petit four

American  

[pet-ee fawr, fohr, puh-tee foor] / ˈpɛt i ˈfɔr, ˈfoʊr, pə ti ˈfur /

noun

plural

petits fours, petit fours

1. a small teacake, variously frosted and decorated.

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petit four British  

/ pəti fur, ˈpɛtɪ ˈfɔː /

noun

1. any of various very small rich sweet cakes and biscuits, usually decorated with fancy icing, marzipan, etc

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Etymology

Origin of petit four

1880–85; < French: literally, small oven

Example Sentences

Pungent dried scallops are in a sweet-and-savory fudge petit four, not a classic soup.

From The Wall Street Journal

A steal at $28 for three courses, diners saddle up to the counter, reminiscent of a chef’s table, for a French and Japanese-inspired amuse bouche with a main dessert, followed by petit fours.

From Salon

Then Ella dragged Brigit to the Conjure Creole Creamery, where attendants pulled levers making decadent concretes and malted mischief milkshakes full of pralines and petit fours and pieces of pecan pie.

From Literature

Soon, we were all sitting on the floor, sharing the enormous tray of petit fours.

From Literature

Gone were the petit fours and open bar and light-projected logos for sponsor Stella Artois.

From Washington Post