Swedish strawberry princess petits fours
A recipe from the Good Food collection.
Ingredients
two 17cm round ready-made sponge cakes
3 x 250g packets ready-to-roll marzipan
48 edible sugar flowers
Strawberry cream
250g (1⅔ cups) strawberries, hulled
200g white chocolate, chopped
250g mascarpone cheese
30g (¼ cup) icing sugar, sifted
60ml (¼ cup) strawberry liqueur
2 tsp powdered gelatine
2½ tbsp boiling water
White chocolate ganache
375ml (1½ cups) cream
600g (4 cups) white chocolate melts
10-14 drops of red food colouring (depending on shade desired)
Method
Step 1
To make the strawberry cream, place the strawberries in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve. Discard the pulp. Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Half-fill a saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Sit the bowl over the saucepan, making sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water. Stir occasionally until melted. Beat the mascarpone, strawberry puree, sugar and liqueur in a medium bowl with electric beaters until light and creamy. Sprinkle the gelatine over the water and stir until dissolved. Set aside to cool. Add the cooled gelatine mixture and the melted chocolate to the mascarpone mixture and beat until smooth.
Step 2
Grease and line the base and sides of a 20cm × 30cm baking tin with baking paper, extending the paper over the long sides for easy removal later.
Step 3
Trim the sides of each sponge to form a square. Cut the sponges horizontally into 5mm thick slices. Arrange one-third of the sponge slices in a thin layer on the base of the prepared tin, trimming where necessary. Pour over half the strawberry cream and spread to an even thickness. Add another one-third of the sponge slices and spread the remaining strawberry cream on top. Finish with a layer of the remaining sponge slices. Wrap firmly in foil and refrigerate for 4 hours, or until firm.
Step 4
To make the white chocolate ganache, bring the cream to the boil in a small saucepan. Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and add the cream. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. Add the food colouring and whisk until smooth.
Step 5
Place the sponge cake on a cutting board and cut into rounds using a 3cm cutter. Roll out one packet of marzipan to a thickness of 2 mm (1/16 inch) between two sheets of baking paper, sprinkling with icing sugar where necessary. Cut out 16 round tops with the same cutter used for the petits fours. Cut out 16 10cm × 3cm strips for the sides. Repeat with the remaining marzipan. Attach a marzipan strip to the side of a petits four. Seal the join with a small flat-bladed knife. Place a marzipan round on top and seal with the knife. Repeat with the remaining marzipan and petits fours. (You may need to use a little of the ganache to attach the marzipan.) Use a wet flat-bladed knife to smooth the surface.
Step 6
Place the petits fours on a wire rack over a baking tray. Spoon the ganache over the top until completely covered. You may need to gently reheat the ganache as you go. Refrigerate for 2 hours, or until firm. Decorate with the sugar flowers and serve.
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