RECIPES Pastel Petits Fours
Dainty and sophisticated, these cakes are a real showstopper. And since they’ re made from store-bought pound cake, they’ re surprisingly easy to prepare. You can decorate the tops with sprinkles, coloured sugar, or candy flowers.
Ingredients:
1( 16-ounce) pound cake 9 cups powdered sugar Light corn syrup 1 cup Water 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon almond extract Liquid food colouring
Decorations, such as sprinkles, coloured sugar, and candy flowers
Cut the entire cake into 1-inch-thick
1 slices. Then use 1-inch-wide cookie cutters or a knife to cut round, square, and diamond shapes from each slice. Place the cake pieces on a wire rack set on a waxed paper – lined cookie sheet.
In a large saucepan over medium
2 heat, mix together the powdered sugar, corn syrup, cup water, and vanilla and almond extracts until the mixture is smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let it cool for about 5 minutes. As the icing cools, it may start to stiffen; if so, stir in a spoonful of water to keep the icing smooth and flowing. Divide the icing equally between two or three small bowls. Stir food colouring, a drop at a time, into each bowl until the icing is the desired shade.
3Working with one piece of cake at a time, spoon on the icing to cover it completely, then add sprinkles, coloured sugar, or a candy flower before the icing sets. Let the cakes stand, uncovered, until the icing is dry, about 30 minutes. Store them in an airtight container for up to three days. Makes about 30 cakes. SOURCE: Adapted from“ Pink Princess Tea Parties” by Barbara Beery( Gibbs Smith, $ 14.99).
Tea Sandwiches
Any sandwich can be a tea sandwich, as long as it’ s sliced into neat, nearly bite-size pieces. For extra fanciness, use a cookie cutter to punch out shapes from your sandwich bread.
Though you can use almost any sandwich recipe for a tea sandwich, here are some of our favorites to get you started:
• Spread wheat bread with honey-walnut cream cheese( made by combining 1 package of softened cream cheese with \ cup of chopped walnuts and 2 tablespoons of honey). Top with sliced pears and a second slice of bread.
• Cover white bread with herbed cream cheese, tomato slices and minced black olives.
• Top thin slices of baguette with Nutella and sliced bananas.
• Fill mini pita breads with hummus and slices of cucumber and tomato.
• Sandwich sliced turkey and provolone between two pieces of wheat bread spread with basil pesto
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