Chocolate Pomegranate Petit Four

I've always been a big fan of "bite sized" desserts.

Well before specialty cupcake shops started popping up in every neighborhood displaying their "mini" cupcakes ... I can proudly say that I had been making them before their rise in popularity!

With that said I have decided to "retire" from baking mini cupcakes and master other bite sized treats. This weekend I decided to take on Petit Fours (French word for "small oven")! They are not as complex as their French name sounds, but come prepared with patience and a few hours to spend on these tasty little treats!

Trust me when I tell you that MANY recipes were considered before I found this particular recipe. I would like to thank A Spicy Perspective as this was their recipe! Well minus the cake part... I cheated again and used a gluten free chocolate cake mix. The cake mix was helpful for me as I needed a GF option and I was trying to save time. {I was baking for these for a baby shower and knew that I wouldn't have time to make a gluten free cake from scratch - plus this particular box mix is super tasty!}

First things first - bake the cake! Since I used a cake mix, it was easy to quickly mix the ingredients and throw it in the oven for 22 minutes {Disregard the time suggestion on the box - if you use a 13 by 9 rectangular baking pan, 22 minutes is more than enough} Also make sure to line the cake pan with parchment paper for easy removal :)

As the cake is baking, prepare the POMEGRANATE WHIPPED CREAM. Mix together GF flour and pomegranate juice in a medium saucepan on medium heat until a paste is formed. Once the paste is formed, place the saucepan in the fridge to cool. The paste should look similar to the picture below. 

{ Pomegranate Juice and Flour Paste}

After the paste has cooled in the fridge for about 10 minutes, scrape into mixing bowl with the creamed butter and sugar and beat until well mixed.

{Pomegranate Whipped Cream}

Remove cake batter from freezer and spread the Pomegranate Whipped Cream evenly over the cake, return back to freezer.

{Adding the Pomegranate Whip to the cake}

As the first two layers are setting up in the freezer, get the Chocolate Whipped Cream together. Mix milk, cocoa, and gf flour together in a saucepan on medium heat until the paste is formed. Place chocolate paste into fridge to cool for 10 minutes. Then scrape it into 2nd batch of butter cream mixture (please note that the measurements between the pomegranate butter cream is different than the chocolate butter cream). Beat until the chocolate paste is blended.

{Whipped Chocolate Cream}

 Spread over Pomegranate layer and place back into the freezer until all three layers are COMPLETELY frozen.

 {All three layers will take about 2 hours to completely freeze}

Once all three layers are frozen. Trim the outer edges and cut into 1 inch squares. Please back into freezer

{My perfect little squares.}

Prepare Pomegranate Fondant. If you have not made Poured Fondant before, please watch this VIDEO. "A Spicy Perspective" suggested it on their webpage and it was very helpful for me!

{Pomegranate Fondant}

Now it's time to "Dip and Decorate"!!

I used a small marshmallow like skewer to dip the Petit Four pieces in the Fondant. Then I placed it on a wired cooling rack to set. After all of the Petit Fours were "dipped and decorated" I transferred them onto paper cupcake holders and then to a serving platter. In my case I placed it back into the freezer until it was time to head out to the baby shower that I made them for. 

{All ready to take to the baby shower!}

{Yay, all my hard work and patience paid off, this looks great!}

CHOCOLATE POMEGRANATE PETIT FOUR

Ingredients:

- 1 Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix 

For the Pomegranate Whipped Cream:

- 2 sticks of unsalted butter, soften

- 1 cup of sugar

- 1 cup of pomegranate juice

- 1/4 cup of gf flour (I used GF All Purpose)

For the Chocolate Whipped Cream:

- 1 stick of unsalted butter, soften

-1/2 cup of sugar

-1/2 cup of milk

- 2 tablespoons of gf flour 

-1 tablespoon of cocoa powder

- teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 1/4 cup of dark chocolate, melted and at room temp.

For the Pomegranate Poured Fondant:

- 1 cup of plain shortening (I used vegetable)

- 6-8 cups of powdered sugar (I ended up using 8 cups total)

- 1 cup of pomegranate juice.

Directions: {Copied from original recipe - why change something that isn't broken?!}

1. For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a 9X13 pan with parchment paper and thoroughly grease the sides. Sift (or whisk) all dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Beat together the eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients, and whisk for two minutes. Once well combined pour in the hot water and mix well. Pour into the cake pan and tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any large bubbles.
3. Bake for 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
4. Allow the cakes to cool for 15 minutes, then flip out on a plastic board. Remove the parchment paper. If the cake looks even, place in the freezer. If the top is rounded, Carefully flip the cake over (using another cookie sheet) and trim the top with a serrated knife, then freeze.
5. For the Whipped Pomegranate Cream: Add the Pom Juice and flour to a small sauce pan. Whisk until there are no lumps. Then heat over medium, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. Whisk and cook a few more minutes until it thickens into a paste. Remove from heat and place pan in the fridge to cool. Beat the butter and sugar in a clean mixing bowl, for 5-7 minutes, until fluffy and glossy.
6. Once cooled, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until light and fluffy 5 minutes.
7. Spread the pomegranate cream evenly over the cake and return to the freezer.
8. For the Whipped Chocolate Cream: Add the milk, flour, and cocoa powder to a small sauce pan. Whisk until there are no lumps. Then heat over medium, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. Whisk and cook a few more minutes until it thickens into a paste. Remove from heat and place pan in the fridge to cool. Beat the butter and sugar in a clean mixing bowl, for 5-7 minutes, until fluffy and glossy. Once cooled, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Pour in the vanilla and the cooled melted chocolate and beat until light and fluffy 5 minutes.
9. Spread evenly over the top of the pomegranate cream. Return to the freezer.
10. Once frozen, trim the edges of the cake until very smooth. The cake will be about 8X12 inches after trimming. Then carefully cut the cake into 1 inch squares, 96 total. You may want to use a clean ruler to mark the top of the chocolate cream to make the pieces even. Return the cake squares to the freezer.
11. For the Pomegranate Poured Fondant: Place the shortening and half the pomegranate juice in a large bowl. Microwave until the shortening has melted. Add 5 cups of powdered sugar to the mix and whisk until smooth. Add a little more juice and another cup of powdered sugar, whisk. The fondant should be smooth and glossy, thin enough to pour but thick enough to coat well, a little thicker than school glue. If you see shortening dots on the top, add more powdered sugar. It may take all the juice and as much as 8 cups of powdered sugar to even out–but not always. Rewarm and whisk before dipping the petit fours. The fondant needs to stay warm.
12. Before dipping, dust the bottoms of each petit four, so that crumbs don’t fall in the poured fondant.
13. Place a petit four on a fork over the fondant bowl. Using a large spoon, scoop fondant over the top covering completely on all sides, then use another fork to carefully transfer to a drying rack. Repeat with all, rewarm the fondant if needed.