Petit Fours and Desserts - Preparation and Display

PREPARING AND DISPLAYING PETIT FOURS IMPORTANT TERMS: Aesthetic – beautiful both in taste and art. Design – an outline, plan or drawing Display - to exhibit Elegant – beautiful in form, color and design characterized by refinement and good taste.  Flawless – no defects of blemishe...

PREPARING AND DISPLAYING PETIT FOURS IMPORTANT TERMS: Aesthetic – beautiful both in taste and art. Design – an outline, plan or drawing Display - to exhibit Elegant – beautiful in form, color and design characterized by refinement and good taste.  Flawless – no defects of blemishes Glace- to coat with a thin syrup cooked to the cracked stage. Pattern – a sample, model or anything cutout or formed into shape. Whip – to beat rapidly to produce expansion due to incorporation of air as applied to cream and egg whites HISTORY OF PETIT FOURS - Petit fours originated in France - When translated, the name means “little oven or small oven” - Petit fours were traditionally made in a smaller oven next to the main oven. - In 18th century the ovens were made of bricks and once the large cakes were baked, small cakes were placed in the oven as they were cooling down. DEFINITION AND TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PETIT FOURS - Are tiny cookies served at the end of a meal and go well with hot coffee or chocolates or other beverage. - Is a small confectionery or savory appetizer - Approximately 1 inch square and about 1.5 to 2 inches high. - Consist of layers of cake and butter cream frosting - Petit four however can refer to any number of small confections or pastries. TYPES OF PETIT FOURS PETIT FOURS SEC Sec means dry  This type of petit four includes a variety of small items like dainty biscuits, baked meringues, macaroons and puff pastries like cream puffs and eclairs. PETIT FOURS GLACÉ Glacé means iced This includes small puff pastries or a variety of tiny cakes which are covered in fondant glaze, caramel, or butter icing. Most of these have sponge or foam types of cakes as base. These are cut into small squares measuring about 1 ½ to 2 inches approximately or into rectangles, triangles and rounds. They are served as one-layered cake with frostings and decors on top. PETIT FOUR SALES Sales means salted savory This includes bite-sized appetizers usually served in cocktails, before a dinner and in buffets. This includes biscuits or toast bread with liver pates, egg, anchovies, bacons ham and sausages DISPLAYING PETIT FOURS PLAN EXPERIMENT EXPLORE GUIDELINES IN PETIT FOURS DISPLAY - Iced petit four can be arranged in small squares, small rectangles, long rectangles, triangles, round, and even diamonds. - Petit four arrange on a platter or tray should be of uniform shape and size. - Follow the shape of the container when arranging petit fours. - Line up petit four on a long narrow plate. Even spacing should be observed as to allow easy packing and full view of each petit fours. - Petit four can be placed on individual paper cups or similar container before arranging them on trays or platters, or they can be arranged as in. - Use a cake pedestal for an elegant, eye- catching arrangement that can create a big impression on the viewer. You can create a pattern, design or composition when arranging petit four secs on a platter since they do not have icings and toppings. You can form a mosaic, a star, a tower, a figure or geometric shape depending on the occasion. PRESENTING DESSERTS - The word dessert comes from the French word desservir which mean “to clear up the table”. - Dessert is a course in a meal consisting of a wide assortment of sweet-based products whether fresh, cooked or processed. - Dessert is taken as the last course of a dinner or a buffet. Without which, the meal is never complete TYPES OF DESSERTS Puddings- is a soft bread variety made of bread softened in milk, with egg and sugar added. Flavorings like crushed pineapple, raisins and nuts may be added to give it a richer flavor. Pies -are types of pastries consisting of high proportion of fat to flour and a little water resulting to a tender and flaky crust. Tarts – are small pies with a single crust and fillings. They come in round and boat shape. Cake – are rich muffin that contain high proportion of fat, sugar and eggs. Cake specialties are elaborate types of cake served for special occasions. Muffins – are small cakes that contain a high proportion of fat, sugar and eggs. They are heavy, tender and come in various flavors. Custards – are tender and thickened mixtures of milk, eggs and sugar molded in flan molders, and may be steamed or baked. Topped with caramelized sugar to give a rich brown color. Creams – are milk product that contain more fat than milk itself TYPES OF CREAMS a)Light cream – that is fluid and used for coffee, tea, and breakfast cereals. b)Medium cream – that is for whipping cream c)Heavy cream – that is thick and viscous and used in fruit salad and cream cakes. Meringues - are egg whites beaten to stiff stage with sugar added gradually. It is dropped on greased cooking sheets using pastry bag and baked to light golden color. Crepes – are very thin pancakes served with fillings like fresh or cooked fruits. Pancakes and waffles – are both pour batter with a 1:1 ratio of flour and liquid. Egg and butter are added for a richer flavor. Waffles, on the other hand, are similar to pancakes but with extra egg and fat for a richer and tender product. Waffles are crispier, drier and more uniformly golden brown than pancakes. Ice cream and sherbets – these are frozen milk products made with cream or milk, sugar, flavoring and stabilizer. Ice cream has 8% milk fat content while sherbet has 3% milk fat content. A similar product to ice cream and sherbet is yogurt. Yogurt is a health food made from whole, low fat, or skimmed milk. Marzipan- this is a confectionery basically made of ground almonds, confectioner’s sugar and water. It resembles a dough and can be rolled into thin sheets to cover cakes and dried fruits. Doughnuts – are made of soft dough leavened with yeast and baking powder and mixed with milk, sugar and shortening. Shortcakes – consist of biscuits dough topped with fruits and nuts folded in whipped cream.