Mirror glaze cakes

Miss A. is a picky eater, except for cakes. I know what you are thinking. No, not every picky eater fancies cakes, I know actually a child that never touches a cake. Anyway, Miss A. loves to make them as well. She watches baking shows and of course YouTube. So she gets inspired and I have to too 😊 The most fun part of baking, Miss A. thinks, is decorating. If last year she decorated exclusively with buttercream (and sprinkles of course), recently she got interested in mirror glaze cakes. And I understand. To our surprise making mirror glaze cakes turned out to be easier than we thought, and for me the best part about those cakes is that many components can and should be made ahead and frozen down 🎉

Mirror glaze cakes can be so versatile, made with any crust and any mousse. Our family favorite combinations are almond crust and strawberry mousse, walnut crust and black current mousse, coconut crust and mango mousse. In between the layers of the crust and mousse we love to put some kind of a fruit, berry pure or caramel. And when we use one colored glaze we decorate the finished cake with chocolate, sugar creations and fresh fruits and berries.

I compiled all our favorite recipes down below and maybe going to add new ones once we develop them.

For the mirror glaze (for 1 18x5cm round mold)

• 200g condensed milk
• 200g white chocolate (least 30% cocoa)
• 300g sugar
• 2dl water
• 6 sheets of gelatin (around 12g)
• food coloring

I start breaking the white chocolate into to small pieces in a heatproof bowl. Then adding the condensed milk to it. While gelatin is in water for around 10 minutes, I combine water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring it to boil. Syrup should be mixed under process all the time so sugar is completely dissolved. When boiling starts, I take the mass out of the heat and let it cool a bit. Then squeezed gelatin is added into the syrup. I like to do it one by one and mixing it all to ensure that the gelatin is dissolved. Then I add the warm mass into the white chocolate and condensed milk. Using a whisk I mix everything until the chocolate is melted. Then using the hand mixer the mass is emulsified a couple of minutes. It is on this stage of the process that food coloring is added. To ensure the smoothness of the glaze and reduce the air bobbles, the mass then is sieved. The glaze is poured over a frozen mousse and should be around 35C.

Almond and chocolate cake (for 2 23x4cm round baking pan)

• 150g almond flour (ground almonds)
• 80g flour
• 80g butter
• 1dl oil
• 150g dark chocolate (over 50% chocolate)
• 150g brown sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1dl orange or apple juice
• 1tsp vanilla

In a saucepan and over a low heat chocolate is melted and is set to cool down a bit. After combining two types of flours and vanilla, in a separate bowl I whisk brown sugar and eggs together. To this mass I add butter at room temperature, then oil and then the cooled chocolate. Flours are added and at least the juice is incorporated into the mixture. Cakes are baked for 13 minutes in preheat oven at 180C.

Coconut and lemon cake (for 2 23x4cm round baking pan)

• 150g butter
• 180g sugar
• 60g shredded coconut
• 60g flour
• 4 eggs
• Juice and zest of one big lemon
• 2 tsp vanilla

Butter at room temperature, vanilla and sugar are beat together. Then eggs are added to the mixture one by one. To this coconut is added and then flour. At least the lemon and the zest go to the batter. Each layer of cake is baked for 15 minutes at 160C.

Walnut cake (for 18 7,5cm ø each silicon molds)

• 6 eggs
• 200g butter
• 200g sugar
• 100g flour
• 200g finely chopped walnuts
• 2 tps vanilla

Butter is melted in a saucepan. Eggs, vanilla and sugar are mixed together until fluffy. Then flour is added and the melted batter is poured over the batter. Walnuts are added and gently mixed, without a mixer, in. When divided into molds, the cake batter goes into the oven for 11 minutes at preheated to 180C oven.

Black current mousse (for 20 6cm ø each silicon molds)

• 400g frozen black currents
• 300g sugar
• 0,5dl water
• 0,5l cream (38% fat)
• 8 sheets of gelatin

I like to start whipping the cream until soft peaks form and set it aside while making the rest. Black currents, sugar and water are combined in a saucepan. While the mass is simmering over a low heat (ca. 6 minutes), the gelatin is set in water for 10 minutes. The berries are then blended and sieved. When the black current is cooled down a bit, I squeeze the gelatin and add one by one to the mass. Then it is combined into whipped cream. The mousse is divided into the molds and popped into freezer. I like to freeze the mousse overnight. Then they are ready to be glazed.

Mango mousse (1 18,5cm ø silicon mold )

• 200g mango (ca. 1 mango)
• 1dl passion fruit juice without seeds (ca. 8-10 passion fruits)
• 80g sugar
• 1 tbsp orange juice or water
• 6 gelatin sheets
• 300ml cream (38% fat)

Mango, passion fruit juice, orange juice or water, sugar are combined into a pan. While the fruit mixture is cooking for around 6-7 minutes on a low heat, I soak the gelatin into the water and whip the cream into a fluffy mass. Mango and passion fruit mixture is blended with hand blender and when cooled a bit down the gelatin goes there. Then the whipped cream is combined with fruit pure and poured into the mold. The mousse can now go to freezer.

Strawberry mousse (1 18,5cm ø silicon mold )

• 400g frozen strawberries
• 150g sugar
• juice of a half lemon
• 200ml cream (38% fat)
• 6 gelatin sheets

Strawberries, sugar and the lemon juice are combined together in a saucepan and heated up. After 5 minutes of cooking on a medium heat, the mass is blended into pure. While the berries are cooking the cream is whipped into soft peaks. And while the berries are cooking down, the gelatin is soaked for 10 minutes into cold water and then added to the strawberry pure. The at least the whipped cream is incorporated into the mass and ready to be poured into the mold. The mousse is set in freezer and needs just to be covered with glaze.

Mango pure (1 18,5cm ø silicon mold )

• 200g mango (ca. 1 mango)
• 100g sugar
• 1dl water
• 4 gelatin sheets

Prepared mango, sugar and water are combined into a pan and set on medium heat. While the fruit is cooking for about 5 minutes, the gelatin sheets are soaked into cold water. The fruit is then pureed with a hand blender. When cooled a bit the gelatin sheets are incorporated into the pure and set in a mold and sent into the freezer.