Last week over at

, Kristan made the cutest

Which got me thinking.....I haven't had a petit four in like forever! I didn't feel like going to the bakery to buy an overpriced mini cake when I could just make a bunch for next to nothing. After all, that money could be better spent.....like on SHOES!

I altered a recipe I found online to make it taste more like the ones from our local bakery.

Now I must warn you, if you don't like things to get messy then this is not for you. This is a messy thing to make. Lucky for me, I have little cleaning fairies who I call children to help me clean up the mess. They want petit fours....I want a clean kitchen. It's a win win situation.

Almond Sour Cream Cake

Ingredients:

1 boxes white cake mix

1 cups flour

1 cups granulated sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/3 cups of water

1/8 cups oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tbsp almond emulsion

1 cups sour cream (room temperature)

4 lg egg whites

Preheat oven to 325˚

1. In your kitchen aid mixer or a bowl, combine cake mix, flour, sugar, salt and mix until combined.

2. Add water, sour cream and oil and mix until combined.

3. Add almond and vanilla, mix.

4. Add eggs whites one at a time until incorporated thoroughly.

5. Mix until there are no lumps, about 2 minutes.

6. Pour cake mix into a greased and floured pan. I used a 9X13 pan. Place into a preheated oven. Bake @350˚ for about 50 min or until a toothpick comes out clean. Bake time varies with ovens. Allow cake to cool.

Glaze

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond

Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl until combined. Place in microwave about 1 min, maybe a little longer. Just like ovens, all microwaves are different. Mine gets pretty hot, fast.

Cut out square shapes. I used a 2X2 square cutter.

Place square pieces on a wired rack and place a cookie sheet under it. Pour warm glaze over cake pieces. Allow a minute or two, then pour another layer of icing. I did this two or three times.

While cakes were still sticky I transferred them to a piece of wax paper and sprinkled with Mardi Gras colored sprinkles. Then allow the icing to set up. They will stay tacky for a few hours.

This recipe was so worth all the sticky. The petit fours went in the matter of minutes. I'm sure my kids were wired at school.

Baking in Heels