Mirror Glaze Caketastrophy
EDIT TO ADD: My second attempt at a mirror glaze came out SO much better. It helps that I was more comfortable with the many steps involved. I made the cake and jello (still can't get it out of the mold in one piece) in the morning. Made the chocolate mousse and glaze in the evening and I made SURE to let the mousse ON the cake set in the freezer for at least an hour, so the glaze had something cold to adhere to when being poured:
There's a new hype for cake decorating going around - Mirror Glaze. It looked really neat and I wanted to try it. But everything about it, other than the cake, was new for me. It ended up being a caketastrophy, a tasty caketastrophy, but a mess. My Dad said, "It doesn't matter if it looks good, what matters is that it taste good." I want it to be both... at least once.
So, here's the thing, there are three layers to this cake. It's a "European dessert" and people online get a little offended if it's just "cake." It should be bottom layer of cake, then a layer of jello and the top layer is mousse. I'm going to alter that when I attempt to try this again, but for my first try, I did as the Europeans determined was appropriate.
I would suggest to make the cake and jello the first night. Then the next day do the mousse and glaze the second day.
Cake - just follow the standard cake of what you do. (in the future, I will tort the cake and have a bottom layer of cake AND a top layer of cake to make it smooth)
Jello - use a cake pan - LINE the cake pan with Saran Wrap first, make sure the wrap goes up all the sides, otherwise the jello will seep under the wrap (this is what happened to my first try). Make the jello per the jello box instructions. When you go to take out the jello, get some warm water in the sink and put the cake pan in the warm water for a few seconds. That should help get the jello out of the cake pan mode. Do NOT attempt to do this until you are ready to put this on the cake. My first attempt the jello went under the wrap, broke up into several small pieces and was a massive mess.
Okay, so the cake is made, the jello is made and in the pan. Let's work on the the process:
The instructions call for a spring-form pan. Another mistake I made... I used a 10 inch spring-form pan with an 8 inch cake - wayyyy too much space! Get the sizes correct.
1) Place torted bottom of the cake on the spring-form pan. Make the mousse.
Mousse ingredients:
3/4 teaspoon unflavoured gelatin
1 tablespoon water
3/4 cup white chocolate (I used chips and a little more than 3/4 cup)
1 1/2 cups cold heavy whipping cream (350 ml) (Cream will be broken to 1/2 cup and 1 cup)
Procedure:
Mix the gelatin and water in a small bowl and set aside for 5 minutes (this is called "blooming the gelatin")
Put the white chocolate in a heat safe bowl.
Bring 1/2 cup of cream to a boil, immediately upon boil, pour over top of white chocolate. Add gelatin and mix until chocolate is smooth.
Put the remaining (1 cup) whipping cream into a stand mixer and use the wire whip for the mixer - on high to get soft peaks. Take a third of the stand mixer whipping cream and add to the white chocolate mixture and stir until lightened. Add the rest of the stand mixer whipped cream and fold with a spatula until no white streaks remain.
Now you are ready to go back to the cake.
The torted bottom cake is already there. Use a decorating spatula to put a thin layer of the white chocolate mousse on the cake. Carefully take the jello layer out of the pan and place it on top of the white chocolate mousse thin layer. Pour the remaining mousse on top of the mellow and smooth the mousse flat.
My addition - put the TOP of the torted cake on top of the mouse for a smooth top****
PLACE CAKE IN THE FREEZER.
While the cake is solidifying in the freezer for at least an hour, make the mirror glaze.
Mirror Glaze Ingredients:
7.14 Oz (one cup) (or 200 grams) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup (a little over 1 cup) (or 300 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 cup of water (or 150 grams) and 1/3 cup water
1 1/2 cups (350 grams) white chocolate chips
.67 ounces (or 19 grams) of gelatin (the gelatin comes 4 packs to a box - use three and a half of the packs)
Glaze Procedure:
Bloom gelatin with 1/2 cup of water and set aside for 5 minutes.
Heat condensed milk, sugar and water (1/3 cup) in a saucepan over MEDIUM heat and bring to a simmer (once the mixture starts to bubble, turn off the heat) Stir in bloomed gelatin into the saucepan until it is dissolved.
Place chocolate chips into a large heat proof bowl.
Pour hot mixture over chocolate and add food coloring. Let sit for 5 minutes. Once chocolate has softened, use an immersion blender to smooth mixture. Pour mixture through a sieve to remove any lumps (make sure their is another bowl under the sieve to catch the glaze).
ALLOW GLAZE TO COOL TO 91.4 Fahrenheit before pouring (I was too impatient and didn't allow it to cool all the way - if it's too hot it will just run off the cake!)
Once the glaze is cool, get a large pan to cake the glaze that runs over the cake. Get a bowl for the cake to sit on top of, but the bowl has to be smaller than the cake (to make it a pedestal for the cake).
Position the cake on the pedestal in the pan. Start the pouring of the glaze around the outside curves of the cake, working towards the center. Make sure the glaze covers the sides of the cake, right down to the base.
Let the glaze drip for 5 minutes, cut the drips off from under the cake plate and place onto a serving plate. USE A KNIFE DIPPED IN HOT WATER (and dried) to cut the cake).
Here are pictures of my first attempt:
The beginning of the caketastrophy - horrible jello layer
Glaze came out pretty, but I didn't wait for it to cool
The frozen cake was a mess, because the 10 pan was so much larger than the 8 inch cake. Ugh. And the jello uneven layer caused the mousse to be uneven. Next time - top layer will be cake!
The glaze did have a "mirror" shiny look to it.. but it was too bumpy.
Not easy to cut using a regular knife, but my family said it tasted great.
There's a new hype for cake decorating going around - Mirror Glaze. It looked really neat and I wanted to try it. But everything about it, other than the cake, was new for me. It ended up being a caketastrophy, a tasty caketastrophy, but a mess. My Dad said, "It doesn't matter if it looks good, what matters is that it taste good." I want it to be both... at least once.
So, here's the thing, there are three layers to this cake. It's a "European dessert" and people online get a little offended if it's just "cake." It should be bottom layer of cake, then a layer of jello and the top layer is mousse. I'm going to alter that when I attempt to try this again, but for my first try, I did as the Europeans determined was appropriate.
I would suggest to make the cake and jello the first night. Then the next day do the mousse and glaze the second day.
Cake - just follow the standard cake of what you do. (in the future, I will tort the cake and have a bottom layer of cake AND a top layer of cake to make it smooth)
Jello - use a cake pan - LINE the cake pan with Saran Wrap first, make sure the wrap goes up all the sides, otherwise the jello will seep under the wrap (this is what happened to my first try). Make the jello per the jello box instructions. When you go to take out the jello, get some warm water in the sink and put the cake pan in the warm water for a few seconds. That should help get the jello out of the cake pan mode. Do NOT attempt to do this until you are ready to put this on the cake. My first attempt the jello went under the wrap, broke up into several small pieces and was a massive mess.
Okay, so the cake is made, the jello is made and in the pan. Let's work on the the process:
The instructions call for a spring-form pan. Another mistake I made... I used a 10 inch spring-form pan with an 8 inch cake - wayyyy too much space! Get the sizes correct.
1) Place torted bottom of the cake on the spring-form pan. Make the mousse.
Mousse ingredients:
3/4 teaspoon unflavoured gelatin
1 tablespoon water
3/4 cup white chocolate (I used chips and a little more than 3/4 cup)
1 1/2 cups cold heavy whipping cream (350 ml) (Cream will be broken to 1/2 cup and 1 cup)
Procedure:
Mix the gelatin and water in a small bowl and set aside for 5 minutes (this is called "blooming the gelatin")
Put the white chocolate in a heat safe bowl.
Bring 1/2 cup of cream to a boil, immediately upon boil, pour over top of white chocolate. Add gelatin and mix until chocolate is smooth.
Put the remaining (1 cup) whipping cream into a stand mixer and use the wire whip for the mixer - on high to get soft peaks. Take a third of the stand mixer whipping cream and add to the white chocolate mixture and stir until lightened. Add the rest of the stand mixer whipped cream and fold with a spatula until no white streaks remain.
Now you are ready to go back to the cake.
The torted bottom cake is already there. Use a decorating spatula to put a thin layer of the white chocolate mousse on the cake. Carefully take the jello layer out of the pan and place it on top of the white chocolate mousse thin layer. Pour the remaining mousse on top of the mellow and smooth the mousse flat.
My addition - put the TOP of the torted cake on top of the mouse for a smooth top****
PLACE CAKE IN THE FREEZER.
While the cake is solidifying in the freezer for at least an hour, make the mirror glaze.
Mirror Glaze Ingredients:
7.14 Oz (one cup) (or 200 grams) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup (a little over 1 cup) (or 300 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 cup of water (or 150 grams) and 1/3 cup water
1 1/2 cups (350 grams) white chocolate chips
.67 ounces (or 19 grams) of gelatin (the gelatin comes 4 packs to a box - use three and a half of the packs)
Glaze Procedure:
Bloom gelatin with 1/2 cup of water and set aside for 5 minutes.
Heat condensed milk, sugar and water (1/3 cup) in a saucepan over MEDIUM heat and bring to a simmer (once the mixture starts to bubble, turn off the heat) Stir in bloomed gelatin into the saucepan until it is dissolved.
Place chocolate chips into a large heat proof bowl.
Pour hot mixture over chocolate and add food coloring. Let sit for 5 minutes. Once chocolate has softened, use an immersion blender to smooth mixture. Pour mixture through a sieve to remove any lumps (make sure their is another bowl under the sieve to catch the glaze).
ALLOW GLAZE TO COOL TO 91.4 Fahrenheit before pouring (I was too impatient and didn't allow it to cool all the way - if it's too hot it will just run off the cake!)
Once the glaze is cool, get a large pan to cake the glaze that runs over the cake. Get a bowl for the cake to sit on top of, but the bowl has to be smaller than the cake (to make it a pedestal for the cake).
Position the cake on the pedestal in the pan. Start the pouring of the glaze around the outside curves of the cake, working towards the center. Make sure the glaze covers the sides of the cake, right down to the base.
Let the glaze drip for 5 minutes, cut the drips off from under the cake plate and place onto a serving plate. USE A KNIFE DIPPED IN HOT WATER (and dried) to cut the cake).
Here are pictures of my first attempt:
The beginning of the caketastrophy - horrible jello layer
Glaze came out pretty, but I didn't wait for it to cool
The frozen cake was a mess, because the 10 pan was so much larger than the 8 inch cake. Ugh. And the jello uneven layer caused the mousse to be uneven. Next time - top layer will be cake!
The glaze did have a "mirror" shiny look to it.. but it was too bumpy.
Not easy to cut using a regular knife, but my family said it tasted great.
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