Sunday 8 September 2013

Petit Fours #GBBO Week 3 Desserts

Ok, before I begin you may want to grab yourself a cuppa and a slice of cake, this post is quite a lengthy one!

On seeing the bakers' challenge this week on The Great British Bake Off I couldn't have been happier, desserts. My excitement then turned to despair when I saw that the first bake was trifle, knowing that I was going to blog for The Great British Bake Off Bake Along  I panicked, I've not eaten a trifle in about 20 years, don't like them and can't remember what they taste like. Oh dear! Then came the floating cakes, cue more panic, how could I make these when I didn't even know what they were!
Finally, petit fours, my favourite kind of dessert and whilst I looked forward to the challenge I knew it wouldn't be an easy one. 
Multi-tasking was the key to getting these made but with back to school and all the chaos that goes with it I had a feeling it wasn't going to be easy. It was a labour of love but a triumphant one.

Introducing, my petit fours



All of the recipes make an abundance of petit fours!

mummy mishaps

Lemon shortbread biscuits with chantilly cream and raspberry sauce.
Ingredients
250g Plain flour
175g Butter
Zest of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon lemon juice
300ml Double cream
100g Icing sugar
300g Raspberries

Method
Combine the flour and butter until they resemble breadcrumbs
Add the lemon zest and lemon juice and mix until it all forms a dough, knead until shiny.
Wrap in cling film and leave to chill for 40 mins.
Remove from the fridge and weigh small 10g balls of dough.
Shape the dough into rounds and place on a baking tray. Bake for 14-16 mins.
 

 In a bowl, combine the double cream and icing sugar until the mixture holds its shape.
Blitz the raspberries and icing sugar together in a blender until they form a sauce.
Pipe some cream on top of the biscuits and drizzle with the raspberry sauce.
Finish with a fresh raspberry



Chocolate cake with chocolate and mint buttercream and white chocolate drizzle
Ingredients
100g butter
260g caster sugar 
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
170g plain flour
150ml whole milk
300g Icing sugar
125g Butter
3 Mint leaves

Method 
Cake
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
Add the eggs one at a time scraping any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl.
Beat into the mixture the vanilla extract, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder.
Add just half of the flour and fold in with a metal spoon
Add the milk, mix it in then fold in the remaining flour.
Bake for about 30 mins or until cooked through.
Buttercream
Combine the icing sugar, coca powder and butter until smooth.
Chop up 3 mint leaves very finely and incorporate into the buttercream, mixing well.
Cut 3 pieces of cake each measuring 3cm x 4cm, then cut each piece of cake in half horizontally through the middle.
Spread an even later of buttercream on the cut side of each piece of cake then sandwich back together
Melt the white chocolate then drizzle some across the top of each cake
Pipe a small round of buttercream on the top and finish with a couple of mint leaves.
 





Carrot cake bites with crushed walnuts
Ingredients
300g Light brown sugar
3 Eggs
300ml Sunflower oil
300g Plain flour
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1 Teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 Teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon ground ginger
300g Grated carrots
100g Chopped, shelled walnuts
300g Icing sugar
50g Unsalted butter
125g Cream cheese

Cake
Beat together the sugar, eggs and oil until well mixed.
Slowly add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger then once all ingredients are added continue to beat until well mixed.
Stir in the grated carrots and walnuts until evenly distributed.
Pour the mixture into a prepared tin and bake for 30 mins or until golden brown.
When the cake is cool, cut 3cm x 4cm rectangles for the petit fours.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Beat the icing sugar and butter together until well mixed.
Add the cream cheese in one go and beat until completely incorporated. Continue to mix until light and fluffy(about 5 minutes)
Cut the rectangles of carrot cake in half horizontally and spread evenly with the cream cheese.
Sandwich back together and pipe a round onto the top of the cake and finish with some chopped walnuts.

As promised a long post, a lengthy process but they were definitely worth it!

You can check out some other fab GBBO Bake Along makes and bakes at Mummymishaps and The Crazy Kitchen




4 comments:

  1. wow, you have been busy! that lot would feed a small army, they look great!
    thanks for joining in.

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  2. ooooh these look very pretty and sound very tasty. you have put a lot of effort in and it shows too. well done because making cakes on a small scale is not easy - i prefer making larger ones myself
    thanks for linking up x

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  3. Wow, they look amazing. I'm usually a chocolate fan, but the shortbread looks great and I've never actually made any x

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    Replies
    1. Definitely have a go at the shortbread. It's super quick and easy to make and if you have a food processor you can just pop all the ingredients in and make the dough in less than 2 minutes xx

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