Chocolate Orange Petits Fours- France

Chocolate Orange Petits Fours- France

This is a recipe for rich, bittersweet chocolate, with orange zest petits fours. A petit four is a small bite-sized confectionery or savory appetizer.  The name is French, meaning "small Oven".

Ingredients:

1 c. all-purpose flour
2/3 c. packed dark brown sugar
2 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. salt
7 oz. fine quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 large eggs
2 tsp. finely grated fresh orange zest

Topping:

1/2 c. chilled heavy cream
1 tsp. sugar
4 navel orange segments, membranes discarded from each fruit and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1-1/2 inch round fluted cookie cutter

1. Whisk together flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in a bowl.
2. Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth.
3. Remove from heat and stir in eggs, zest, and flour mixture until just combined.
4. Roll out dough between parchment sheets into an 8-inch round (1/2 inch thick).  Transfer round (still in parchment) to a large baking sheet and chill until firm, at least 1 hour, or freeze at least 30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven 350F.
6. Remove top sheet of parchment paper and replace it loosely.  Flip over paper-enclosed round and discard paper now on top.  
7. Cut 20 cookies with cookie cutter and arrange about 1 inch apart on buttered large baking sheet.
8. Re roll scraps between parchment sheets and cut out 12 more cookies (chill or freeze dough as needed if it becomes too soft to handle).
9. Bake cookies in middle of oven until matte (dough starts out shiny and then turns dull). about 10 minutes, then transfer with a spatula to a rack to cool completely. (Cookies will have a fudgy consistency.)
10. Topping: Beat cream and sugar with an electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks.
11. Top each cookie with 1/2 teaspoon cream and a piece of orange.

Results:  This was the backup dessert for the sugar cookies with edible flowers.
I should've had one more backup. The presentation looked good. However, I don't think they were the hit that I expected them to be. I discovered that the dough really has to cold, it's best to freeze it than refrigerate. As the dough softens it becomes harder and harder to cut, then remove from cookie cutter. I ended up with about 20 presentable ones. I should have used a smaller cookie cutter. Some became a mess when trying to release them from the cookie cutter. I thought they should be more cake like than cookie. I tried to make them thicker. I think candied orange rind would have been better than pieces of orange. 

Bottom Line: I probably won't make these again. I ate one accompanied with a glass of red wine. It was a nice pairing. They are not a real sweet treat.

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