Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi,

I have just seen the above tutorial and please can you advise on the following:

1. Before applying the Mirror glaze do you freeze the cake overnight and take out of the freezer without defrosting it? Or what temperature should the cake be?
2. Once the mirror glaze is applied how long will it take to set?
3. Could you store the mirror glaze cake in the fridge in a carboard box for 24hrs? Or should this be left overnight in a cool room in a cardboard box?
4. How do you store the left over Mirror glaze and how long will this last?
5. I want to create a Northern Lights mirror glaze effect, do you pour each colour separately onto the cake?
6. If you wanted to add edible glitter would you apply this the mirror glaze before it is poured onto the cake or do you sprinkle it on top of the cake after you have mirror glazed the cake?
7. The quantity of the Glaze – does this cover just the 6” and 8” cakes?
8. Finally, could I use Edible Paint colours instead of should I use Liquid Gel food colours?

Thank you in advance.

Hi Sky64

I think Helen covers a few of the points in her tutorial which you have made. I will try and address any which are not clear.

1: It helps to begin with a highly chilled or frozen cake as this is what helps to set the glaze.

2: As long as the cake is super chilled or frozen, the glaze should set immediately. It will not set like a jelly, that isn’t how it is intended to be. If you want it to be gummy , the sugar will have to be cooked slightly longer. This is mentioned in Helen’s tutorial.

3: storage depends on the type of filling inside the cake. All fresh dairy should be refrigerated. Ganache and buttercream filled can stay out. The glaze can slightly lose its shine upon refrigeration but it still looks good.

4: Any left over mirror glaze will keep for a week, refrigerated in a sealed container. It can also be frozen, vacuum packed for a couple of months. As long as no air gets to the glaze it shouldn’t spoil.

5: To create a northern lights or galaxy effect, decide on the number of colours you want. Get several small bowls ready then pour out small amounts of white glaze into each bowl to colour. The biggest amount, colour as the base or background palette. This serves as the sky. The remaining colours can be dribbled and smoothed off in succession to form the colours and dance of the Aurora.

6: Edible glitter can either be added to the glaze before pouring or sprinkled on afterwards.

7: The quantity of glaze made by Helen in the tutorial must be for the number of cakes she is doing. There will always be a little bit of waste. It’s always best to have a little more than insufficient.

8: Helen covers this in the tutorial. Colours compatible with chocolate should really be used. However, I have seen some people using liquid colours. I don’t know whether those are chocolate or candy colour.

Finally, as always, make a small trial amount of glaze to practice with. Glaze a small dummy to get accustomed to the flow and colour incorporation of the glaze. This way, you will be able to iron out any problems before attacking the real project.

Hope this helps. ?

Thank you.

What is the weight of 1 silver leaf gelatine sheet that Helen uses as this is not mentioned in the tutorial or the recipe? I have been searching on Amazon and there are various weights and sizes you can purchase, therefore I am not sure? Dr.Oeteker’s Platinum Leaf gelatine sheet has 8 sheets but they look smaller and total weight is 13g?

Regards

For gelatine leaf weights, here is a useful conversion:

The Confusion over Conversion

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