The term petit four can be used for almost any small cake or pastry item small enough to be eaten in one or two bites. Petit in French means “little” and four means “oven.” Most petits fours are small baked items, although a few are not baked.
Petits fours are divided into two categories. Petits fours secs (sec means “dry”) include a variety of small, dainty cookies, baked meringues, macaroons, and puff pastry products. These will be discussed further in the next chapter.
Petits fours glacés are iced petits fours (glacé means, in this case, “iced”). This category includes such items as tiny éclairs, tartlets, filled meringues, and cakes. In fact, nearly any iced or creamed pastry or cake item can be called a petit four as long as it is small enough to be eaten in one or two bites.
