Easy Gluten Free Petit Fours
Sweet bite-sized gluten free petit fours are iced yellow almond cakes with a jelly filling and poured icing on top. They only look fancy!
Yield: 45 confections
Ingredients
For the cakes
- 8 ounces gluten free almond paste broken up into small pieces (Solo brand is safely gluten free)
- 16 tablespoons (224 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 (200 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature, beaten
- 2 cups (280 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; please click thru for full info on appropriate blends)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
- ½ cup seedless jam heated slightly to make it spreadable
For the icing
- 1 ½ cups (173 g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon meringue powder
- 2 tablespoons milk plus more as necessary
Instructions
Make the cakes
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Line 2 quarter sheet pans (each 12 inches by 9 inches) with unbleached parchment paper, and set them aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large bowl with a hand mixer, place the almond paste and butter and beat until well-combined and creamy.
- Add the sugar, salt and eggs, beating to combine well after each addition. The batter should be thick.
- Add the flour and xanthan gum, and mix until the dough is smooth.
- Divide into 2 equal parts and spread into an even layer in each prepared pan, using a wet spatula.
- The dough will be sticky.
- Place each pan, one at a time, in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 12 minutes, or until the cake just begins to brown around the edges.
- Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
- Invert one cake onto a large piece of parchment paper on top of a cutting board, and evenly spread the jam on it.
- Invert the second layer carefully on top, taking care not to handle the cakes too much or they’ll begin to crack.
- If the cake cracks, just press it together as the jam will hold it firmly in place.
- Place a sheet of parchment paper on top. If the top cake has cracked at all, invert the entire stack so that the cracked cake is on the bottom.
- Place a heavy book or other flat object on top of both cakes to compress the layers.
- Place the stack of cakes, along with the book perched on top, in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, or until the layers are compressed.
- Remove from the refrigerator, remove the top sheet of paper, and cut the compressed cake into 1 1/2-inch squares with a sharp knife or square cookie cutter.
- Place the square cakes on a wire rack over a parchment-lined sheet pan, and set aside.
Make the icing
- Place the confectioners’ sugar and meringue powder in a medium-sized bowl and whisk to combine.
- Add 2 tablespoons of the milk and mix to combine.
- It should form a thick paste. Add more milk by the quarter-teaspoonful, mixing vigorously until it reaches a very thickly pourable consistency.
- Spoon the icing over the individual cakes.
- For extra fancy petit fours, add a drop or two of gel food coloring to some of the icing, and drizzle over the top of the white icing. Allow to set at room temperature