Fondant-Iced Petits Fours with Raspberry Jam Layer

Cake. heat the oven to 175 °C (155 °C fan) and line the tin. Beat the butter and 200 g sugar until pale, 3 min, then beat in the yolks one at a time and the vanilla. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt, and add to the butter mixture in 3 lots, alternating with the milk.

Whites. in a clean bowl whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, add the 50 g sugar and whisk until glossy. Fold a third into the batter to loosen it, then gently fold in the rest. Spread evenly in the tin.

Bake. bake 30-35 min until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Cool 10 min in the tin, then on the rack. Wrap and chill or freeze 1 h; a cold cake cuts with far fewer crumbs. Chilling the cake firms the crumb so the layers cut cleanly.

Layer. trim the edges and cut the cake across into 2 equal rectangles. Split each one horizontally to give 4 thin layers. Stack them with a thin layer of raspberry jam between each, pressing lightly, so you have 4 layers of sponge and 3 of jam. Brush the top thinly with the warm apricot jam to seal the crumbs and chill 30 min. Cut into 4 cm squares; you should get about 20.

Fondant. put the icing sugar, hot water, glucose and lemon juice in the heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and stir until smooth and warm, 40 °C. Do not let it go above 43 °C, or it loses its shine. It should flow off the spoon in a thick ribbon; add hot water a few drops at a time if needed. Divide into 3 bowls; leave one white and tint one pale pink and one pale yellow. Gentle warmth keeps the fondant runny and glossy.

Coat. set the squares on the racks over the tray, well apart. Spoon one colour over each cake so it runs down and covers the sides. Rewarm the fondant if it thickens, and reuse what drips onto the tray. Leave 30 min to set.

Rosettes. beat the butter, icing sugar and milk until fluffy, divide into 3 and tint to match the fondant. Pipe a small rosette on top of each cake in its matching colour. Lift into the paper cases with the offset spatula.