What Are Petit Fours?

Every wish you could eat an entire eclair in just two bites? You can! Thanks to petit fours. What are petit fours and why are they so small and cute? Here’s everything you need to know about these bite-sized treats. 

What are petit fours?

Petit fours is a blanket term for a number of bite-sized sweet and savory baked delectables that are either served as a dessert or an appetizer. The main attraction of petit fours is their intricacy; they are often ornately decorated and look neat as a pin lined up next to each other. There are four different groupings of petit fours. Here they are: 

Glace petit fours are little dessert cakes coated in brightly colored, attractive icing. They range in flavor from classic chocolate and vanilla to other favorites like lemon or raspberry. The aforementioned eclairs fit into this category.

Secs petit fours are also desserts, but they eschew the extreme sweetness that comes from icing and fillings for a more subdued flavor. This group includes, among other things, biscuits, madeleines, and macarons. 

Frais petit fours are dessert treats adored with brightly colored fruit. Often glazed to an attractive shine, these kinds of petit fours include tiny tartlets filled with custard and other vibrant, fruit-forward pastries.

Sales petit fours are the savory variety that one might serve as an appetizer, canape, hors d’oeuvres, or amuse bouche. They often include some form of bread or puff pastry with a meat, cheese, or vegetable element.

If you ask me, pigs in a blanket qualify as a petit four. But if you ask any respectable Frenchman if they qualify, they’d exclaim “sacre bleu!” and their tuxedo dickie would flap up and hit them in the face.

What does petit fours mean?

The word is French and translates to “small oven.” Does that mean you can only bake these treats in a tiny oven made for gnomes? No, but it would be really cool if you did.

The name derives from 18th century bread baking traditions. French bakers would use massive stone ovens to bake their bread. A tremendous amount of heat was required to get the stones the right temperature for baking. This meant that it also took a tremendous amount of time to cool down.

These fast-thinking bakers thought that it would be a shame for all that heat to go to waste. So, as the temperatures in the ovens cooled, they would make small pastries and treats that would be a quick and easy bake. Eventually, dainty delectables became en vogue and now you can see them in the windows of every patisserie in Paris.

How do you pronounce petit fours?

First, put on your nastiest French accent. Then, follow the pronunciation: pu-TEET FORZ.