August 20, 2009

The Cake Slice: Pistachio Petit Four Cake


This month, The Cake Slice Bakers chose a cake modeled after petits fours, those tiny creations of cake layered with jam, marzipan, chocolate or fondant and decorated with a piped icing flowers. I was just glad I had to make it on a much bigger scale! This sure was a challenge to me since it was my first time to work with marzipan.


Even though assembling the cake involved many components, it was a thoroughly enjoyable process. It seemed complicated at first so I made sure I organized my work space and everything went smoothly. One hitch, I ran out of marzipan so I didn't get to try on making the roses needed to decorate the top.


The cake has pistachio butter cake layered with a spread of apricot preserves, topped with a disk of marzipan, then a little pouring of dark chocolate ganache. Repeat this two more times then comes my favorite part: pouring a bowlful of bittersweet ganache all over the cake! I find this is the most simple but elegant way to decorate a cake.


Every bite gives you a different dimension of flavor with the bittersweet ganache tying everything together. My kids, who are milk chocolate lovers, didn't even complain about the dark chocolate and everyone else enjoyed it. And why the blue flowers? I think my Kuya (big brother) would like it much better if they weren't pink since I made this for his birthday.


This is the printable recipe for this wonderful cake or just get the book Sky-High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes since all of the cakes are great. Also, please head on over to our blogroll for my fellow bakers' creative interpretation of this cake.

10 comments:

steph- whisk/spoon said...

your little blue flowers are just as pretty as the roses! looks lovely!

symphonious sweets said...

What a beautiful cake! I like the little blue flowers.

Mimí said...

Soooo pretty..

Katie said...

I really love the blue flowers on top - a nice contrast against the dark chocolate and green pistachios. Your cake looks fab

Jacque said...

Oh, how considerate of you to make blue flowers... yes, I agree, a brother might not appreciate pink.

It looks wonderful!

Monica H said...

I like the blue flowers with the dark chocolate- pretty!

Oh and the hobnail milk glass is quite lovely.

Anonymous said...

This is SO beautiful! And it sounds like the most delicious cake, too. Great job!

Talita said...

Your pistachio cake looks great! Yummy!

Tangled Noodle said...

I love this! I've never had a pistachio cake and your idea to turn a petit four into a full-size cake is wonderful. And the blue flowers are a perfect color for that dark chocolate ganache - lovely all around!!

The Kitchen Masochist said...

I love marzipan and pistachios. Unfortunately, they cost an arm and a leg over here. I'm going to ask my mom to send me these the next time she sends me a care package from home. I'm bookmarking this.

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