This year for Valentine's Day, I decorated with an Alice in Wonderland theme. The following is how I made these sweet little petit-fours perfect for tea with the Queen of hearts.
The easiest way to make petit-fours for me is to begin with a simple boxed cake. I used a lemon cake for this recipe, because I wanted the flavor to be something atypical and surprising, which would coincide perfectly with an Alice in Wonderland theme. My cakes are larger than a standard petit-four, and also are more akin to a cake pop.
Bake the cake according to the directions. Allow to cool.
Once the cake is cool enough to handle, empty it into a large bowl.
Crumble the cake.
To make the cake into a cake pop consistency (meaning easily malleable), to your crumbled cake,
add one whole tub of frosting.
To give my cake a bit of extra brightness, I added some extra lemon extract.
Now it's time to get your hands dirty (or you may opt to use gloves like me, lol). Combine the elements altogether with your hands
until you have a pliable, shapeable mixture. Put aside into the refrigerator.
Now, on to the design.
You will need silicone molds.
I liked these because they each had roses as well as hearts, and they seemed pretty detailed. Have them handy.
I made two batches of candy melts.
Using a double boiler, heat candy melts on medium heat
stirring consistently until fully melted.
Add food coloring of choice. I used gel for the black.
You may opt to buy pre-colored candy melts, but I was using what I already had on hand. You will need to add a bit of shortening to the candy to allow for easier flow. Coloring will cause the candy melts to thicken, but the addition of the shortening will alleviate that issue.
Add the melted candy to a piping bag. I used mini ziplock bags, which is another option.
Once I added the colored melts to the bag, I snipped off a teeny bit of the corner,
and carefully piped the black candy melt into the silicone molds.
I piped in hearts, 
and the negative (?) details of the roses.
Once the piping was done, I placed both molds into the freezer. Be sure to leave them in the freezer for at least a half hour or so, or until the candy is completely set and cold.
While those were cooling, I made my second batch of candy melts. For the red, I used a typical liquid red dye. Again, I added shortening for ease of flow.
Add to a piping bag or ziplock, and pipe the red directly over the cooled black candy. Do this very quickly! You do not want the black and red to melt altogether. Place IMMEDIATELY into the freezer.
Allow a half hour in the freezer, or until the candy again is fully set.
While that is setting, take your bowl of cake mixture out of the fridge and allow to soften a bit. Once the candy melts are fully frozen or set, and your cake mixture is warm enough to be again pliable, gently press the cake into the molds over the cooled candy melts.
Again, I put these into the freezer to allow to fully set and cool.
Once set and almost frozen, you will need to release each petit four. Fill a shallow cup with hot tap water.
Carefully submerge each mold into the water until the candy melt is soft enough to release.
I initially was going to leave them as-is,
but I decided I wanted the sides to be red as well. This decision was made in hindsight (meaning you could spread candy melts on the sides of the molds prior to freezing to accomplish this), so I had to improvise. Back to the freezer they went!
I decided to frost each with a crusting buttercream. A crusting buttercream is a very firm frosting that can be used for a smooth finish. I did not want to make one from scratch, so again...I cheated, ☺️.
To make an impromptu crusting buttercream, simply add more confectioner's sugar (and a bit of shortening if needed) to premade frosting. In my case, I used red.
Add enough confectioner's sugar until the frosting is a firmer version. I also added a bit of both the gel and the liquid food coloring to match the candy and compensate for the addition of the white.
Frosted and complete.
If you would like to see these featured in my Alice in Wonderland tablescape, you may view the post here.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Happy Valentine's Day!
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