Alice in Wonderland Petit Fours

Alice in Wonderland Petit Fours represent the small cake that Alice encounters in the story that says "Eat Me." These no bake petit fours are semi-homemade, using store bought pound cake to save some time. You could also use homemade pound cake.

When my daughter decided on an Alice in Wonderland themed birthday, I knew I had to make small "Eat Me" cakes after the classic tiny cake that Alice consumes in the story.

I had never made petit fours before but had always wanted to try making them, so this was a good opportunity. Because I was making so many other treats for the party, such as Linzer Cookies, Macarons, Shortbread Cookies, Cake Pops, and a Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake, I wanted to save some time on these by using store bought pound cake rather than homemade.

While these petit fours are a semi-homemade recipe, you could certainly use a homemade pound cake and follow the same steps.

Some petit four recipes have you coat the cakes in a jelly like apple or red currant before covering them in fondant. I used a poured fondant recipe that is thicker and doesn't require the jelly step.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Slice and Fill the Cake
• Trim and Cut the Cakes
• Coat the Cakes in Fondant
• Decorate the Cakes
• Serving Suggestions
• Gluten Free Option
• 📖 Recipe

Ingredients

You will need the follow ingredients to assemble the cake:

• 1 frozen pound cake, such as Sara Lee brand
• buttercream, such as Easy Vanilla Buttercream
• seedless raspberry jam

For the poured fondant:

• white candy melts
• pink candy melts
• powdered sugar
• light corn syrup
• hot water
• vanilla extract

For the decorative writing:

• black royal icing, either tinted Easy Royal Icing or black icing powder

Slice and Fill the Cake

I used a frozen Sara Lee Classic Pound Cake, which can be found in the freezer section of most grocery stores.

Remove the pound cake from the aluminum foil container. Turn it on its side and trim off the rounded top to make it flat. Then, cut the cake into 3 equal layers.

Spread out a large pieces of plastic wrap. Spread out the 3 layers and allow them to thaw for a bit so the buttercream and jam will stick better.

I used Easy Vanilla Buttercream for these, but you can use any kind of buttercream, including Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

First, spread on a thin layer of Easy Vanilla Buttercream on the top of one of the layers.

Carefully stack one of the layers on top of the buttercream.

Spread a thin layer of jam on top of the second layer.

I used seedless red raspberry jam, but any flavor of jam will work.

Carefully transfer the third layer on top of the cake and gently press down to get all the layers to stick together.

Tightly wrap the stacked cake in plastic wrap. Add another piece of plastic wrap to double wrap the cake.

Place the cake in the freezer.

Trim and Cut the Cakes

Once the cake is frozen solid, use a sharp knife to trim the ends and edges off the cake, and make sure the cake is completely flat on all sides and squared off.

Slice the cake into uniformly sized cubes. You can make the cakes larger or smaller, depending on your preference.

Typically petit fours are quite small, but this is Alice in Wonderland, where size perspectives change throughout the story, so you can get away with making them any size!

Wrap the cakes back up in the plastic wrap and place it back in the freezer until ready to coat in fondant, at least 1 hour. You can keep them in the freezer longer, even a few days. I like to spread out baking tasks among multiple days when making many desserts for parties.

Coat the Cakes in Fondant

This King Arthur poured fondant coats more completely than other recipes, eliminating the need for a jelly layer underneath.

Add both white and pink candy melts to a microwave safe container like a mason jar.

Microwave at 50% power for 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval, until melted and smooth.

Place a pot of water on a stove burner and turn it on to simmer.

Sift the powdered sugar into a large glass or heat-proof bowl that will fit on top of the pot of water without touching the water. Add the corn syrup and hot water. Stir until smooth, being careful not to introduce too much air into the mixture, or it will create bubbles.

Add the melted candy melts and vanilla to the sugar mixture. Place the bowl on top of the pot of simmering water and carefully stir to completely combine the mixture.

It is easiest to work with around 100°F. You want the fondant to be thin enough that it will run over the top and sides of the cakes when dipping. If the mixture is too thick, stir in 1 to 3 tablespoons additional water.

Before you coat the cakes, place a piece of waxed paper on top of a cooling rack or cookie sheet. You will need to work quickly, so it's best to have everything ready.

The trick to poured fondant is keeping it warm so that it is thin and can flow over the top of the cakes. You also want to only remove one cake at a time from the freezer to ensure they don't start to thaw. In that case, crumbs will flow into the bowl of fondant and make a mess.

Take 1 cake out of the freezer. Place the cake on a fork, lower the fork close to the top of the fondant in the bowl and ladle a big scoop of the flowing fondant on top of the cake, making sure to get the sides as well. It will begin to set quickly so work as fast as possible.

Once the cake is coated, carefully slide it off the fork onto the waxed paper.

Repeat with the remaining cakes, one at a time.

Place the cakes in the refrigerator to chill. Once the fondant is chilled, you can use a sharp knife to cut off any excess fondant around the bottom of each cake.

Decorate the Cakes

To write the words "EAT ME" on the cakes, prepare some black royal icing. You can either tint Easy Royal Icing or use black royal icing powder mixed with water. I prefer using the black powder because it takes so much food coloring gel to tint white royal icing black.

You want outline consistency icing. Use small amounts of warm water to achieve the proper consistency.

Transfer the royal icing to a disposable pastry bag fitted with a small round tip like a #7.

Carefully write the words "EAT ME" on the top of each cake.

Serving Suggestions

If desired, place each cake in a light pink cupcake liner before serving. This ensures the cake will not stick to the serving platter. I placed the cakes on a 3-tiered server.

Gluten Free Option

If you're able to find gluten free pound cake in a store, you can use that. Otherwise, bake a homemade pound cake using a 1 to 1 gluten free flour blend like Bob's Red Mill.

📖 Recipe