INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

The day before, bake a pound cake in an 11x18 jelly roll pan lined with
parchment paper. Refrigerate. Heat and strain the apricot jam. Set aside.
Combine equal parts of sugar and water and dissolve over low heat and then
cool. Set aside. Remove cake from refrigerator and from pan to counter top
or baking surface. Brush 1/2 of the cake with the apricot jam. Now you have
a cake that is 1/2 glazed and 1/2 unglazed. Use various shaped high sided
cookie cutters. Insert the cutter on the unglazed side but do not remove
cake from cutter. Go to the glazed side and use the same cutter again. Push
the cake through the cutter and place on rack. Now you have a 2 layer petit
four. Continue cutting the cake in this way until the it is used up. The
remaining pieces of cake can be used for trifle or some other dessert.
Fondant can be made but requires a lot of strength and the patience of Job.
It is much easier to buy it. Put a large amount in the top of a double
boiler over boiling water and then lower the heat a bit. If the fondant
becomes too hot it loses the shine. Work fondant with a wooden spoon until
it is loose. If it needs to be thinned use a very little, 1-4 drops of the
sugar water. Remove from heat (if it starts to thicken too much it can be
returned to heat) Fondant must be flavoured at this point and it must be
used in minute quantitiy - 1-3 drops. Mix well. If colouring the fondant
use only a liquid paste in very small quantity - 1 drop. Petit fours are
always pastel shades, with contrasting coloured icing. Mix well. Cakes
should be placed either on a rack with paper underneath to catch the drips
or on the tines of a fork. A fork with wide tines makes life easier. Do not
pierce cake. Pour fondant over each and make sure that all sides are
covered. Tap the fork handle just behind the tines. Use a sharp knife to
slide them off onto a draining rack. If using a a rack, space far enough
apart so that they can be evenly coated. Either way, let them dry
completely. Keep fondant warm over the water, stirring all the time. If it
is still thick use 1 drop of sugar/water at a time and mix well before
adding another drop, if necessary. When icing is completely dry remove cake
from tray by slipping a knife under it. Remove to a table or flat surface,
and trim off the edges with a sharp knife. Decorate with icing dots,
squares, stripes, lines, bows, letters, whatever. These cakes will keep
fresh for weeks. Many bakery supply stores have it in large quantities
(pails of 20 kilos) but they usually know where you can buy it in smaller
batches. Or ask at a cooking school. The professional baker I learned this
from says it is the only way to go.
You could also make watercress sandwiches or cucumber sandwiches. The bread
can be white or brown and cut very thinly as are the cucumbers. Posted to
bakery-shoppe digest V1 Number 015 by Patricia_M._Spicer@magic.ca (Patricia
M. Spicer) on Apr 8, 1997

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