petite & Precious

In Las Vegas, where too much seems to be just barely enough, Jean-Philippe Maury is the Bellagio Hotel’s executive pastry chef. He also co-owns the hotel’s patisserie and café, where light meals, elaborate desserts, and French pastries are served. “When you see my cake on your table, you say, ‘This adds to my celebration. It is exquisite.’ What better way to note an anniversary than to have a new version of your wedding cake—or the cake you wish you’d had at your wedding?” he asks.

At the Jean Philippe Patisserie, the small, ornate cakes are as varied as the decorative motifs. They sell for $12 and up, sweet reminders of the occasions they commemorate. At Cakework, Cecile’s sophisticated, refined cakes are wrapped in white chocolate and start at $15 per person, based on the design and its intricacy. And at Boston’s Finale, the miniature personalized pastries and cakes are sold for $4.75 to $10 for a 4-inch cake.

Intricately decorated small cakes are fragile and are not available by mail order. But ask a local pastry shop to create its own version. These Finale cakes could serve as inspiration. Their mousse cake is made with three kinds of chocolate—bittersweet, milk, and white—and covered in ganache. A strawberry Bavarian cake is white cake layered with fresh strawberries and a vanilla Bavarian cream.

Finale cakes are made with such high-quality ingredients as 64 percent Valrhona Manjari bittersweet chocolate from France and the richest cream and butter available. Only mousses are used as filling.