Little almond cakes or petits fours ideal for parties.
I turned to my trusty Cordon Bleu baking book from the late 70s for Perfecting Patisserie this month.
As a child I remember my mum cooking from it, her profiteroles in particular were very popular at dinner parties, as was her hazelnut meringue!
The book is full of patisserie recipes from Gateau Moka to bateaux de miel with plenty more in between.
The book doesn’t include photos for all of the recipes which adds to the mystery a bit – I can imagine myself wondering what on earth some things are supposed to look like!
I plan to try more of the more ambitious recipes soon, as well as the basic pastry and sponge recipes.
As I am currently having intentions towards healthy eating, I decided to make something quite small which wouldn’t put me off track.
The petits fours aux amandes, or almond petit fours, caught my eye as I do like almond biscuits. I halved the quantities in the book to make a smaller batch.
Petits fours are small bite-sized desserts (although it also refers to savoury items sometimes).
Ingredients
You will need the following – quantities are below in the recipe card:
- ground almonds
- egg white
- caster sugar
- vanilla extract
- milk – to glaze
Method
- Sift the ground almonds and caster sugar into a bowl.
- Whisk the egg white in another large bowl using an electric hand whisk, until it has stiff peaks.
- Fold the ground almond and sugar mixture into the egg white, with the vanilla extract.
- Put the mixture in a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe shapes onto a lined baking tray, allowing space between them.
- Bake at 180°C for 13-15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and brush with a mixture of two tablespoons of milk and one tablespoon of sugar. Allow to cool.
Recipe
Almond Petit Fours
Ingredients
- 55 g (½ cups) ground almonds
- 42 g (10½ tsp) caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- 1 egg white
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- A little milk and sugar to glaze
Instructions
- Sift the ground almonds and caster sugar into a bowl.55 g ground almonds, 42 g caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- Whisk the egg white in another large bowl using an electric hand whisk, until it has stiff peaks.1 egg white
- Fold the ground almond and sugar mixture into the egg white, with the vanilla extract.½ tsp vanilla extract
- Put the mixture in a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe shapes onto a lined baking tray, allowing space between them.
- Bake at 180℃ / 350℉ for 13-15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and brush with a mixture of two tablespoons of milk and one tablespoon of sugar. Allow to cool.A little milk and sugar to glaze
Notes
- Makes 10 small biscuits, double the quantities for a larger batch
- Adapted from Baking 2, Cordon Bleu, 1971
- I didn’t add any further decoration to my petit fours but typically they are decorated by adding either almond slices, glace cherries or angelica on the top.
Linking this up with Perfecting Patisserie for January.
Jac -Tinned Tomatoes (@tinnedtoms) says
I’ve never tried these before. I really need to get back into baking again. Stumbled, pinned and yummed 🙂
bakingqueen74 says
These take about five minutes to make so are perfect!
TheVegSpace says
They look so pretty Lucy, and like they would really melt in the mouth. Perfect for a little sweet treat!
bakingqueen74 says
That’s just right, they did just melt away, so easy to bake too 🙂
Helen Costello (@CasaCostello) says
Mmm I could devour anything containing almonds and particularly when they look as lush as these. I wish my intentions to lose weight were stronger but I have to admit I would happily munch my way through most of these! x
bakingqueen74 says
The key here is that these quantities only made about 8-10 so they weren’t too damaging! Hee hee
Andrea @ Made With Pink says
Ooh I remember these!! I haven’t seen them in ages, but remember eating them as a child, and I loved them. Thanks for sharing and bringing back happy memories.
bakingqueen74 says
That’s lovely Andrea, I am glad to hear they bring back memories