Pink rose and macaron shabby chic petit fours

Did you know Petit four translates in English to Little Oven.....well I didn't until I started typing this post. I always think of Petit fours as the tiny pretty little cakes, but it really means any tiny little treat including a macaron, biscuit or meringue.

So is it kinda weird calling these shabby chic looking treats - little oven? Plus perhaps these sweet little berry flavored cakes are a tad too big too be considered a petit four. But I'm hoping you won't hold that against me. I'm just gonna go with calling them petit four cause it makes me happy.

These are a very simple mini cake covered in a raspberry flavored ganache, filled with a raspberry and white chocolate butter cream and then decorated with butter cream and a mini raspberry macaron.

I didn't make a big fuss about covering them in marzipan and weighting them down to make perfectly even shapes. The sides look a little bit rough - I'm ok with that.

I wanted them to taste like cake.

I love these cakes just the way they are, deliciously simple and effortlessly pretty.

Alright although they are simple there are a lot of different components to them which could make them a little time consuming, so maybe effortlessly is a bit of a stretch. I think the correct word would be achievably pretty.

If you like a little less effort you could omit the butter cream filling and instead use a store bought raspberry preserve. Use a piece of fresh fruit such as a raspberry or strawberry in place of the macaron, and pop a swirl of cream onto the top to secure your fruit instead of piping the flowers. They would taste almost just as good and they would really be effortlessly pretty.

I served these cakes at the Enjo party I had, (you know the party plan for cleaning products) with cheese, fruit and chocolate macarons. 

Mmmm simply delicious.

Pink rose and macaron shabby chic petit fours

Strawberry cake ( recipe from Sweets on a Stick - although you can use a packet mix if you like)
300g (10 1/2 oz)white chocolate
100g (3 1/2 oz) cream
pink food color
raspberry flavor
raspberry butter cream (variation raspberry preserves)
1 cup piping consistency butter cream (colored pink, white, green and lavender) (CLICK HERE for recipe)
pink mini macarons (CLICK HERE for macaron recipe and make them 2cm)
silver cashous
102, 103, 66 and 32 tips, couplers and piping bags
Piping nail and flower lifter
round cutter 5cm (2")
sharp knife

Remove brown crusts from top and sides of cake. Cut out as many round shapes as you can using the round cutter. Spread a couple of teaspoons of raspberry butter cream or raspberry preserves on one round and press another on the top back and place on a wire rack.

*if your cake is high you may just need 1 round cut in half and filled with butter cream.

This recipe for this strawberry cake in the above picture is from Sweets on a Stick

Make the ganache.  Place the chocolate and cream in a microwave safe dish and heat at medium low heat for 2 minutes, leave for 1 minute and then use a whisk to mix until combined. If necessary heat again at medium low for 1 minute bursts until all the chocolate is melted. Add 1/2 tsp raspberry flavor and then a few drops of pink food color and carefully mix in until combined (do not over mix).

Place a plate or tray underneath the wire rack where the filled round cakes are sitting and then pour a couple of teaspoons of mixture over the top of each cake.

Then go back and spoon around the edges until the tops and sides are completely covered with the raspberry ganache. You can reuse the excess ganache that drips onto the plate underneath to cover the cakes.

Allow the ganache to set.

Fill four piping bags with each of the different colors of piping butter cream. Pop the 103 tip on the pink butter cream, the 102 on the white, the 66 on the green and the 32 on the lavender.

Pipe a butter cream rose using the pink butter cream onto the flower nail. Holding the piping bag in one hand and the flower nail in your other hand touch the larger side of the opening to the top of the flower nail holding the tip upright make a small tight cone shape swirl in the center by holding the tip still, applying light pressure to the piping bag and turning the nail around. Once you have turned around once release the pressure and remove the tip. Make the petals by touching the larger side of the opening to the base of the center swirl you have just made and tipping the smaller end of the tip away at around a 45% angle. Apply light pressure to the piping bag, turn the nail a very short distance and the release the pressure to the bag and lift the tip away. Repeat the process to make 5 petals around the center swirl. Then continue on and pipe another layer of 5 petals around the outside. Use the flower lifter to pick the rose up and move it to the top of the ganache covered cake.

OK this picture is not perfect but do you get the idea? 

If not do a you tube search on piping butter cream roses

Make white roses using the same technique explained above and using the flower nail lift onto the cake next to the larger pink flower.

They're not right....must keep on practicing :)

Use the green butter cream to pipe leaves, practice on a piece of parchment paper first by touching the tip to the paper and the slowly lifting away and moving slightly up and down to make the little ruffles, keep applying a little bit of pressure as you pull the tip away to make a pointed tip to the leaf.  Note - If your tip is new you may need to use a thin knife to open up the four pronges in the tip otherwise they might cut through the butter cream too much.(You'll be able to see when you do your practice if you need to do this). Once you are happy with your leaf piping effect pipe 3 leaves onto the cake.

Take the lavender butter cream and pipe 2 ruffled dots onto the top of the cake next to each other by holding the piping bag straight up from the cake and applying a little pressure, releasing the pressure and lifting the tip away from the cake. Place a silver cashous onto one of the dots and a macaron on the other.

Cakes covered with ganache and butter cream can be kept in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge, remove from fridge before serving and allow to come to room temperature and then add the macarons.

The strawberry cake shown in the pictures is from Sweets on a Stick. but instead of crumbling it into cake pops I have baked it in a rectangle tray and used it for these petit fours, of course I did use the left overs to make cake pops.

Sweets on a Stick is available from most online book stores including:

Or here at fishpond (Aus/NZ)