The mirror glaze, also known as shiny glaze or mirror-finish glaze, is a confectionery decorating technique that is winning over more and more pastry chefs. Thanks to its shine and smooth appearance, this glaze adds a touch of elegance and refinement to cakes, small pastries and desserts of every kind.
But how do you make a perfect mirror glaze? What are the secrets to a mirror-glazed cake as shiny as a mirror? Whether you are a professional pastry chef or a dessert lover, in this article you will find all the tips you need to create mirror glazes that will truly wow!
Pastry chef or artist?
Many of us stand spellbound in front of pastry shop windows filled with colourful cakes and sweet treats of every kind: but what is the secret to making such beautiful creations?
The Glazing Art is a technique originally developed in the field of painting, but it has also found its place in modern pastry making, giving rise to desserts with an elegant, refined look. The Glazing Art consists in applying thin, transparent layers of colour (glaze) over a dry underlying layer (underpainting) that serves as a monochrome or coloured base: light passes through the glaze and is reflected by the underpainting, creating a luminous, translucent effect similar to stained glass.
Not all glazes are the same!
The technique of glazing has been used as a form of decoration in pastry making for a very long time: in the past glazes tended to be opaque, whereas today, thanks to the evolution of aesthetic taste and new knowledge of both applications and materials, shop windows showcase glazes that are ever shinier and more colourful.
There are four types of mirror glaze:
- Neutral or fruit glazes. To make a neutral glaze, you first need to bring pectin (a natural thickener), combined with caster sugar and a little water, to the boil. If you want to create a fruit glaze, replace the water with the fruit purée of your choice. Now bring the glaze to a second boil and add some glucose syrup. Once these two cooking stages are complete, add an acidifier — lemon juice or citric acid — and leave the glaze to stabilise, well covered, in the fridge. Once it has cooled, you can use it directly on your desserts!
- Chocolate-based glazes. These glazes can be compared to ganaches, but slightly sweeter. Start preparing the chocolate glaze by bringing the liquid part (water, milk or cream) and the sugars (caster sugar, honey, glucose syrup) to the boil. After boiling, add the thickener (usually animal gelatine) to the chopped chocolate. Like other glazes, the chocolate glaze should rest in the fridge for at least 24 hours to stabilise the mixture, then be gently reheated to 35–37 °C and used on cold desserts.
- Cocoa-based glazes. The cocoa glaze must be cooked above 103 °C to fully dissolve the cocoa powder: otherwise it risks giving the glaze a gritty feel when you taste the dessert. The thickener is then added to the glaze, which is left to stabilise for 24 hours in the fridge and then reheated to 34–36 °C. Use your cocoa glaze on cold desserts.
- Caramel glazes. To prepare this glaze, first make the caramel: dry-cook the sugars up to a maximum of 190 °C, then slowly add the boiling liquids (milk, cream or water). Once the caramel is ready, add the potato starch and heat the mixture again to 102 °C. Finally, to finish your caramel glaze, add the thickener off the heat. Leave it to rest in the fridge for 24 hours, then bring the mixture to 22–27 °C before using it on your desserts.
Every ingredient has its role: the sugars
Sugar is the ingredient that, besides making the glaze sweet, extends its shelf life, prevents crystallisation (if frozen) and keeps its texture soft.
- Caster sugar. Refined white sugar is preferred over others because it melts faster than other types of sugar during heating and cooking, and it also makes the glaze very glossy. Careful, though! If you are making a fruit glaze with ready-to-use — and therefore sweetened — purées or juices, the amount of sugar in the recipe should be reduced in proportion to the amount of fruit.
- Glucose syrup. Not to be confused with sugar syrup, this is a sweetener that inhibits and delays the recrystallisation of sugar — that is, the formation of crystals in the glaze when it is chilled and frozen; it also has a lower sweetening power than caster sugar: perfect for anyone looking for the qualities of sugar but wanting a less sweet glaze.
- Honey. Unlike glucose syrup, honey has a higher sweetening power than caster sugar, but a lower anti-freezing power than glucose syrup.
The liquids
The role of liquids in mirror glazes is to provide the classic shine. The most widely used liquid is water, thanks to its neutral flavour; its function is to melt the sugars and hydrate the thickeners. Other very common liquids are milk and cream: these two elements serve the same purpose as water, but they also bring a flavour of their own, derived from the fats they contain, which blends with and enriches the other ingredients of the cake the glaze will decorate.
The thickeners
Thickeners are used to create the structure the glaze needs to remain stable — in other words, not to run. The thickeners most commonly used to prepare glazes are:
- Pectin. There are many types on the market, each with different characteristics; some are blended with other kinds of thickeners such as carrageenan or alginates, or with modified starches: to find the best thickener for your needs, you have to test them in the various preparations. Pectin is used above all for fruit glazes, and the amount ranges from 0.3% to 1.5% of the total recipe.
- Animal gelatine. It is one of the easiest thickeners to use, as it starts to gel while keeping the glaze fluid even at relatively low temperatures (30–40 °C). Animal gelatine often goes hand in hand with chocolate and cocoa glazes; here too the amount to use ranges from 0.3% to 1.5%.
- Potato starch. It is used mainly in caramel glazes and gives a slightly stringy texture. To be activated, potato starch must reach around 100 °C: this triggers gelling and helps it blend better with the other ingredients. The amount to use ranges from 2% to 3%.
We have seen how preparing a mirror glaze takes skill and precision, but once you have mastered the technique the results are truly spectacular! Whether you are a professional pastry chef or a dessert lover, all that is left is to get to work and let your creativity run free!
