Pumpkin Spice Latte Petit Fours
Alright. I give in. You want to pumpkin spice all the things? Fine.
But let's not be basic about it. Let's go for broke.
What if we took pumpkin cake, laced with spice and layered it with white chocolate chai ganache? Sound next level? Welcome to fall y'all.
These pumpkin spice latte petit fours will put your Starbucks cravings to shame. They're packed with plenty of punch and plumped with pumpkin. I didn't get them perfectly covered but you know what?
NOBODY cares.
We'll call them artisan and sell them for twice as much. See how that works?
Our petit fours start as a basic pumpkin pound cake, with plenty of the spices. But just for an extra kick, I used a tablespoon of Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spice Chai Tea Latte Mix.
Because if you're going to do PSL, you should commit 100%
While that cake is cooking, we'd better start whipping up our white chocolate ganache.
Our ganache is simply heavy cream and melted white chocolate, whipped into a frenzy. But I chose to add a little more chai mix so we could really bring the spice home sandwiched between those layers of plump cake.
Next up, watch as we work some magic.
The important part here is to freeze the cake so it holds up under pressure later, both from sandwiching with the ganache and then drizzling with heavy glaze.
Looky here. pretty little squares of perfect bite of pumpkin spice cake, sandwiched with white chocolate chai ganache. But hold up. It gets better.
Once we get the icing ready for its debute, we'll want perfectly chilled layers of cake. Pop these into the freezer and wait a sec for your frosting to chill out. Then pour.
It's not an exact science, kids. Just get it done.
That's it folks. I used a bit more chai latte mix and some letter stamps to put PSL on my petit fours, but you do whatever the fuck you want. free country and all that. Until next time, keep eating dessert first. Because you never know.
Pumpkin Spice Latte Petit Fours
For the cake:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons pumpkin chai latte powder
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup milk
For the ganache:
4 oz white chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 c heavy cream
1 tbsp. pumpkin chai latte powder
For the glaze:
6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
½ cup water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup white chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325. Grease a sheet pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and pumpkin chai latte powder and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the extracts. Beat in the dry ingredients and the milk in 2 alternating additions; scrape down the bowl as necessary.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes, until the top is slightly darkened and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to another piece of parchment paper and freeze.
Melt the white chocolate in the microwave, checking every few seconds to ensure you don't burn it. Add whipping cream to mixer and beat until soft peaks form. Add cooled melted white chocolate and pumpkin chai latte mix and continue to beat until stiffer peaks form.
Remove cake from freezer, then cut in half. Spread with thick layer of ganache on one side, then deposit other side on top. Cut into squares.
In the top of a double boiler on the stove top, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, water, corn syrup and extracts. Turn on medium high. Continue whisking or stirring the 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.
When it's ready, add in the white chocolate chips and stir until melted.
Set the cake squares slightly apart on a sheet pan and bathe in glaze. Apply whatever decoration touches you would like, then sit back and admire your handiwork. Baking, master level achieved.