Neutral Cold Mirror Glaze

[David J.]

I am fresh from Norman Love's class and stocking up on ingredients to replicate the wonderful cakes made in class.

One of the mousse cakes was topped with a cold mirror glaze that chef colored and marbled for a beautiful effect. I started my search at the usual pastry supply sites and quickly found that this stuff comes in 7kg+ pails which is FAR more than I need or could possibly use in a decade.

I searched the forum and found one reference to "Oetker's clear glaze" which comes in small packets which would be a perfect size, but I don't know that it's the same thing. Does anyone know?

I also found and subsequently lost the reference to a link that had a recipe which seemed to be based on a particular brand of pectin. Unfortunatly the printer I sent it to was down and I had closed out the browser and couldn't find it again.

Finally there was a reference to Pierre Herme and a recipe for mirror glaze. Does anyone know if this is what I'm looking for?

[ejw50]

You probably have this book, but in "Desserts by Pierre Herme", Dorie Greenspan substitutes Oetker Glaze for Pierre's recipe in Patisserie of Pierre Herme (which has NH pectin, some other stuff I can't remember). So I would think those two are similar at least.

Can't compare to Norman's glaze or the stuff in 15 lb pails myself, but maybe somebody else would know.

[David J.]

You probably have this book, but in "Desserts by Pierre Herme", Dorie Greenspan substitutes Oetker Glaze for Pierre's recipe in Patisserie of Pierre Herme (which has NH pectin, some other stuff I can't remember).  So I would think those two are similar at least.

Can't compare to Norman's glaze or the stuff in 15 lb pails myself, but maybe somebody else would know.

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Even with an extensive pastry book collection I don't have either of those two. It appears it is not yet complete...

I found a "Pectin Glaze" and a "Plain Mirror Glaze" in Bo Friberg's "Advanced Professional Pastry Chef", but neither appears to be a cold glaze as they are made principly by mixing simple syrup into melted gelatin. I don't know if either would be cool enough to top a mousse cake before they set up too far. The pectine glaze also has a tart flavor rather than being neutral.

[Redsugar]

"A house is beautiful not because of its walls, but because of its cakes." ~ Old Russian proverb

Here’s a basic lemon mirror suitable for glazing a 9-inch diameter surface. Perhaps this basic recipe may not comply with the level of sophistication in which you regularly work. Yet, it may satisfy the purpose for some, shall we say, less fastidious patissieres...

1½ tsps unflavored gelatin

1 fl. oz. purified cold water

6 fl. oz. boiling water

1/3 cup superfine sugar

pinch of salt

2 fl. oz. strained fresh lemon juice

Few drops of yellow food coloring (opt.)

Soften gelatin in cold water. Add boiling water and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Add sugar & salt; stir until dissolved. Blend in citrus juice & coloring. Set bowl in larger vessel filled with ice and let stand until mixture is syrupy and begins to thicken, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes – do not let set. Brush paper-thin layer of mixture over top of cake (or, I suppose, a bavarian). Refrigerate until set. Pour second layer over; total thickness should not exceed 3/16 inch. Refrigerate until mirror is set to preferred consistency.

BTW, Ms. Greenspan notes that Chef Hermé’s “Transparent Glaze” -- flavored with lemon, orange, & vanilla -- can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for a week or the freezer for a month.” (p. 38)

Edited October 2, 2007 by Redsugar (log)

[John DePaula]

David,

I've ordered DGF Ready-to-use Glaze from L'Epicerie.com. It's inexpensive and I only had to order a 22oz. pail, though they do have larger sizes available.

HTH

[David J.]

David,

I've ordered DGF Ready-to-use Glaze from L'Epicerie.com.  It's inexpensive and I only had to order a 22oz. pail, though they do have larger sizes available.

HTH

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Thanks for the link. That's exactly what I was looking for!

[CanadianBakin']

"A house is beautiful not because of its walls, but because of its cakes." ~ Old Russian proverb

Here’s a basic lemon mirror suitable for glazing a 9-inch diameter surface.  Perhaps this basic recipe may not comply with the level of sophistication in which you regularly work. Yet, it may satisfy the purpose for some, shall we say, less fastidious patissieres...

1½ tsps unflavored gelatin

1 fl. oz. purified cold water

6 fl. oz. boiling water

1/3 cup superfine sugar

pinch of salt

2 fl. oz. strained fresh lemon juice

Few drops of yellow food coloring (opt.)

Soften gelatin in cold water.  Add boiling water and stir until gelatin is dissolved.  Add sugar & salt; stir until dissolved.  Blend in citrus juice & coloring.  Set bowl in larger vessel filled with ice and let stand until mixture is syrupy and begins to thicken, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes – do not let set.  Brush paper-thin layer of mixture over top of cake (or, I suppose, a bavarian).  Refrigerate until set.  Pour second layer over; total thickness should not exceed 3/16 inch.  Refrigerate until mirror is set to preferred consistency.

BTW, Ms. Greenspan notes that Chef Hermé’s “Transparent Glaze” -- flavored with lemon, orange, & vanilla -- can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for a week or the freezer for a month.” (p. 38)

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Redsugar - good to see you back!

[John DePaula]

David,

I've ordered DGF Ready-to-use Glaze from L'Epicerie.com.  It's inexpensive and I only had to order a 22oz. pail, though they do have larger sizes available.

HTH

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Thanks for the link. That's exactly what I was looking for!

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Glad I could be of help, David.

Last Thanksgiving, I made a cake similar to the ones you made in Norman Love's class. Took me about a year to gather together all of the obscure ingredients and then another 3 days to make all of the components (I'm not very fast in the kitchen...).

[RuthWells]

David, on a related matter, did you make note of the ring sizes Chef Love was using for the entremet? My memory is 18cm and 20cm; does that sound right to you?

[David J.]

David, on a related matter, did you make note of the ring sizes Chef Love was using for the entremet?  My memory is 18cm and 20cm; does that sound right to you?

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I recall Chef asking for the 180mm rings so I would say 18cm for the large rings and 3" for the smaller. I think the flexipans for the larger cakes were 16cm.

He remarked that the larger cakes at his shop were 9", so you can adjust it as you want as long as you make the outside ring slightly larger than the insides.

Edited to confirm my notes say 160/180mm pans and rings, and Norman's cakes are actually 6" and 8" at his shop.

Edited October 4, 2007 by David J. (log)

[RuthWells]

David, on a related matter, did you make note of the ring sizes Chef Love was using for the entremet?  My memory is 18cm and 20cm; does that sound right to you?

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I recall Chef asking for the 180mm rings so I would say 18cm for the large rings and 3" for the smaller. I think the flexipans for the larger cakes were 16cm.

He remarked that the larger cakes at his shop were 9", so you can adjust it as you want as long as you make the outside ring slightly larger than the insides.

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Cool, thanks. Did you get my PM?

[schneich]

hi,

in my opinion its far too much hassle to make the stuff on your own. in europe and japan the pros use whats called "nappage neutre" its a concentrate which can be kept at room temp. it must be diluted with a certain amount of water (or fruitpuree or juice) heated to 100c and voila you got your "miroir". since you can control the amount of added water (or juice) you will be able to glaze even dome shaped petit gateau. if you just want to glaze on top of a cake it wouldnt be a problem but if you need to cover the sides also its important to hold your nappage a bit more on the firm side, otherwise it will slide off and ruin your cake...

the product you should go for (my favorite):

Puratos Harmony Classic Neutra

cheers

torsten s.

[bripastryguy]

Mostly what is being discussed is neutral mirror glaze which needs to be dilutted and brought to a boil. In some cases this may effect the final product (melt it). The product that Norman probably used is a Cold process mirror glaze which needs no heating and can be diluted to a certain degree. I use either Puratos Cold Mirroir or Paris Gourmet's Crystal mirror glaze

[John DePaula]

Mostly what is being discussed is neutral mirror glaze which needs to be dilutted and brought to a boil. In some cases this may effect the final product (melt it). The product that Norman probably used is a Cold process mirror glaze which needs no heating and can be diluted to a certain degree. I use either Puratos Cold Mirroir or Paris Gourmet's Crystal mirror glaze

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Is this not the same stuff? DFG Ready-to-use Glaze

[David J.]

Mostly what is being discussed is neutral mirror glaze which needs to be dilutted and brought to a boil. In some cases this may effect the final product (melt it). The product that Norman probably used is a Cold process mirror glaze which needs no heating and can be diluted to a certain degree. I use either Puratos Cold Mirroir or Paris Gourmet's Crystal mirror glaze

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Is this not the same stuff? DFG Ready-to-use Glaze

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I'm sure it is, and that's what I ordered.

What he was cautioning against was mistaking this for the cold glaze: DGF Neutral Glaze

Edited to add that my notes say Chef uses Puratos Cold Mirroir glaze.

Edited October 4, 2007 by David J. (log)

[schneich]

if you dilute nappage neutre beyond a certain level you got miroir. the bonus of the nappage neutre is that you can choose with what you dilute, you can choose anything from concentrated coffee to fruitpuree. if you dilute the puratos miroir any further it will slide...

cheers

t.

[sugarseattle]

i found this little book of recipes here which has a cold glaze recipe:

http://www.herbstreith-fox.de/fileadmin/tm...ge_englisch.pdf

looks like it uses a certain kind of pectin, but it would do what you want.

I've used puratos "sublimo" glaze which works fabulously; however, I can really taste the potassium sorbate, so when I reopen, I plan to make my own, even though it's going to be a little extra work.

[David J.]

i found this little book of recipes here which has a cold glaze recipe:

http://www.herbstreith-fox.de/fileadmin/tm...ge_englisch.pdf

looks like it uses a certain kind of pectin, but it would do what you want.

I've used puratos "sublimo" glaze which works fabulously; however, I can really taste the potassium sorbate, so when I reopen, I plan to make my own, even though it's going to be a little extra work.

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That's the recipe I found and lost!

Please let me know how it comes out if you make it.