There are several reasons why these tiny cakes don't fit the pure definition of petit fours, but putting them together this weekend with a friend was lots of fun, and they're definitely delicious!
For the cake layers, I baked up a couple of loaves of Martha's chocolate pound cake. I used this recipe, decreasing the salt to two teaspoons and omitting the glaze.
Chocolate Pound Cake - recipe link - Martha Stewart
After the loaves had cooled completely, we leveled the tops and sides to form perfect rectangles, then split them horizontally and into small square sandwiches.
We filled half of the cake sandwiches with seedless raspberry jam, warmed just slightly until smooth and spreadable. For the other half we whipped up a mixture of about one cup peanut butter, one-half cup confectioner's sugar, and a splash of milk.
For the chocolate ganache, we heated two cups of heavy whipping cream until just simmering, poured it over 3 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips, let it stand for just a couple of minutes, and whisked it until smooth. We allowed the ganache to cool until it reached a thick, but pourable, consistency, and then dipped the filled cakes, coating completely.
We placed the dipped cakes in the refrigerator to set the ganache, and then melted some white baking chips with a spoonful of shortening, filled some decorator's bags, and piped the mixture onto the chilled cakes in various designs.
Fun, delicious, and a good Valentine's Day treat!
