Cake With Mirror Glaze - How To Make It At Home?

Certainly, there are desserts that seduce more than others! And such is the case with the cake with mirror icing. To mark the birthday of your little blonde head or to surprise your darling on the occasion of Valentine's Day 2020, the mirror topping is causing a sensation on the table. A staple of pastry, shiny icing arouses both admiration and fear among foodies. However, it is not that hard to achieve as it seems. Follow us and find out how to make it happen at home!

Cake with mirror glaze - dessert ideas in which you can see your face

What is shiny glaze? Made with water, sugar, gelatin, white chocolate, condensed milk and various powdered dyes, it allows you to make all kinds of cakes and festive desserts such as galactic cake, gravity cake, drip cake, donuts, cupcakes, etc. Even the Yule log will not be spared! The only condition to succeed yourself? The cake should be cold enough enough. So, once ready, your cake should rest in the freezer for at least 1 day before being covered with icing. Otherwise, the latter will not stick.

Be careful, the cake with mirror icing is not to be confused with the one covered with royal icing, widely used for the creation of decorations. Poured over a cake, a dessert or a Bavarian, the mirror glaze covers the entire surface of the cake. It does not add any additional texture and exists in different varieties: neutral, chocolate or fruit. If done on a fruit cake, it is applied using a brush to keep the fruit intact.

10 expert tips to follow for a successful mirror coating

While the homemade mirror icing cake isn't too complicated to make, there are a few little rules you can follow so you don't miss out and become a mirror topping king / queen:

• you have to learn how to manage the temperature of the syrup (103 ° C) and the icing (30-35 ° C) using a thermometer.
• use only couverture chocolate
• for a brighter texture, prefer honey instead of glucose
• use gelatin instead of agar, as the latter cannot stand the cold
• prefer liquid food colors than powder
• for a perfectly smooth topping, opt for a hand blender
• prefer whole condensed milk and not sweetened milk
• apply the frosting to a frozen cake
• get yourself a turntable
• use a pastry pan with a drip tray underneath to collect the excess icing

Once the basic preparation has been mastered, you can gradually start to vary the recipes and try the icing on different types of desserts and cakes!

Classic Chocolate Mirror Icing

The mirror chocolate topping is certainly the most classic recipe that you find everywhere.

Ingredients for 1 frozen cake:

• 120 g caster sugar
• 10 c. honey / 150 ml glucose
• 80 ml of water
• 100 g of whole condensed milk
• 150 g dark / milk chocolate
• 9 g of gelatin powder

Preparation:

Start by soaking the gelatin in a bowl filled with water. If you are using powdered gelatin, be aware that the water should be 6 times its weight or, in this case, 54 ml of cold water. Then pour the 80ml of water into another container and add the sugar and honey / glucose to it. Bring to a boil at 103 ° C and remove from heat. Add whole milk and gelatin. Do it gently so as not to create air bubbles. In a separate bowl, place the dark chocolate and slowly pour in the gelatin-milk mixture. Mix everything well using a hand blender. Let stand for 24 hours in the fridge. You can use immediately after the temperature has dropped to 35 ° C.

At the end of this time, remove from the fridge and heat in a double boiler, stirring gently. Take your cake out of the fridge, place it on a rack with a dish underneath and frost it. It should be completely covered with icing. Use a spatula to remove excess topping. Decorate as you wish! In our case, we sprinkled it with glitter powder. If you have a crush on macaroons, you can place a few in them. Finally, place your cake one last time in the freezer and let it sit for 24 hours.

Mirror topping with red berries for your frozen desserts / bavarois

Ingredients for 6 small frozen desserts:

• 2 tbsp. powdered gelatin
• 50 ml of water
• 100 g of white couverture chocolate
• 70 ml whole milk
• 50 ml of water
• 100g sugar
• 100 ml of glucose / 6 tbsp. of honey
• colorful food coloring

Preparation:

In a small bowl, dilute the gelatin in 50 ml of water and let stand for a few minutes. In a separate container, put the chocolate and the milk, then add the gelatin-water mixture. Then pour the sugar and glucose into a small saucepan filled with 50 ml of water and bring to a boil. From the first boiling, remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes. At the end of this time, pour the syrup obtained into the previous mixture.

With your hand mixer, mix everything until you obtain a smooth mixture without lumps. Refrigerate for 12 h. Take out of the fridge and add the food coloring. Mix gently before covering your cold desserts. Work them with a spatula for a smooth pleat finish. After the icing, let them drain for a while and send them to the fridge. If you wish, you can flavor your topping by adding passion fruit or blueberry flavoring for even more flavor!

How to make a leopard effect mirror topping?

Are you a real pro and won't be afraid of cake with mirror icing? So, it's time to work on the decoration of your shiny topping! To do this, Deavita.fr has chosen a Hallowen cake recipe with a frosting that is monstrously good! Leopard print or spider web effect, this cake will be a hit with your guests. To make it yourself, all you need is a frozen cake and the following ingredients.

For the mirror glaze:

• 25 g dark chocolate
• 40g cocoa powder
• 40 ml light cream
• 75 ml of water
• 125 g sugar
• 2 g of vegetable gelatin
• 2 tbsp. tablespoon of water

For the leopard effect:

• 2 tbsp. neutral icing
• a few drops of white food coloring
• a few drops of red and yellow food coloring
• water

You already have all the necessary ingredients, so let's get started with the recipe! The step by step tutorial, above!

Galactic Shiny Icing

While you've been told about the galactic cake before, it definitely needs to be mentioned, because this one just doesn't work without a shiny topping!

Ingredients:

• 20 g of gelatin powder
• 150 ml of water
• 300g sugar
• 300 g of glucose syrup
• 300 g of white couverture chocolate
• 200 g milk
• powder dye black, purple, pink, dark blue, white
• silver stars in sugar for decoration (optional)

"Geode cake" with mirror glaze

Another trendy cake that pairs beautifully with mirror topping is the famous “Geode Cake”. And just like his galactic friend, this one poses no problem in terms of preparation. So, after having iced it by following the steps shown in the video above, all that remains is to cut out a part that you will then cover with colored buttercream and sugar crystals.

The "Drip cake" is also adorned with mirror reflections for Halloween

Galactic Christmas cake with mirror topping

Mirror icing, red fruits and macaroons

"Spider web" effect on a pink mirror glaze