Dessert: Petits Fours

Servings: 20

Prep Time: 120 minutes

Ingredients

Icing:

6 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Cake:

2 and 3/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup salted butter, softened

3/4 cup shortening

2 tsp vanilla extract

5 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup evaporated milk

1/4 cup sour cream

Other:

Raspberry Jam

Sprinkles/designs

Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting:

1 cup butter at room temperature

1/2 cup Crisco shortening (just under 4 oz. on a kitchen scale)

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

3 lbs powdered sugar

1 Tablespoon of vanilla extract

2-3 Tablespoons of Milk (add to get consistency to pipe or spread)

Directions

Icing:

Make a double boiler from glass bowl over boring water.

In the glass bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, water, corn syrup and extracts.

Continue whisking or stirring until the mixture becomes smooth and consistent. It should be thin enough to drizzle from a spoon, but not so thin that it all runs off the cake! You can also check the temperature and when it reaches 92 F, it's good.

Add in the white chocolate chips and stir until melted.

Cake:

Cream together the sugar, butter and shortening until smooth then beat in vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, until fluffy.

In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt). Add this flour mixture and the evaporated milk to the original mixture alternately. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed, then fold in the sour cream.

Spread onto a parchment lined half sheet pan. Bake at 325F until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (25-35 minutes - but check at 25 minutes!).

Cream Cheese Frosting:

First cream the butter and Crisco in a mixing bowl. Mix on low speed for a couple of minutes until smooth and creamy. Add in the cream cheese and mix again until very smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar until it's all combined. It will be very stiff! Then begin adding milk until you reach the desired consistency for decorating (2-3 tablespoons works well)