petit four

Meaning

1. 1nouncountable

   A very small, decorated cake or biscuit, often served with coffee or at the end of a fancy meal.

   Grammar: Countable with an unusual plural: one petit four, two petits fours.

   Patterns

   • a plate of petits fours

   The waiter brought a plate of petits fours with the coffee.

   She decorated each petit four with a tiny sugar flower.

   The wedding tea included petits fours in pastel colours.

Word forms

Common combinations

plate of petits fours

A plate of petits fours was passed around the table.

serve petits fours

The cafe serves petits fours after dinner.

iced petit four

She chose an iced petit four decorated with a violet.

bake petits fours

He learned to bake petits fours in pastry school.

Synonyms and how they differ

fancy

Fancy is a British term for a small decorated cake, less formal than petit four.

mignardise

Mignardise is the French restaurant word for small sweets at the meal's end, often including petits fours.

cupcake

A cupcake is larger and baked in a paper cup, unlike the bite-sized petit four.

Word family

petit adjective

French for small, found in English phrases like petit bourgeois

four noun

French for oven, in the original term meaning small oven

patisserie noun

a shop or art of making fine pastries

pastry noun

baked dough used in cakes and pies

Commonly confused: petit four or petite?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “petit four”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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