Pour this glossy chocolate mirror glaze over a cake and turn it into a gorgeous chocolate cake - Today, I'm sharing how to make it with just 5 simple steps!
It's so easy to make, and the result is amazing - The consistency is just right, and the flavors are well-balanced. It is my go-to mirror glaze for any chocolate cake.
🤎 I love this mirror glaze because it's:
- So easy to make! - 5 ingredients with five steps!
- Very smooth and shiny - The cake looks so elegant with this glossy glaze!
- Not too sensitive to minor mistakes or temperature gaps like some glaze.
- Simple yet tastes delicious - I use this mirror glaze for any chocolate cake.
In this post, you'll learn essential baking tips such as:
- What type of gelatin should we use?
- How to avoid mirror glaze from getting lumpy
- The temperature to pour it onto a cake
- How to store and reuse it
Let's get started!
Jump to:
📌 What's In Chocolate Mirror Glaze?
- Gelatin
- Use gelatin powder or sheets, whichever you like. (Check the instruction in the steps to see how to use them.)
- Bloom: "Bloom" refers to the strength of gelatin). Today, I used gelatin sheets with 230 "blooms" The lower the amount is, the softer the panna cotta gets, so adjust the amount accordingly. (If it's not listed on the box, I suggest making it with the same amount and seeing if you like the firmness.)
- Water
- It thins out the glaze to prevent it from getting too thick.
- Heavy cream
- Use regular whole-fat heavy cream.
- Granulated sugar
- Sugar helps to make the shiny, softer texture while also working as a preservative.
- Cocoa powder
- Use any of your favorite cocoa powders.
- The glaze gets darker with lighter cocoa powder. High-quality cocoa powder often has a darker color.
- Use any of your favorite cocoa powders.
📌 How To Make Chocolate Mirror Glaze
The 5 Steps:
- Hydrate gelatin beforehand:
- Gelatin sheets: Soak the gelatin sheet in ice water for about 10 minutes.
- Gelatin powder: Follow the package instructions to see if you need to mix it with cold water beforehand. Often, you'll need to mix gelatin powder in 4-5 times more amounts of icy water and let it sit for about 10 minutes.
- Pour water into a pot. Mix cocoa powder and granulated sugar well with a whisk in a separate bowl and add them to the pot. Mix well until the liquids look very smooth.
- Heat 2 at medium heat while mixing constantly with a spatula until it starts boiling.
- Add heavy cream and continue heating until the liquids start boiling again.
- Strain it and add the hydrated gelatin. Mix and ensure that the gelatin is melted completely.
📝 More Tips With Images
Now, let me share detailed tips on each step, which are crucial for making chocolate mirror glaze successful.
Step 1: Hydrate gelatin beforehand for about 10 minutes.
Gelatin sheet:
Soak gelatin sheets in ice water and let them hydrate for 10 minutes.
👩🏻🍳 Use icy water and ensure that all the sheets are soaked in so they hydrate well. The tips also apply the same when you are using gelatin powder.
Gelatin powder:
Follow the package instructions and let it hydrate with cold water. (It usually requires you to mix with 4 - 5 times more of the gelatin amount.)
Also, wait for about 10 minutes.
Step 2: Pour water into a pot. Add cocoa powder and granulated sugar and mix well until the liquids look smooth.
Mix cocoa powder and granulated sugar well with a whisk in a separate bowl.
💡 Mixing cocoa powder and sugar beforehand eliminates a lot of chunks of cocoa powder beforehand.
Step 3: Heat the pot at medium heat while mixing constantly with a spatula until it starts boiling.
💬 Some ingredients, such as heavy cream and cocoa powder, easily get burned. Constantly mix evenly, scraping off the bottom and the sides.
💬 It will be easier to clean the bottom and sides with a spatula than a whisk.
Stop when it is boiling hard!
Step 4: Add heavy cream and continue boiling until the liquids start boiling again.
Add all the heavy cream.
Remove it from the heat once it starts boiling hard again.
Step 5: Strain it and add the hydrated gelatin. Mix well.
👩🏻🍳 The glaze still contains tiny chunks of cocoa powder at this point. By straining it with a fine sieve, you can ensure it is very smooth!
💬 Before you add gelatin sheets, squeeze out excess water by hand. Or use a sieve to do the same!
Check if the gelatin is completely melted.
📌 Tips for glazing over cakes
It is too hot to pour onto cakes right after it's made. Set it aside and let it cool more, checking the temperature sometimes.
👩🏻🍳 Do not mix it too fast so that it does not contain a lot of air bubbles. They do not look appealing on cakes! 💦 Mix slowly.
The temperature of the mirror glaze
I like to pour the glaze on a frozen cake because it's much easier to spread it beautifully. Many pastry shops, including those I worked at in the past, intentionally freeze cakes for this purpose.
Cool it to 104 F | 40 C to pour on a frozen cake. It is slightly warm or doesn't feel anything when you touch it. (depending on how cold your finger is)
- You might need to adjust the temperature depending on the temperatures of the freezer, room, etc.
4 steps to pour mirror glaze on cakes
- Set up a cooling rack on a tray with plastic wrap. Prepare your cakes in the freezer so you can take them out immediately.
- Once the mirror glaze reaches the temperature, take out the cakes immediately and pour a generous amount on top. Do not pour it gradually since the glaze can harden before you finish.
- Immediately swish the top with a spatula to drop excess mirror glaze. This creates a thin layer of mirror glaze, making the cake taste more delicate and delicious!
- Clean off the excess mirror glaze on the bottom edge with a spatula and transfer them to cake boards or plates.
Watch the video tutorial to see it visually!
Serve it right away or store it in the fridge.
📌 How To Store Chocolate Mirror Glaze
Pour it into an air-tight container.
Store it in the fridge for up to a week or a few months in the freezer.
Heat it again in the microwave or water bath before use.
- Stop the microwave every 15 - 30 seconds and mix to heat it evenly.
- If the container is not heat-resistant, move it to a heat-resistant container before doing so.
Leftover mirror glaze
You can reuse the mirror glaze if it's still clean and no mousse or sponges are mixed in it.
Wrap it like in the image below and squeeze it out in a container.
📌 Uses For Chocolate Mirror Glaze
Enjoy the delicious mirror glaze in many ways, such as:
- Small to large cakes
- Mousse cakes, buttercream cakes, ganache cakes, etc. Turn them into elegant chocolate cakes!
- Plated desserts
- Glaze your custom dessert with this shiny glaze or brush/drizzle on plates as decorations!
- Choux pastry
- Use it as a glaze for cream puffs, eclairs, etc.
- Dripping cakes
- It creates beautiful drips! And it's slightly more tolerant of minor mistakes than melted chocolate and ganache.
📌 Frequently Asked Questions
Use any cocoa powder you like! Better-quality cocoa powders are often darker and create slightly darker mirror glaze.
"Bloom" is a strength of gelatin. When the bloom is higher, your moose gets firmer. And when the bloom is lower, your mousse gets softer.
And the bloom ranges from 50 to 300 or 350 usually. Today, I used this gelatin sheets with 230 bloom.
The texture will be softer when you use gelatin with a much lower bloom, even if you use the same amount as the recipe. Many of us are unaware of this, but it is a very important tip to remember when you use gelatin.
Check your gelatin, compare it with the bloom I used today (230), and see if it's about the same or overly different.
But! Unfortunately, some of the packages do not even show the bloom. If you are unsure, I would advise making it one time and deciding whether to reduce or add more gelatin next time.
Yes! Follow the instructions in the package to see if you need to mix it with cold water beforehand. As I mentioned in the section above, the firmness of the mirror glaze changes slightly depending on "the bloom" in gelatin (Read above for the detail). I recommend using the same amount as the recipe first, seeing if you like the firmness, and adjusting it next time if you like!
📌 VIDEO: Watch How To Make It!
Watch this video to learn how to make chocolate mirror glaze visually and have a deeper understanding of all.
Don't forget to subscribe if you liked it 😉
📌 Printable Recipe
💬 If you loved this recipe, please share your feedback on this post! I always love hearing how you enjoyed it with your friends and family.
Simple Chocolate Mirror Glaze
Equipment
- Pot
- Spatula
- Whisk
- Bowl
- Seive
Ingredients
- 0.67 oz Gelatin
- 7 oz Water
- 10.6 oz Granulated sugar
- 4.6 oz Cocoa powder
- 7 oz Heavy cream
Instructions
- Hydrate gelatin beforehand:Gelatin sheets: Soak the gelatin sheet in ice water for about 10 minutes. Gelatin powder: Follow the package instructions to see if you need to mix it with cold water beforehand. Often, you'll need to mix gelatin powder in 4-5 times more amounts of icy water and let it sit for about 10 minutes.0.67 oz Gelatin
- Pour water into a pot. Mix cocoa powder and granulated sugar well with a whisk in a separate bowl. And add them to the pot. Mix well until the liquids look very smooth.7 oz Water, 10.6 oz Granulated sugar, 4.6 oz Cocoa powder
- Heat the pot at medium heat while mixing constantly with a spatula until it starts boiling.
- Add heavy cream and continue heating until the liquids start boiling again.7 oz Heavy cream
- Strain it and add the hydrated gelatin. Mix and ensure the gelatin is melted completely.
Video
Notes
How to store it:
Pour it into an air-tight container. Store it in the fridge for up to a week or a few months in the freezer.How to glaze cakes with it:
Cool it down to 104 F | 40 C to pour on a frozen cake. It is slightly warm or doesn't feel anything when you touch it. (depending on how cold your finger is) You might need to adjust the temperature depending on the temperatures of the freezer, room, etc.- Set up a cooling rack on a tray with plastic wrap. Prepare your cakes in the freezer so you can take them out immediately.
- Once it reaches the temperature, take out the cakes immediately and pour a generous amount on top. Do not pour it little by little since the glaze can start getting hardened before you finish.
- Immediately swish the top with a spatula to drop excess mirror glaze. This creates a thin layer of mirror glaze, making the cake taste more delicate and delicious.
- Clean off the excess mirror glaze on the bottom edge with a spatula and transfer them to cake boards or plates.
Nutrition
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Klare Ehrenberg says
Is it possible to use this glaze directly on a sponge cake with no frosting?
ayacaliva says
Hi! It won't look smooth when it is directly poured over a sponge cake. And some of them should get absorbed in it. I recommend applying a thin layer of cream such as buttercream, mousse, etc. And wait for the cream to get set in the fridge before pouring it on top. Adjust the temperature depending on how cold the cream is!