Petits Fours, in French, means “small ovens” but they actually are little fancy pastries or cookies served after an elegant meal or for an afternoon tea. The wholegrain polenta and almond meal in these delightful pastries blend beautifully with the rich extra virgin olive oil and fresh orange juice and give it a Mediterranean Middle Eastern flair. Their rich sweetness and hint of orange flower blossom remind me of a North African traditional pastry made with semolina and dipped in honey, called makroud, that my mom used to make for the Jewish holidays. The consistency is different, and there is no honey in these (although you’d swear there was!) but something about them just floods me with warm happy memories of my childhood. They are truly unique and always get such high praise from my guests. They are gluten-free too, so fantastic for a big crowd!
Orange Polenta Petits Fours
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 cage-free eggs
- 1/2 cup stoneground polenta
- 1/2 cup almond meal
- 1 tsp baking powder
- juice and zest of one large orange about 1/2 cup*
- 1/2 tsp orange blossom water see below
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 350 and line 2 mini cupcake pans with mini silicone cupcake holders.
-
Place the olive oil, sugar and eggs in a bowl of an electric mixer and beat until creamy.
-
Add the polenta, almond meal and baking powder and mix again briefly.
-
Add the orange juice, orange zest and orange blossom water and mix again thoroughly--The batter will be very "liquid-y" and that's the way it should be!
-
Pour the batter into a batter dispenser and stir again with a spoon to make sure the polenta stayed thoroughly mixed in the transfer.
-
Pour the batter into each little cupcake holder by pulling the release handle, making sure to fill it only half way.
-
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes and let cool completely before unmolding.
mini silicone cupcake holders are a must for this recipe so that you can un-mold the petits fours more easily.
Because the batter is “liquid-y”, it’s best to use a batter dispenser for this recipe.
Orange Flower blossom water (Eau de Fleur d’oranger) is used in Middle Eastern cooking in both savory and sweet foods. It is a natural extract made from the distillation of orange blossoms. It is what gives my petits fours this wonderful exotic flavor. I get mine in France but you can easily get it here : https://www.lepanierfrancais.com/french-orange-flower-water/?gclid=CNOBxereg8ECFRJk7Aod2xsA9g or even on amazon too!
Mine are in the oven right now. I made the batter in my VitaMix blender, and did the first mix of the oil, sugar and eggs long enough that I didn’t need to worry about anything falling out of suspension. I also added a bit of ginger. I’m baking mine in silicone pans that make “third-of-a-sphere” – so round bottomed circular. I sprayed them well. (I got the silicone pans at a thrift shop) I’m baking mine for about 21 minutes because that is my oven. They are looking lovely, and smell good. I’m making them for our Sunday after-church social. I already made a huge pan of brownies, but I want our celiac and gluten-free people to be able to have a nice dessert. I will label them off limits to our nut-allergic people though! Thank you so much!
Oh my Goodness Sharon, I love your note and how thoughtful of you to make these for celiac and gluten-free people at your Church \! I hope they enjoyed them!
Catherine, my oldest is GF, so I learned to bake GF. As someone with dietary restrictions of my own (most of what I can’t have isn’t good for ANYBODY anyway) I am more than familiar with being somewhere with a fabulous looking spread that is completely off limits to ME. It stinks. The celiac guy LOVED THEM and went home with the leftovers. I’d also made regular fancy box brownies, which pretty much evaporated, and a couple slow-cookers full of cheesy rice and broccoli, made with brown Basmati – and the BEST approach – naturally gluten free – which fed both the seemingly starving vultures/people at church and the folks at the historical village where I volunteer afterwards. Thanks so much for the recipe, and I totally recommend the blender approach and silicone pans.
Sharon, you are awesome! What a lovely approach and what a yummy spread you had! Such lucky people to have you! Oh and also love your suggestion to use a blender! I just got myself a Vitamix that will be perfect for that! Thank you so much!!
Can i use lemon istead of orange, ?
I thought I would.
Hi Gloria,
I am not sure because a lemon may be a little too acidic for this recipe but let me know if you try and you love it, I always love to explore other options! 🙂
Hello and Happy Holidays
I have a silly question. To make this recipe, do I use the dry corn meal that I use for polenta or already made up polenta?
Thanks,
Mary
It’s not a silly question at all Mary! I use the dry polenta, right out of the package! No pre- preparation needed at all!
Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you need anything else!
I always love great questions!
Love
Catherine
hello! to morrow , I have a lunch with friends and I ‘ll bring your delicious petits fours! they are in my oven!!!we are going to nous ré ga ler!!! bonnes soirée et thanks a lot for this delicious cakes! martine de France
Ça me fait plaisir Martine!!:)
bonjour Mrs Cuisinicity, c’est ma maman qui adore vos petits fours moelleux à souhait et si savoureux, merci pour elle! elle vous embrasse!
PS nous sommes deux à les savourer! ah!ah!
Merci Martine!! C’est merveilleux! 🙂
bonjour de l’Est de la France! je viens de refaire vos petits fours à la polenta et c’est toujours aussi délicieux! moelleux à souhait, avec ce soupçon de fleur d’oranger fort agréable! je vais en faire à ma mère qui a quelques problèmes dentaires, elle se régalera! merci Catherine et bonne journée ….moelleuse et délicieuse!! martine de France
un goût de revenez-y! c’est devenu un classique maintenant chez moi!! allez zouuuuuuuu, je m’y colle once more!! bonne journée de l’Est de la France où il fait encore bien froid!!! martine de France
Yet another must-make! Off to the grocery store tomorrow! Absolutely love your recipes!!!
I have recently been introduced to your web site and I have tried several recipes, all of which are superb! I am interested to make the orange polenta Pettit fours but would prefer it in a loaf pan. Might you have specs on baking in loaf pan, i.e. Oven temp, how long to cook?
Thank you!
Thank you so much Deb! That makes me so happy to hear! I am not sure if the petits fours will work well in a loaf pan because I am afraid I have never tried and cannot say for sure. These are intentionally wonderfully “sticky” which is why I like to make them individually in silicone baking cups so that they unmold perfectly. It’s not to say that it won’t work but what I would recommend, if you’d like more of a cake, is to try using a spring-from baking pan, lined with parchment paper. I hope this is helpful!! Please let me know how it went for you, I aways love to hear and care very much! 🙂
Catherine is polenta corn meal or grits ?
I FOUND IT !!! 🙂
ah! ah! je comprends mieux pourquoi c’était moins translucides que les vôtres! à refaire avec du sucre blanc !! merci
bonjour , une p’tite question du lieutenant Colombo: “mettez-vous du sucre blanc ou roux? ” …merci et à la prochaine! Martine de France
Du sucre blanc, Martine de France!
C’est merveilleux!
bonjour , vous aussi , vous êtes un sergent Colombo? …en effet, oui, je suis née en Algérie , il y a fort longtemps…. mais j’en garde un souvenir souvent olfactif , des parfumas qui me reviennent , des couleurs aussi …. les p’tits mekrods de s USA sont une p’tite piqure de rappel de mon enfance! merci!
super! je viens de les goûter , c’est fantastique ! en effet , cela ressemble aux mekrods d’Algérie! ce petit grain sous la dent! en moins sucré et moins bourratif! la fleur d’oranger donne un arrière-goût très agréable et léger! merci beaucoup ! martine de France
est-ce que vous êtes d’Algérie?? Alors vous savez exactement de quoi je parle avec ce petit goût de “chez nous”, n’est-ce pas?!
chère Mrs Cuisinicity! il n’y a plus pour moi, qu’à aller acheter une orange !! ça a l’air délicieux et facile , thanks!
allez-y vite!!!!