Petits Four Perfection

For many years petits fours were all but foreign to me. I knew they were some sort of small, sugary treat, but I couldn't necessarily pick one out of a crowd of delectable desserts. This all changed last summer when I lost my petits four virginity. I sampled my first sinful bite of petits four heaven with one of my closest friends. This is of course the same friend with whom I have shared countless pretzel rolls and pizza baking endeavors. We have maintained a fabulously healthy relationship over the years.

I suppose since I mention her often enough, I should create a pseudonym for my pretzel roll loving friend. Another woman whose blog I follow inspired me to forego using actual names or including photos of the people involved in my posts. I really admire this conscious omission of information because it is respectful to the people who are integral parts of the stories but may want to remain anonymous. This particular blogger uses a descriptive adjective or two to characterize the subjects of her writing. For my pseudonyms, I think I will refer to my writing subjects using names of famous people they remind me of. In pretzel roll girl's case, she told me just yesterday that her spirited laugh reminds her of the vivacious Julia Roberts. So there you have it; I hereby dub her, Julia Roberts.

Yesterday Julia Roberts and I met up to chat and say goodbye before she headed back to Brooklyn for the semester. She is studying to be an architect. Creatures of habit that we are, we usually end up at Java's to hatch our evil plans over a steaming cup of freshly roasted coffee. I couldn't stay long due to family obligations, but the two of us gabbed and gabbed until money in the parking meter nearly ran out. I was driving her home when we reached Park Avenue. A supreme moment of inexplicable understanding seemed to travel across our faces at the exact same moment. Without much hesitation, I flicked on my turn signal and we journeyed along Park Ave towards the desired destination.

Parking and walking into the shop with girlish giggles, we B lined toward the confections counter. All but pawing at the rounded glass display case, we admired the beautiful array of petits four strawberry hearts, white chocolate raspberry creme squares, bittersweet truffle diamonds and all of the other mouth watering varieties. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the assembly of a petits four, there are many different types. Those featured in this glass display are always small, iced cakes. They center around a bite sized cake that can be filled with any flavor of fruity or chocolatey creme you can imagine. The creme filled cake is iced with a layer of fine chocolate that helps preserve the moistness of the dainty cake within.

Julia Roberts and I chose to stick with a tried and true favorite. We each purchased an ivory heart. This petits four variety conceals a decadently moist almond cake layered with milk chocolate truffle creme, and covered in a thick layer of white chocolate. We could barely make it to the car before our tiny treats were in hand, as we braced ourselves for the first heavenly taste.

A perfectly moist center