time) until well incorporated. Add to the dry ingredients, alternating between dry ingredients and heavy cream, and beat on medium speed until all ingredients are mixed together. Fold in the sour cream.
  3. Pour the batter onto the greased, parchment lined quarter sheet pan. Spread evenly with a spatula and tap the pan on the counter to remove any air bubbles. Bake at 325°F for 20 minutes – until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Layering Petit Fours

  1. When the cake has cooled completely, flip the cake out of the pan onto a piece of parchment paper and cut into thirds. Gently and carefully torte each third of cake in half through the middle, so you have two even layers. (Note: We cut into thirds to make the pieces of cake easier to handle. But if you are a pro, you can skip this step!) Here’s how to torte a cake!
  2. On one side of the cut cake, evenly spread a thin layer of the (store bought) frosting. On the other half, spread jam in a thin even layer. (Note: Although it is tempting to put lots of frosting and jam on the cake, from experience we recommend a thin layer to make cutting the small petit fours easier 😉 .) Carefully flip the 2 sides together to make a sandwich with jam and frosting in the middle.
  3. Cut into 1” squares with a serrated knife. Use a butter knife to scrape excess jam and frosting from the edges of the squares. Place the 1” cakes on a plate and put them into the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
petit fours recipe

How to Ice and Decorate Petit Fours

While the petit fours are setting in the freezer, make the icing:

  1. Using a double boiler, combine the powdered sugar, water, corn syrup and vanilla extract. Whisk together until you get a smooth consistency then add the white chocolate chips. Continue to stir until the chips are melted and the icing is a smooth, pourable consistency. Keep the icing on low heat to maintain this consistency. If the icing starts to thicken, add a small amount of water (1 tbsp at a time), whisking until the icing is thin enough to pour.
  2. After 30 minutes, remove the petit fours from the freezer. Place the petit fours on a fork (one at a time), and use a spoon to pour the icing over the cake – covering all sides. Gently tap the fork on the side of the bowl of the double boiler to remove extra icing. Using a toothpick, gently slide the icing-covered petit fours onto a tray lined with wax paper.
  3. Decorate with sugar, sprinkles and white chocolate! The icing hardens quickly, so if you’re adding sprinkles or jimmies, do so immediately! Also, decorating was more fun – and a lot faster! – with a buddy helping.

Filling Substitution Ideas

I love the jam in the middle, but you could fill them with just about anything you like!

Just a few ideas to get you thinking:

  • lemon curd
  • buttercream
  • ganache
  • Nutella
  • custard

Or choose your favorite filling! You can create your own take on these pretty petit fours, or customize them for the recipient according to their favorite flavors.

And the best part is decorating the tops. Invite your pals over and have a decorating party to put all these together.

How to Gift Petit Fours

I love gifting these pretty petit fours in a long bakery box with a window, so that the recipient can see them inside!

These boxes work perfectly.

More Valentine Ideas

These pretty petit fours make adorable Valentine’s Day gifts, and here are some more projects that go perfectly with them!

And if you try and love our petit fours, be sure to rate the recipe below! xoxo

petit fours recipe
how to make petit fours

How to Make Petit Fours

Yield: 24 Servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Additional Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes

This delicious petit fours recipe is layered with fluffy cake, fresh jam, and a decadent vanilla white chocolate icing. Learn how to make petit fours for Valentine's Day -- a perfect gift for your Valentine or Galentine!

Ingredients

  • 1 1/3 cups sugar
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 1/3 cup shortening
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 ½ cup flour
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1/8 cup sour cream
  • Petit Fours Icing
  • 6 cups powdered sugar
  • ¾ cup water
  • 2 tbsp corn syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup white chocolate chips
  • Sugar and/or sprinkles for decorating
  • Melted chocolate and food dye for decorating
  • Jar of Fruit Preserves
  • Container of Frosting

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a quarter sheet pan with parchment paper, and grease the edges of the pan.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Cream together sugar, butter and shortening with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and the eggs (one at a time) until well incorporated. Add to the dry ingredients, alternating between dry ingredients and heavy cream, and beat on medium speed until all ingredients are mixed together. Fold in the sour cream.
  3. Pour the batter onto the greased, parchment lined quarter sheet pan. Spread evenly with a spatula and tap the pan on the counter to remove any air bubbles. Bake at 325°F for 20 minutes – until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
  4. When the cake has cooled completely, flip the cake out of the pan onto a piece of parchment paper and cut into thirds. Gently and carefully torte each third of cake in half through the middle, so you have two even layers. (Note: We cut into thirds to make the pieces of cake easier to handle. But if you are a pro, you can skip this step!) Here's how to torte a cake!
  5. On one side of the cut cake, evenly spread a thin layer of the (store bought) frosting. On the other half, spread jam in a thin even layer. (Note: Although it is tempting to put lots of frosting and jam on the cake, from experience we recommend a thin layer to make cutting the small petit fours easier 😉 .) Carefully flip the 2 sides together to make a sandwich with jam and frosting in the middle.
  6. Cut into 1” squares with a serrated knife. Use a butter knife to scrape excess jam and frosting from the edges of the squares. Place the 1” cakes on a plate and put them into the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
  7. Using a double boiler, combine the powdered sugar, water, corn syrup and vanilla extract. Whisk together until you get a smooth consistency then add the white chocolate chips. Continue to stir until the chips are melted and the icing is a smooth, pourable consistency. Keep the icing on low heat to maintain this consistency. If the icing starts to thicken, add a small amount of water (1 tbsp at a time), whisking until the icing is thin enough to pour.
  8. After 30 minutes, remove the petit fours from the freezer. Place the petit fours on a fork (one at a time), and use a spoon to pour the icing over the cake – covering all sides. Gently tap the fork on the side of the bowl of the double boiler to remove extra icing. Using a toothpick, gently slide the icing-covered petit fours onto a tray lined with wax paper.
  9. Decorate with sugar, sprinkles and white chocolate! The icing hardens quickly, so if you’re adding sprinkles or jimmies, do so immediately! Also, decorating was more fun – and a lot faster! – with a buddy helping.

Notes

I love the jam in the middle, but you could fill them with just about anything you like!

Just a few ideas to get you thinking:

  1. lemon curd
  2. buttercream
  3. ganache
  4. Nutella
  5. custard

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10 Comments

  1. Petit fours always make me think of Samantha the American girl doll for some reason!! I was always so charmed by her victorian life. I will have to give these a try 🙂

    1. I LOVE that these sweet treats make you think of Samantha. ☺️ I hope you try these, because they are ah-mazing! xo

  2. Onto the parchment-lined, oiled quarter sheet pan, pour the batter. Use a spatula to spread evenly, then tap drift hunters the pan on the counter to get rid of any air bubbles. Until a toothpick placed in the middle of the cake comes out clean, bake the cake at 325°F for 20 minutes.

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