Easy Blueberry Petit Fours

If you’ve ever eaten a petit four, you know what a different and delicious little treat they are.  If you’ve ever MADE petit fours, you know just how time consuming and potentially frustrating they can be when made the traditional way.

(Trust me, I’ve made them several times.)  Well, I didn’t make these the traditional way: I changed it.

The process might be reminiscent of lasagna, but the outcome might be something you might have never experienced.

There’s no cutting out little circles or squares, spreading filling on those little pieces, stacking them together, and covering them with poured fondant.  All you have to do is slice your pound cake, layer it in a baking dish with some amazing blueberry curd, and top it all off with some stabilized whipped cream.

Plus, by cutting them before you serve them, your guests will never know just how easy they were to make.  It will be our little secret.

Easy Blueberry Petit Fours

For the Pound Cake

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup cake flour
2 T dry powdered milk
1 T corn syrup
juice of half a small lemon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking powder

1. Allow butter to reach room temperature.  Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs one at a time and mix well.
3. Add flour, powdered milk, baking powder, and corn syrup.  Beat well.
4. Add juice of half a lemon, salt, vanilla, and nutmeg.
5. Blend well and pour into a greased loaf pan.
6. Bake at 325 F for 45 minutes.
7. Check for done-ness by inserting a toothpick to see if it comes out clean.  Do not overbake.
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes.  Remove from pan onto a wire rack and cool completely.

For the Blueberry Curd

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 T water
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
3 eggs, lightly beaten

1. In a medium saucepan, combine blueberries and water.  Cook over low heat until blueberries are very soft (about 10 minutes).
2. Press the blueberries through a fine mesh sieve and put the liquid back into the saucepan.  You’ll have about 1/4 cup of blueberry liquid.
3. Add remaining ingredients and stir together.
4. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring constantly until mixture is thickened (about 5 minutes).
5. The curd will continue to thicken as it cools.
6. Cool completely.

For the Stabilized Whipped Cream

1 tsp unflavored gelatin
4 tsp cold water
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar

1. In a small pan, combine gelatin and cold water; let stand until thick. (About 2 minutes)
2. Place over low heat, stirring constantly, just until gelatin dissolves.
3. Remove from heat; cool (do not allow it to set).
4. Whip the cream with the powdered sugar until slightly thick.
5. While beating, slowly add the gelatin to the whipping cream
6. Whip at high speed until stiff.

Assembly

1. Cut pound cake into 1/4 inch slices and layer in the bottom of an 8 x 11 baking dish.
2. Thinly spread blueberry curd over pound cake.  Make sure it’s thin.  You don’t want too much or it will be overbearing.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 two more times.
4. Top with stabilized whipped cream.
5. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour for the whipped cream to set.
6. Cut into 1 inch squares.
7. Store in the refrigerator.

Pound cake recipe from copycat.com, blueberry curd recipe from beantownbaker.com, and stabilized whipped cream recipe from wilton.com.