By Jane Remley

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (325 degrees if using a dark, coated pan)
2. Lightly grease and flour a 15-1/2" x 10" x 1" jelly-roll pan.
3. Prepare one package of white or yellow cake mix according to the package directions.
4. Place the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth it to level it out.
5. Bake 20-25 minutes or until the top springs back when pressed with the fingertip, or an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Rotate the pan halfway through baking to ensure even baking.
6. Cool ten minutes in the pan, and then turn it out onto a wire rack.
7. Cool the cake completely.
8. Begin making the petits four icing. (Below)
9. When the cake is completely cooled, slide in onto a flat cutting surface.
10. Using 1" size cookie cutters, cut out various shapes - squares, hearts, rounds, etc.
11. Make the cake cuts close together to eliminate wasted cake.
12. Remove any crumbs from your work area.
13. Place a wire rack over a clean sheet pan.
14. Put the cake pieces, a few at a time about 2" apart on the wire rack.
15. Pour or ladle the petits fours icing over the top and down the sides of each cake piece until all sides are covered. (The bottoms will not be covered.) The excess icing that drips on to the sheet pan and can be reheated and used again.
16. Continue covering the rest of the cake pieces.
17. As the icing begins to harden, use a small knife to gently nudge each piece at its bottom area. This will loosen it from the cooling rack and eliminate little icing "feet."
18. When the icing is completely dry, decorate the tops to your liking. You can make an easy decorator's icing by mixing two cups of confectioner's sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, and enough hot water to make the desired consistency. Tint using a few drops of food color.
19. Place each of the petits fours in small paper candy cup and store in a covered container.

Yield: About sixty 1" size petits fours.

Petit Fours Icing

• 9 cups confectioner"s sugar (about 2 pounds) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup water 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup

Combine all of the ingredients. Heat the mixture on top of a double boiler until lukewarm.

Remove the double boiler from the heat. Leave the icing over the hot water to keep it thin. If the icing is too thick, add a few more drops of hot water to thin it to the desired consistency. You want it to be thick enough to coat a wooden spoon, but thin enough to pour. Remove half of the icing, and put it in a small bowl. Add a few drops of food color to each part to tint the icings in delicate colors. If the icing becomes cool and thick, reheat it over the warm water. You can also thicken an icing that is too thin by stirring in confectioner"s sugar a teaspoon at a time.