Decoration is the final part of making dessert. This is perhaps the most difficult stage of work, combining the skills of culinary and artistic skills. Like any science, it is necessary to begin to comprehend it from the beginning. For example, learn how to glaze cakes. One of the most popular options is caramel icing, which looks like a self-contained cake decoration or serves as a base for decorating a complex presentation of dessert.
Having mastered the technology of making amber caramel, you can create real confectionery masterpieces at home.
Caramel glaze: technology basics
The main ingredient of caramel icing is sugar. In simple recipes use brown sugar. The product does not require processing - the coloring of the pouring occurs when sugar is dissolved in the liquid (milk, cream, water).
Ordinary sugar for cooking caramel glaze is melted in a bowl with a thick bottom on a little more than a slow fire. Caramel is made either exclusively from granulated sugar, or with the addition of a small amount of water.
Sugar is poured into the saucepan in portions, adding new ones as the product melts. The main thing in this process is not to mix the viscous mass, so that solid insoluble lumps are not formed. To evenly melt the container, it is only allowed to wiggle and tilt slightly.
It is important not to burn sugar. When the crystals melt, the mass will acquire a beautiful dark amber color, the fire under the saucepan will immediately turn off. If the moment is missed, the caramel will become bitter.
For the preparation of a mirror caramel glaze, confectionery corn syrup or glucose is used. These products can be bought or used as an alternative, i.e., cook invert syrup.
How to make invert syrup:
1. Pour 130 ml of water into a saucepan with a thick bottom. Heat up
2. Pour 300 grams of sugar. Stir. Bring over low heat to a boil.
3. Add a third teaspoon of citric acid. Stir.
4. Cook for 15-20 minutes.
The finished invert syrup should look like thick liquid honey.
Caramel glaze: a simple recipe without gelatin
The easiest to prepare version of the liquid caramel cake. Time takes no more than 20 minutes, but the icing is surprisingly delicate in taste, with a beautiful glossy surface and a pleasant vanilla aroma.
Ingredients:
• brown sugar - 1/2 tbsp .;
• cream (more than 30%) - 3 tbsp. l .;
• butter - 30 g;
• powdered sugar - 1 tbsp .;
• vanillin - 1/4 tsp.
Cooking Technology:
1. In a saucepan with a thick bottom melt butter.
2. Pour in the cream. Stir.
3. Pour sugar into the hot liquid.
4. Cook at a slow boil for 2 minutes. The sugar crystals should dissolve, slightly thicken the mixture.
5. Remove the glaze from the heat. Stir in 1/2 tbsp. powdered sugar.
6. The mixture is slightly cooled. Add the rest of the powder and vanilla.
The finished caramel glaze is cooled before use to operating temperature.
Caramel glaze: recipe with cornstarch
Delicious, easy to use, flexible icing for decorating desserts. Sheet gelatin is indicated in the recipe, but it can be replaced with regular granulated or powdered.
Ingredients:
• ordinary sugar - 180 g;
• cream (33-35%) - 150 ml;
• hot boiled water - 150 ml;
• corn starch - 10 g;
• sheet confectionery gelatin - 5 g.
Cooking Technology:
1. Gelatin is soaked in a small amount of cold water.
2. Starch sifted. Mix with cold cream.
3. Sugar parts poured into a thick-bottomed pan (pan). Melted over low heat until the formation of amber-brown caramel.
4. In the hot caramel very carefully, constantly stirring, pour boiled water. Give boil and boil until the mass becomes homogeneous.
5. Cream with starch slightly heated. A thin stream is poured into the caramel, intensively stirring with a spatula.
6. Emulsion is cooled a little. Add the swollen gelatin. Stir.
The finished caramel glaze is cooled and stored in the refrigerator. Before use, heated to 27 degrees.
Mirror Caramel Frosting: A Classic Recipe
Unusually beautiful coating for cakes, not needing additional decoration. The mirror surface of the caramel glaze in a frozen form is similar to real amber. The recipe uses brown sugar, but you can replace it with the usual one, melting, as in the previous version, on the fire. Ingredients:
• brown sugar - 250 g;
• powdered sugar - 500 g;
• butter - 120 g;
• milk - 75 ml.
Cooking Technology:
1. Butter is melted on medium heat.
2. Pour sugar. Stir. Wait for the mass to boil, reduce the heat to minimum.
3. Butter and sugar boil for 2 minutes. Gradually pour in milk, stirring the mixture all the time. Waiting for the boiling point and remove from heat.
4. The milky-oil mixture is cooled slightly. Powdered sugar is poured in portions. Stir thoroughly.
5. Put the caramel icing on the ice bath. Stir periodically until the mass acquires an elastic fluid consistency.
Caramel glaze mirror on cream
Thanks to rich cream, the taste of liquid caramel becomes unusually tender. The texture of the glaze is very flexible, pleasant to work with.
Ingredients:
• brown sugar - 250 g;
• powdered sugar - 450 g;
• butter - 120 g;
• cream (35%) - 1/3 cent .;
• vanilla extract - 1/3 tsp.
Cooking Technology:
1. In a saucepan with a thick bottom melt butter. Add sugar. Warm up on medium heat until the crystals dissolve.
2. Pour in the cream. Stir. Cook at a slow boil for 2 minutes.
3. The fire is turned off. Vanilla extract is mixed into the mass. Cool.
4. A container with hot caramel icing is placed in an ice bath.
5. Portions of powdered sugar are injected, intensively interrupting with a blender.
6. Finished glaze is filtered through a fine sieve.
If the emulsion turns out to be too thick, you can add a little warm cream before applying it to the cake.
Mirror caramel glaze with milk chocolate and condensed milk
Stunningly beautiful decoration of desserts with a reflective surface of a pleasant chocolate-nut color. Thanks to gelatin, the icing hardens well, has an unusually soft taste.
Ingredients:
• sugar - 100 g;
• invert syrup - 100 g;
• water - 110 ml;
• Milk chocolate - 100 g;
• condensed milk (not boiled) - 70 g;
• gelatin - 1 tsp.
Cooking Technology:
1. Gelatin pour 60 ml of water. Leave to swell.
2. In a saucepan with a thick bottom, sugar is melted. 3. Invert syrup is combined with 50 ml of water. Put on a slow fire. Constantly stir, so that the consistency turns out to be homogeneous until boiling.
4. Pour boiling invert syrup diluted with water into the melted sugar in a thin stream. A lot of stir all the time.
5. Put the pieces of milk chocolate in the bowl for the blender, pour in condensed milk. Add the swollen gelatin.
6. Pour all hot liquid caramel. Interrupt the emulsion with a blender at low speed until homogeneous.
If the caramel icing with chocolate turned out transparent or the color is too dark, a white food coloring will help to correct the situation. The finished emulsion before use is desirable to keep the day in the refrigerator. Before applying to the cake, heat to 32 degrees and smash with a blender.
Caramel glaze on boiled condensed milk
In this recipe for caramel glaze, you can use both condensed milk and ordinary toffee-toffee. Or, even better, sweets “Cow” stuffed with soft caramel. The taste of the glaze is moderately sweet, with a pleasant creamy touch.
Ingredients:
• sugar - 100 g;
• boiled condensed milk - 250 g;
• cream (20%) 250 ml;
• gelatin - 10 g.
Cooking Technology:
1. Gelatin pour 50 ml of cream. Leave to swell for 30 minutes.
2. Condensed milk is poured into a thick-bottomed pot. Sugar is poured. Add cream. Stir.
3. The mixture is heated over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
4. Remove from heat.
5. Caramel slightly cooled. Add the swollen gelatin. Stir until smooth.
The finished caramel icing on condensed milk is filtered through a sieve. Cover with food film to avoid contact with air and straighten to infuse in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. Before applying to the cake is heated to 35 degrees.
Subtleties of applying caramel icing on the cake
- Perfect caramel glaze has the appearance of a homogeneous emulsion. Therefore, after connecting all the components, the mass is thoroughly punched with a blender. The device is turned on at minimum speed and lowered into the bowl at an angle of 45 degrees. It is important to prevent the formation of bubbles, otherwise the texture of the emulsion will be loose. If, however, this could not be avoided, the hot mass is filtered through a fine sieve.
- Ready caramel icing is not prohibited to use immediately after preparation. But it is better to let it freeze for 8-15 hours in the refrigerator under the food film. Store liquid caramel in the freezer (up to 3 months) or in the refrigerator (7-10 days).
- Before use, the stiffened thick emulsion is heated to the operating temperature (30-45 degrees, depending on the recipe) and re-punched with a blender. It is important not to overheat the icing, otherwise on the cake it forms a too thin, translucent layer. But you can not water desserts and cold caramel glaze - the layer will be too thick and uneven.
- Caramel icing can be applied on gelled and hard cream (curd, cream, butter). At the same time, by the time of decoration, the dessert should be cooled in the refrigerator (8-12 hours) or kept in the freezer for 1-2 hours.
- The volume of caramel icing should always be larger than necessary to create a solid coating on the cake. The dessert is set on a stand and a wide dish so that the liquid caramel flows freely from its sides.
- Glaze is poured spirally, starting from the center of the product. From the flat top of the cake, the excess caramel is removed with one motion of a wide pastry knife. The remains of the glaze gathered on the dish can be collected and reused.
- A dessert covered with caramel glaze is sent to the fridge for at least an hour for complete solidification.
