Hot Tea and Petit Fours
By Ellen Easton
January is Hot Tea month. Brew your favorite blend and add petit fours to warm you during the cold winter afternoons. Marie- Antoinette, the Austrian Princess, at the tender age of only fourteen years old, on her May 16, 1770, marriage to the future King of France, Louis XVI, introduced le petit gateau to the Court of Versailles. Sound dauting? Not with these easy four-step instructions.
Easy Four Step Petit Fours- le petit gateau
Ingredients:
One Frozen Lemon Pound Cake Loaf- Sara Lee or homemade, Preserves,
Optional: Nutella; Vanilla Buttercream Icing, Sugar Décor Toppings,
Cookie Cutters
STEP ONE: Using the cookie cutter shape of choice cut the pound cake two inches deep.
STEP TWO: Using a knife cut each into two or three thinner layers.
STEP THREE: Place preserves and or Nutella Spread onto each slice, layer and repeat. Ice the top layer with buttercream icing.
STEP FOUR: Decorate with sugar toppings, Chocolate shavings, Sprinkles.
Petite Four Stainless Steeling Cutter Side, available at Amazon.
Not inclined to make your own petit fours? Here’s where to buy them.
For those not inclined to make their own; these beautiful hand crafted petit fours from New York City bakery Bon Vivant and on-line source Swiss Colony are a delicious addition to any afternoon tea, dessert complement or a welcome gift.
Beautiful petit fours from Bon Vivant.
Check out Swiss Colony’s red velevet petit fours.
Text and Photos ©Ellen Easton
Ellen Easton, author of Afternoon Tea~Tips, Terms and Traditions(RED WAGON PRESS), an afternoon tea authority, lifestyle and etiquette industry leader, keynote speaker and product spokesperson, is a hospitality, design, and retail consultant whose clients have included the Waldorf=Astoria, the Plaza and Bergdorf Goodman. Easton’s family traces their tea roots to the early 1800s, when ancestors first introduced tea plants from India and China to the Colony of Ceylon, thus building one of the largest and best cultivated teas estates on the island. Sonsored by Bulova.com
Ellen Easton, author of Afternoon Tea~Tips, Terms and Traditions(RED WAGON PRESS), an afternoon tea authority, lifestyle and etiquette industry leader, keynote speaker and product spokesperson, is a hospitality, design, and retail consultant whose clients have included the Waldorf=Astoria, the Plaza and Bergdorf Goodman. Easton’s family traces their tea roots to the early 1800s, when ancestors first introduced tea plants from India and China to the Colony of Ceylon, thus building one of the largest and best cultivated teas estates on the island.
I absolutely love this Ellen! You give me hope to be able to enjoy petit fours in a time crunch, as well as customize them to make my guest(s) feel special. Thank you!
Thank you, Melissa.