Petit fours were invented in eighteenth century France, where coal-fired brick ovens had two “modes”: fully ablaze or cooling down. Loath to waste precious coal after the fire had been extinguished, pastry chefs used the latent heat to bake small treats. The cooling process was called “petit four” or “little oven” and eventually the pastry, which was beloved by gluttonous Louis XIV, adopted the name.
Annapolis’ own Sweethearts Patisserie dresses up these tiny tea cakes with inspired flavors like “Strawberry Champagne” and “Paris”—layers of black currant jam and yellow cake infused with Harney and Sons tea. “Petit fours were one of the first things I made when I started this business,” Sweethearts owner Kristen Rowell explains. “I fell in love with them at pastry school for how pretty they were and how much flavor could be packed into a small little bite.”
