The mirror glaze is the detail that can transform the surface of your dessert into a mirror of sweetness and turn your desserts into true works of art. Do you want to impress your guests with incredible desserts? The mirror glaze is the extra touch you are looking for to create the perfect dessert.
How to make mirror glaze?
Today we will prepare a chocolate mirror glaze, here is what you will need for the preparation:
Ingredients
- 40g water
- 80g caster sugar
- 80g glucose syrup
- 135g fresh cream
- 200g dark chocolate
- 4g gelatine sheets
Procedure
- Start by softening the gelatine in cold water, then squeeze it out and set it aside.
- In a saucepan, bring the water and the sugars to the boil: the temperature must reach 103 °C.
- In another pan, bring the cream to the boil.
- Chop the chocolate and pour it into a 1-litre jug.
- Once the two ingredients are boiling, combine them and strain them through a fine sieve into the jug where you previously placed the chocolate.
- Blend everything with an immersion blender: try to avoid the formation of air bubbles.
- Now add the hydrated gelatine sheets.
- Your shiny glaze is ready! Pour the mixture into a container and cover it with cling film pressed onto the surface. Let it rest in a cool place for 12 hours.
Warning! Before using the glaze on your cake, you must heat it.
How to heat the mirror glaze?
The mirror glaze must be heated to a temperature of 30–35 °C before being used to glaze the cake, but before heating the glaze you must let it rest overnight in the fridge, with the surface covered with cling film to prevent it from drying out.
You can heat the mirror glaze in a bain-marie: bring the water to a temperature of 35–40 °C and immerse the container with the glaze in it. It is important not to exceed 40 °C, so as not to risk damaging the glaze and making it lose its shine.
Another method is to heat the mirror glaze in the microwave for short intervals, stirring well between each pass, until the desired temperature is reached: it is essential not to boil or overheat the glaze, because it could separate or lose its shiny, smooth texture!
Which desserts are best suited for a mirror glaze?
Many desserts can be suited to this type of decoration, especially cakes with an even surface:
- Classic cakes, such as chocolate cake, torta della nonna (an Italian custard tart) or torta Margherita.
- Ring cakes, where the glaze makes the round shape stand out much more.
- Filled cakes, where you can play with contrasts: for example a chocolate glaze and a coconut or citrus filling.
- Cheesecake, very popular in summer, works very well with fruit glazes.
- Semifreddos in general, which can create very interesting fresh contrasts.
But it doesn't end there! The mirror glaze also works well on desserts that already have a layer of cream or creamy filling on the surface: the glaze will create a crunchy contrast with the soft layer underneath.
How to make coloured glaze?
Making a coloured mirror glaze is very simple: you can harness the colouring power of the ingredients, such as the colours of fruit; if instead you want to make a multicoloured glaze, but with a single flavour, you can add food colouring.
- Prepare the mirror glaze following the procedure above, with the same ingredients.
- Once the glaze is ready and still warm, add the food colouring.
- Mix well; you can use an immersion blender to incorporate the colour evenly. You can divide the glaze into several parts and colour them differently, so as to obtain glazes of different colours and make a rainbow cake.
The coloured mirror glaze should be used at the same temperature of 30–35 °C as the base glaze, to ensure the right fluidity and adhesion to the cake.
Are you ready to turn your desserts into pastry masterpieces? Start experimenting with new flavour combinations using the mirror glaze and share your masterpieces with us!
