The Trader Joe's Cake Hack For Easy Petit Fours

With all the festive desserts in creation, petit fours — those teensy cakes you'd plate for all your creepiest dolls at a tea party — are among the most jubilant a person can serve. They offer as many mixed and matched flavor opportunities as a DIY ice cream station, with none of the labor for your guests. They're as cutesy as a cupcake without having to open so wide for a comprehensive taste, and they can be as easy as pie, with one obvious shortcut: an easily upgraded Trader Joe's sheet cake.

A TikTok trick gets about halfway there, resurfacing the frosting and pressing a cookie cutter into the cake to make two-bite bits. But this method still lacks the appearance and tight packaging of our preferred petit fours. With just a little bit of extra semi-homemade effort, however, you can more closely replicate the French favorite. All you'll need is the base cake like TJ's Chantilly cream vanilla bean variety, some jam (which has a better texture than jelly for this use), and poured fondant (rolled sheets will be much harder to work with at this scale).

Although they can be made in many different ways, we like our petit fours layered and neatly tailored. And, while "petit four" translates to "small oven" in English, you don't need one of any size with a pre-made sheet cake. Trader Joe's minis work best in this case, as they're easier to handle than the standard bridal shower big guys. You'll also need a long, thin knife, the mashed fruit of your choice, and that pliable icing, which you can also find readymade. Homemade poured fondant does only require a few ingredients, but you'd still have to, you know, home make it.

First, you'll slice the cake into rectangles like you were simply dividing tiny portions. Then, you'll slice those rectangles crosswise, leaving top and bottom halves. Spread with the jam, and sandwich it with cake layers. This is also where you can tinker with a few different spreads for different flavor profiles, or even something like lemon curd or pistachio cream. The fondant step, the petit four's pièce de résistance, is its most challenging. Rather than dipping in the confectionary liquid, pouring keeps the cakes more intact. You'll want to arrange them on a wire rack over a baking sheet to catch any errant drops, then spoon the fondant over each rectangle, paying extra attention to the sides to fully coat. These are lovely on their own once they've set, or you can decorate with more icing as you wish.