Petits Fours — Something Sweet to Close a Thirty-Five-Year Chapter

The last week of 2022. The year I am about to close, mi amor, and the year I am taking stock of. I am not by nature a stock-taker. I do not journal. I do not make vision boards. I do not set resolutions. I cook and I work and I raise my family and I keep the kitchen running. But the end of a year is a natural pause, and this week I paused.

What happened in 2022? Mami turned 85. Sofía started nursing school. Lucas started pre-K. David brought James to Sunday dinner for a meal that elevated James from boyfriend to family. The hospital cafeteria ran smoothly. I made — I counted this week — approximately 340 meals for my family at home, which does not include the 1,500-a-day at work, and which is actually lower than usual because I traveled in February and because Mami eats less than she used to. I wrote 52 blog posts. I made sofrito in batches of eight pounds at a time, three times, and I still have about a pound and a half left in the freezer, which will get me to January's next batch. I gained three pounds, which is two pounds less than I feared and one pound more than I would like, and which I will lose in January, or not, depending on whether I enjoy the pound more than the losing.

I made my decision about retirement. I told Eduardo. I told Gladys. I have not told the children, but I will, at New Year's dinner. June 2023. Thirty-five years. That is the number. I want to leave on thirty-five. Round number. Respectful to the job. Leaves Gladys the summer to settle in before the fall menus kick up.

Saturday I made a big pot of lentils for New Year's Eve. The superstition. The money. The abundance. Mami approved of my lentils when she came for lunch — "good vinegar this year" — and she stayed for two hours and she told me a story about the New Year's Eve of 1958, when she was twenty-one and had just started dating my father, and he proposed to her on the beach in Isla Verde at midnight while they were eating grapes. She had not told me this story in years. She had probably forgotten she had told it to me before. She told it beautifully.

I drove her home at 5 PM. I sat with her for a long time. She was having a good hour — lucid, present, herself. She said, "Carmen, do not retire." I said, "Mami, I am going to retire." She said, "What will you do?" I said, "I do not know. Something. I will find people to feed." She nodded. She said, "Good. A cook who stops cooking dies." I said, "I know, Mami."

I drove home. I thought about that all night. Wepa.

The lentils were already made — big pot, good vinegar, Mami’s approval — so when I thought about what else to bring to the table on New Year’s Eve, I wanted something small and precise and a little ceremonial. Petits fours. Tiny, careful bites that you arrange on a platter the way you arrange the words you are going to say to your children at dinner: June 2023, thirty-five years, I am retiring. These are fussy to make and I did not mind the fussiness. I needed my hands busy while my head sorted through a year’s worth of counting.

Petits Fours

Prep Time: 1 hour | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours (includes cooling and decorating) | Servings: 36 petits fours

Ingredients

• For the cake:
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• For the filling:
• 1/2 cup apricot preserves, warmed and strained
• For the poured fondant glaze:
• 6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Food coloring (optional)
• For decorating (optional):
• Royal icing for piping
• Edible flowers, sprinkles, or dragees

Instructions

1. Bake the cake. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line a 9x13-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Mix in vanilla and almond extracts. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in three additions, alternating with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Pour into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake 22–25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
2. Cool and level. Let cake cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight. Once chilled, use a serrated knife to level the top.
3. Cut and layer. Slice the cake horizontally into two even layers. Spread warmed apricot preserves on the bottom layer. Place the second layer on top and press gently. Cut into 1 1/2-inch squares using a sharp knife. Place squares on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet.
4. Make the fondant glaze. In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine powdered sugar, milk, corn syrup, and vanilla. Stir gently until smooth and the mixture reaches 100°F — it should flow easily but coat the back of a spoon. Tint with food coloring if desired.
5. Glaze the cakes. Spoon the warm fondant over each cake square, letting it flow down the sides and coat completely. If the glaze thickens, rewarm gently over low heat. Let the first coat set for 15 minutes, then apply a second coat for a smooth, opaque finish.
6. Decorate. Once the glaze has fully set, pipe small designs with royal icing or place edible decorations on top. Let set completely before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 155 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Carbs: 25g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 55mg