Montage

In honor of the DVD release of Up, I have decided to post one last recipe inspired by the movie. This time, I have decided to adapt a dessert recipe to the montage in the beginning of the movie.

I had invited my friends over for tea and had no idea what baked good to make. The baked good couldn't be too heavy and had to balance with the tea. I remember seeing these cute petit fours at a shop window a few days ago and decided to make those for tea. They were made of sponge cake and the jam wasn't as sweet as frosting. I had made about two dozen or more little cakes and decorated them to match the montage. Petit fours are great for representing the montage because they are very easy to decorate. The petit fours are also light which matches the tone of most of the montage.

Ingredients for the cakes:

• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup milk
• 3 egg whites
• Strawberry jam (any other jam will do)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and lightly flour a 9-inch square baking pan. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, shortening and sugar. Beat in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. In a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form; gently fold into batter. Pour batter into prepared baking pan and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Turn cake out onto a plate or cooling rack; then chill cake in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Remove cake from refrigerator. Cut a thin slice off each side of chilled cake. Slice the cake horizontally into four pieces to create the different layers. Cut cake into 1-1/4-inch (3.175 cm) squares. Place squares 1/2 inch (1.27 cm) apart on a cooling rack over a 15 x 10 x 1-inch (38cmX25cmX2.5cm) pan. Place a thin layer of strawberry jam in between each layer.

Ingredients for icing:

• 9 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• Food coloring, (optional)

Directions:

Combine all icing ingredients in the top of a double boiler. Heat over boiling water to lukewarm. Pour icing over tops and sides of petit fours. Once they are set, they should be coated with icing again.

Thoughts?

Do you agree with my interpretation of the montage? What other mini desserts could be used to represent the montage? Please leave a comment below!