Page 313 - YC Cooking School

Sweet Treats

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Icing and decorating petits fours

Cut your cake into squares
Allow the cake to cool completely on a wire rack, then trim off the edges, level off the top if
necessary, and slice into squares – about 2.5 cm by 2.5 cm. A serrated knife works best for
this. Save any offcuts to make a yummy bread-and-butter pudding.

Freeze if needed
If you find that your cake squares are too crumbly to work with effectively, place them in the
freezer for 20-30 minutes to firm up.

Prepare your icing in a double boiler
Traditional fondant icing can be made from scratch or bought at most baking stores. It will
need to be warmed over a double boiler before using it to ice the cakes. Remember, when
setting up your double boiler, to use a heatproof bowl fitted on top of a pot of just
simmering water and to make sure that the water doesn’t actually touch the base of the
bowl. Once your fondant has softened, you can add flavourings and food colouring to your
liking. You can also melt chocolate and drizzle it over the cakes as an alternative to the

traditional fondant icing. Do make sure you have everything you need to ice and decorate
your petits fours at your fingertips as fondant dries very quickly.

Coat each square of cake in the icing
Use a fork to hold the cake square over the bowl, and a spoon to drizzle and cover it with

the icing. Tilt the cake square, allowing any excess to fall off and into the bowl, then place
the square carefully onto a wire rack set over a baking tray that you've lined with wax paper
or a silicone mat. Alternatively, place the cake squares onto the wire rack and pour the icing

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