Question about spider web effect on mirror glaze

[SnewtonBR]

I've been doing mirror glazed cakes for a while, and finally decided to try a spider web effect.   It "kind of worked", but of course it could have been a little better. I include a photo, it is a lemon-blueberry entremet cake. 

 

I would like to know a little more about the chemistry behind the effect - I know it is mainly due to a contrast of temperature between the freshly poured mirror glaze (at around 98F but sitting on a frozen surface, so it immediately cools down a lot) - and the hot (perhaps 125F) neutral glaze with the contrasting color.   My question is - apart from the temperature, is there a difference in density that is needed?  anybody knows how the neutral glaze compares to most mirror glaze formulas in terms of density?    I know I could try and calculate it, but I am using a store-bought neutral glaze and the precise composition is not available.   

 

can a spider web effect be produced with mirror glaze at low temp and a similar composition of glaze at higher temperature?  Probably it would not "smear" as nicely, though...  

 

I am rambling... but honestly, I've searched for more explanations on this everywhere... no luck

[teonzo]

That effect is based on the non-miscibility of water and fat. If you add water to fat (just adding, without emulsifying) then they will remain separated. Mirror glazes are fat based (dairy fats in milk and cream, cocoa butter...) while neutral glaze is water based. You use the neutral glaze at a higher temperature just to retard the gelification (of the gelatin proteins) and crystallization (of the cocoa butter) in the mirror glaze.

If you try pouring a mirror glaze over another mirror glaze (different colors) then you'll just get a shaded effect, not a spider web effect.

 

Here is an old thread about this:

 

If you add the word "Sattler" to your google searches then you'll get plenty of results (both pages explaining how it works and videos). Gérard Sattler is the French pastry chef who invented this technique.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[SnewtonBR]

awesome!  absolutely all I needed to know -  I am a biochemist (I know, should have figured it out), but I did not notice that neutral glaze is in fact water based.  DUH!  ;-)

 

thanks a million (or should I say grazzie mille?)    ;-)

Edited February 27, 2019 by SnewtonBR (log)