Petit Fours Class

Petit Fours Class

at Central Market

For Christmas my mother-in-law signed me up for a Petit Fours class at Central Market taught by Laurie Mathers.  I had a great time learning how to make these little darlings!

Stats:

• cream cheese pound cake (which she demonstrated making)
• Swiss Meringue buttercream (which she demonstrated making)
• lemon curd & raspberry jam
• covered in candy coating (a.k.a. almond bark)

This class was very similar to my cake ball class that I took at Whole Foods, but by far better.  It was a full 2.5 hours, had more one-on-one time with the instructor, didn't feel rushed, and came with lunch!  The only down-side was that there were other cooks and assistants in the kitchen preparing meals for other parties at the same time.  It was a little distracting to say the least!

Another problem was not enough tools.  We sat in tables of 4, but only got 2 offset spatulas and 1 large knife, but 4 little steak knives.  I let my fellow decorators have the better tools for more time and did ok with just my butter knife and waiting for a turn. I would have liked to have more time to crumb-coat the sides, but I got them pretty straight to begin with by trimming them.

Having made cake balls really prepared me for dipping these things.  Laurie dislikes pouring the chocolate on the cakes over a rack because then they get stuck to the rack.  She demonstrated making poured fondant, but she likes the candy coating instead because it's easier and tastes better.  She let me dip one of mine in the fondant, and it was a little more difficult.

Yeah ... I was "that girl" in class.  The girl that has worked with royal icing before.  The girl that already knew how to pipe with the different tips.  The girl that knew the difference between Italian and Swiss meringue buttercream (the instructor couldn't remember which was which).  So yeah ... mine were the prettiest :b

I think I like making these more than cake balls ... or at least it's something different for a change.  I've decided to make some of these for my girlfriend's baby shower in March.  They are prettier to decorate.  I don't like candy coating as much as white chocolate though ... I'll probably do a 50/50 mix.