Chocolate Mirror Glaze for Cakes

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   Glaze #1 — ingredients. Pour 70 ml (about 1/3 cup) water over the gelatin and let it bloom.

2. Step 2:

   

   Pour the sugar into a saucepan.

3. Step 3:

   

   Add 100 ml (about 1/2 cup) water to the sugar.

4. Step 4:

   

   Stir and set it on the stove. Once it boils, cook for 10 minutes, or until it reaches 230°F (110°C).

5. Step 5:

   

   Add the cream, stir, and bring to a boil.

6. Step 6:

   

   Add the cocoa and stir.

7. Step 7:

   

   Bring to a boil.

8. Step 8:

   

   Add the bloomed gelatin and stir. Take it off the heat.

9. Step 9:

   

   The glaze is ready. If it has any lumps, pass it through a fine sieve. You can use it right away, but it's better to let it rest a day in the fridge with plastic wrap pressed onto the surface. The working temperature for this glaze is 86°F (30°C).

10. Step 10:

    

    Glaze #2 — ingredients. The amounts given are a half batch for a small cake. For a full-size celebration cake, double everything. Pour 30 ml (about 2 tbsp) water over the gelatin and let it bloom.

11. Step 11:

    

    Put the condensed milk in a tall glass or beaker.

12. Step 12:

    

    Then the bloomed gelatin.

13. Step 13:

    

    And the chocolate.

14. Step 14:

    

    Pour water into a saucepan.

15. Step 15:

    

    Add the sugar.

16. Step 16:

    

    And the invert syrup (or glucose syrup). Stir, set the saucepan on the stove, and once it boils, cook for 2 minutes, or until it reaches 217°F (103°C).

17. Step 17:

    

    Pour the boiling syrup into the glass with the chocolate, condensed milk, and gelatin. Let them sit and mingle for a moment.

18. Step 18:

    

    Blend with an immersion blender until smooth.

19. Step 19:

    

    The glaze is ready. You can pour it over the cake right now, once it's cooled — but it's better to chill it a day in the fridge with plastic wrap pressed onto the surface. The working temperature for this glaze is 90–95°F (32–35°C).

20. Step 20:

    

    To test the glaze, freeze a spoon and dip it in — however it looks on the spoon is how it'll look on the cake. Glaze a round cake by pouring into the center. For a square or rectangular cake, coax the glaze toward the corners. If any glaze pools up into a ridge, sweep it off with a long offset spatula in a single pass.

21. Step 21:

    

    And there it is — a glossy, gorgeous chocolate mirror glaze for cakes.