Mini Red Velvet Cakes (Petit Fours)

Two layers of mini red velvet cakes sandwiched between cream cheese frosting and fresh strawberry jam. These adorable little cakes are perfect for bridal showers, galentines, Christmas, or birthday parties.

Seriously, how cute are these little mini red velvet cakes? They are perfect bite-sized treats filled with sweet cream cheese. Much like my mini red velvet cheesecakes, these cakes are perfectly sized for any gathering!

While I made these cakes in red velvet, you can make them in any cake flavor. (Did someone say pink for a baby shower? How cute would that be?)

Squares are the traditional shape for mini cakes. I like the square shape because it is clean and efficient. The cakes in the pictures were made using a heart-shaped cookie cutter. Other popular shapes you could make with cookie cutters include circles, stars, or flowers.

I encourage you to have fun and be creative. The shapes can be fun as long as the cake is moist and the filling is sweet.

Specific Ingredient Notes

Flour – Traditional all-purpose flour is the perfect flour for this cake. It provides enough strength to hold up all the layers and decoration while keeping the sponge light.

Jam – I used homemade strawberry jam in the middle of the cakes. It does not take long to make, and the flavor is very fresh. If you prefer, use jam purchased at the store.

Red Food Coloring – Red velvet cakes were made with beetroot to achieve a red color. Nowadays, most bakers use food coloring, including me. There are two types of red food coloring: gel and regular. The gel food coloring is much more concentrated than the standard version. I always recommend using gel to maintain the correct recipe moisture ratios.

Helpful Tips

Size—The number of mini cakes will depend on the size of the cake. Use your cookie cutter or ruler to determine how many cakes will be produced on the baking sheet. Each cut will be sliced in half, creating the layers. For example, if my heart cookie cutter makes 10 cuts on the baking sheet, I will have ten mini cakes.

Frosting—I created a small frosting recipe that matches the size of the cakes, minus any exterior frosting. If you prefer a larger batch, select 2x or 3x in the recipe below.

Choosing the correct pan – Using this recipe, I recommend using a 9×13 baking sheet. This makes a cake easy to cut and thick enough to slice in half.

Choosing the shape and mold—You will likely want to cut the cake into the desired shape. I used two shapes: a heart and a circle. For the heart shape, I used a cookie cutter, and for the circle, I used a small biscuit cutter. If you do not have a cutter, you can use a mug or small bowl to achieve a round shape.