The icing is used for pastries, cakes, biscuits and some types of buns. The surface of the products should be smooth, therefore, cakes and cakes are first lubricated with a thin layer of jam, which closes all the pores. The glaze should be moderately thick, if it turns out to be too liquid, you need to add powdered sugar, add liquid to the too thick glaze.

Plain chocolate icing

The simplest glaze is made on the basis of sugar and water with the addition of cocoa.

Ingredients:

• Cocoa powder (2 tablespoons)
• Sugar (half a glass)
• Water (3 tablespoons)

Preparation:

Mix sugar with cocoa powder and add water. Stir well and put on fire. Boil the glaze over low (very slow) heat, stirring constantly. First, the sugar will dissolve, then the syrup will begin to bubble. After the bubbles appear, cook the glaze for another minute and remove from heat. Let the glaze cool and thicken a lot: the hot one will be too liquid, the completely cooled one will be sugared and hardened.

Note:

For a baby cake or choux pastry, you can add a little butter to the still warm chocolate icing and beat it with a mixer. This will soften the taste of the glaze.

Chocolate glaze with sour cream

The most common homemade chocolate glaze recipe. It turns out to be similar to real dark chocolate, has a specific sourness that dilutes the sweetness of sugar. Great for icing a cake.

Ingredients:

• Sour cream (100 g)
• Sugar (3 tablespoons)

Preparation:

Stir sour cream, sugar and cocoa in a saucepan and simmer over low heat, stirring constantly. As soon as the frosting boils, add the butter and continue cooking until the butter dissolves. Then we remove from heat, cool slightly and put into action: we glaze the cake, cakes or muffin.

Note:

The glaze cools quickly, and when it cools, it thickens strongly, but does not harden.

Chocolate glaze with starch

An original way of making chocolate glaze without brewing. It does not require butter or sour cream, it does not harden very quickly and can be applied to both hot and cooled baked goods.

Ingredients:

• Potato starch (tablespoon)
• Cocoa (3 tablespoons)
• Powdered sugar (3 tablespoons)
• Water (3 tablespoons)

Preparation:

Pour the sifted icing sugar, starch and cocoa into a bowl. Add very chilled water and mix well. That's all! The finished glaze can be used to cover baked goods. By the way, the specified amount of products is quite enough for icing, which can be used to cover eight cupcakes (mini-cakes).

Glitter chocolate icing

Another recipe for "cold" glaze preparation. It turns out almost real chocolate, only shiny.

Ingredients:

• Milk (half glass)
• Cocoa (3 tablespoons)
• Butter (one and a half tablespoons)
• Vanilla

Preparation:

Mix cocoa with powdered sugar and dilute with warm milk. Put softened butter and a pinch of vanillin there. Rub until a shiny glaze is obtained.

Note:

The glaze hardens quickly, so you need to make it after baking.

Professional chocolate icing

Of course, it is difficult to compete with professionals. But everything is in our hands. And if we know the recipe for a real professional chocolate glaze, then why not try to make this delicious, shiny and beautiful “shaving brush”.

Ingredients:

• Butter (tablespoon)
• Condensed milk (tablespoon)
• Cocoa powder (tablespoon)

Preparation:

As you can see, it is very easy to remember the composition of this glaze: everything is one to one. And it turns out to be even easier to cook it. It is necessary to melt the butter (the fatter the better), add condensed milk and cocoa to it. We mix everything, grind and cover our confectionery creations with ready-made glaze.

Microwave chocolate icing

Do you like to cook in the microwave? Then this frosting recipe is just for you.

Ingredients:

• Butter (2 tablespoons)
• Milk (3 tablespoons)
• Cocoa powder (3 tablespoons)
• Sugar (half a glass)
• A third of a bar of dark chocolate

Preparation:

We heat the milk and dissolve the sugar in it. Mix cocoa with butter and add to milk. Then we put chocolate there and put everything in the microwave. After three to four minutes, take out, mix and use the ready-made icing for the intended purpose (to cover the cake, cupcake or pastries).

Dark chocolate icing

Perfect for such a famous cake as "Sacher". Any other cakes can also be successfully coated with this glaze. It also goes well with coconut flakes.

Ingredients:

• Bitter chocolate (2 bars)
• Powdered sugar (half a glass)
• Milk (2 tablespoons)

Preparation:

Break the chocolate into pieces and dissolve in a water bath. Mix milk with powdered sugar and add to melted chocolate. Put on fire and cook, stirring occasionally, until the icing turns into a thick paste.

Chocolate-nut glaze

What about chocolate, but only white? It can also be used to make unusual chocolate icing, for example, nut glaze.

Ingredients:

• Butter (one third of a pack)
• Powdered sugar (half a glass)
• White chocolate bar
• Milk (teaspoon)
• Nuts (any)
• Vanilla

Preparation:

We take the oil out of the refrigerator and leave it for a while to soften. Put a broken bar of chocolate, butter in a saucepan and melt it all in a water bath. Then add milk, icing sugar, nuts and vanillin. Mix and remove from heat. The glaze is ready.

Lemon glaze

Ingredients for lemon icing: 200 g icing sugar, 2 tbsp. tablespoons of lemon juice, 2 tbsp. spoons of hot water.

Grind the icing sugar and sift through a sieve into a bowl, add lemon juice and hot water and grind with a wooden spoon until the glaze turns into a homogeneous shiny mass. Orange glaze is also prepared.

Strawberry and raspberry icing

Ingredients for strawberry and raspberry icing: 200 g icing sugar, 3 tbsp. tablespoons of strawberry or raspberry juice, 1-2 tbsp. spoons of hot water.

Prepare in the same way as lemon frosting (see previous recipe).

Berry glaze

Having prepared another confectionery masterpiece, we think about how to decorate it. And the answer is quite simple - Berry frosting. A universal decoration that can be prepared in just 20 - 25 minutes, will delight you, not only with its appearance, aroma, but also amazingly rich taste. We present to your attention a unique and breathtakingly delicious - Berry Icing!

Ingredients for making berry glaze:

For 300 grams of finished product:

1. Powdered sugar - 200 grams
2. Strawberries - 100 grams
3. Pure distilled water - 1 - 2 tablespoons

Inventory for making berry glaze:

1. Colander
2. Blender
3. Tablespoon
4. Deep bowl - 2 pieces
5. Kettle
6. Plate
7. Fine mesh sieve
8. Wooden kitchen spatula
9. Corolla
10. Storage container
11. Refrigerator

Berry glaze preparation.

Step 1: prepare the berries

Peel the required amount of strawberries from the stalks, put in a colander and rinse under a small stream of cold running water. Then leave the berries in a colander for 10 - 15 minutes to drain the excess liquid.

Step 2: chop the strawberries

Place the washed strawberries in a blender bowl and chop the berries to a mushy, homogeneous consistency without lumps, turning on the device at the highest speed. This process will take you no more than 2 - 3 minutes, or even less.

Step 3: prepare the icing sugar

Take the required amount of powdered sugar and sift it into a deep bowl using a fine mesh sieve. Turn on the stove on a strong level, put a kettle on it with a little pure distilled water and bring the liquid to a boil.

Step 4: rub the strawberry puree

While the kettle is boiling, shake the sieve that you used to sift the powdered sugar over the sink, thus getting rid of excess sugar dust. Then place it on the surface of a deep bowl and place the strawberry mass in it. Using a wooden kitchen spatula, rub the strawberry mass through a sieve in order to get rid of the strawberry fibers inherent in all types of berries. As a result, you should have juice with a small amount of very finely ground pulp.

Step 5: combine the strawberry mass and powdered sugar

Now add the required amount of already boiled water to a bowl with sifted icing sugar. Then start adding the strawberry juice in portions, mixing the dry ingredient with the liquid mass using a whisk. Mix the ingredients until smooth until you are sure that all the icing sugar is completely dissolved in the strawberry juice, and the liquid mass is slightly thick, viscous, homogeneous and shiny.

Step 6: store the berry frosting

It is best to use the berry icing immediately after cooking. But if you have a small amount of this fragrant mass left, you can put it in a clean, dry, preferably pre-sterilized glass jar and close it with a tight lid. The berry glaze can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 7 days. If the icing hardens a lot in the refrigerator, you can soften it in a steam bath, using a double boiler, or simply by placing a jar of icing under running hot water. After this time, it is better to get rid of this product, as the berries will begin to deteriorate, ferment and sour, which can lead to indigestion.

Step 7: serve the berry frosting

It is advisable to use the berry icing immediately after preparation. Donuts are poured over with this fragrant viscous mass.

Decorate with cookies and gingerbread.

Sponge cakes.

Easter cakes and muffins.

And they also prepare layers for amazingly delicious cakes. Easy to prepare and versatile berry frosting, your whole family will love it. Enjoy!

Berry glaze can be made from all types of juicy berries, such as blueberries, raspberries, cherries, currants, cranberries, to name just a few of the options.

When making berry glaze, you can combine several types of berries at once, such as strawberries, blackberries and currants.

If you are using too sweet berries, you can acidify the finished frosting with a little concentrated lemon juice.

You can add a pleasant vanilla flavor to your frosting by adding vanillin to the finished product at the tip of a knife, but be careful with this ingredient, remember that pure vanillin tastes bitter.

For the preparation of berry glaze, you can use both fresh and frozen berries.

Rum glaze

Ingredients for the rum glaze: 200 g icing sugar, 3 tbsp. spoons of rum, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of hot water.

Sift the icing sugar through a sieve into a bowl, pour hot water and rum and rub with a wooden spoon into a shiny glaze. Rum glaze can also be prepared with rum essence. For this, 4 tbsp is taken. spoons of hot water and 3-4 drops of rum essence.

Coffee glaze

Ingredients for the coffee glaze: 200 g icing sugar, 4 tbsp. tablespoons of coffee extract (prepared from 1 tablespoon of coffee), 1 teaspoon of butter

Sift the icing sugar through a sieve into a bowl, add hot coffee extract and oil and rub with a wooden spoon into a shiny glaze.

Cocoa frosting

Ingredients for the cocoa frosting: 200 g icing sugar, 2 tbsp. spoons of cocoa, 3-4 tbsp. spoons of hot milk, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of butter, vanillin.

Sift the icing sugar and cocoa through a sieve into a bowl, add hot milk, softened butter and mix in a shiny glaze.

Chocolate glaze

Ingredients for chocolate icing: 100 g chocolate, 3 tbsp. spoons of water, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of butter, 100 g of icing sugar.

Break the chocolate into pieces, add hot water and heat until the chocolate is dissolved. Then put softened butter and icing sugar and rub in a homogeneous glaze.

Protein glaze

Ingredients for the protein glaze: 2 egg whites, 200 g icing sugar, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of lemon juice.

Sift the icing sugar through a sieve into a bowl, add the whites and lemon juice and stir quickly until a glaze is formed. You can season the egg glaze with rum, coffee extract, cocoa, and other condiments.

Colored glaze

Ingredients for colored glaze: 200 g icing sugar, 3-4 tbsp. tablespoons of carrot, cherry, beetroot, spinach juice (1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice, used only in the preparation of glaze from beets, carrots and spinach).

Sift the icing sugar through a sieve into a bowl, add the juice and grind into a shiny glaze.

Creamy glaze

Ingredients for the buttercream: 1 cup sugar, 1 cup 20% cream, 1 teaspoon butter, vanilla sugar.

Place the cream and sugar in a small saucepan and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes, until the icing thickens, add butter, season with vanilla sugar and use immediately

Brown creamy glaze

Ingredients for the brown buttercream: 1 cup sugar, 2 tbsp. tablespoons of cocoa, 1 glass of 20% cream, 1 teaspoon of butter, vanilla sugar.

Mix cocoa with sugar, add cream. Cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, in a small saucepan until the icing thickens, add butter and season with vanilla sugar.

Little tricks

To make your frosting experiments fruitful, heed the advice of experienced pastry chefs:

1. 1Glaze on baked goods should first be applied in a thin layer, and on top put a thicker layer.
2. 2It is better not to pour very hot icing on the pastry - let it cool slightly.
3. 3To correctly determine the readiness of the brewed glaze, use the "finger method": if the finger immersed in the glaze suffers, then it is ready to use.
4. 4It is advisable to use icing based on icing sugar prepared using the cold method immediately, as it hardens quickly.
5. 5Hot glaze should not be applied to buttercream. If this is necessary, then make a layer of jam between the cream and the glaze, or simply sprinkle the cream with cocoa powder or powdered sugar.

   Surprise your guests with green icing. Grind the peeled pistachios finely. Add sugar, rose water and citric acid to the nuts. Cut off the roots of the spinach, wash it, put it in boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes without covering the pan with a lid. This will preserve its green color better. Squeeze the spinach out of the water and rub through a sieve several times. Add the spinach puree to the hazelnut mixture and stir until smooth.

   Original post and comments on

Good afternoon friends! Today professional pastry chefs have learned how to make real masterpieces decorating cakes and pastries. These are figurines of people and animals, intricate patterns and paintings, not a cake, but a work of art. Did you know that it is not at all necessary to be a super-master to impress your family with great baked goods. It is enough to know how to make mirror glaze at home.

The composition of the glittering glaze is a kind of emulsion with an aqueous part in the form of syrup and an oily component - chocolate. An amazing palette of colors and an unusual shine, and the surface is so smooth that you can see your reflection if you come closer. Hence, apparently, such a name.

To be honest, for a long time I was sure that all these amazing desserts were nothing more than some clever trick. Well, such a perfectly smooth, shiny coating cannot be edible. But it turned out that it can! And even more - it is not at all difficult to make it yourself.

How to make mirror glaze at home

Don't feel like homemade mirror glaze recipes are out of your reach. In fact, you only need knowledge of a few nuances and subtleties, and the rest will depend on your desire and good mood. If this is the first time you started cooking glaze, then you will surely have questions to which I will try to answer as fully as possible:

What can be decorated

A glaze called mirror is prepared for covering mousse dessert products - cakes, pastries, soufflés, since they have a perfectly smooth surface. And this is an indispensable condition for achieving specularity and the desired shine effect.

For the preparation of such desserts, special pastry rings or silicone molds are usually used, which make it possible to obtain such an absolutely smooth surface.

It is sometimes used in traditional cakes, but usually they are not completely covered, but only the top. In this case, the glaze flows down in beautiful streaks.

What you need to cook

Glaze - this is also called mirror glaze, can be made from products that are quite accessible to everyone. These are gelatin, sugar, chocolate, glucose syrup, molasses, food colors, cocoa, vanillin, condensed milk. Agree, all this is sold in stores.

The cooking technology assumes high precision, so in addition you will need:

• Cooking thermometer for the right working temperature.
• Electronic balance.
• Blender with a tall glass.

How to choose the right temperature for making icing

After heating all the components, the glaze is whipped with a blender. In this case, an indispensable condition for a successful glaze is the observance of the temperature regime. It is very important to observe the working temperature regime, since glazing is the final stage in working with cakes. Spoil it - negate all previous efforts.

• Depending on the type, the working temperature for whipping is considered to be 29 - 39 o C. On average - 32 o C.
• A lower temperature will cause the mixture to “set” before it has time to cover the dessert. Although ... there are some subtleties here: if you are going to make beautiful drips on the cake, choose the lowest temperature possible - 29 - 30. At a higher temperature, drips will quickly slide down and freeze in puddles.
• Too hot a glaze will flow very quickly, leave gaps, and you will not achieve the desired effect.
• It is also important that the cake is frozen properly, remove it just before you start working with the icing.

Mirror cake frosting - basic recipe

This is a versatile option for making mirror glaze, having mastered which you can cope with others.

• Leaf gelatin - 12 gr.
• Water - 75 gr. (note, water is weighed in grams).
• Sugar, white chocolate, glucose syrup - take 150 gr. each component.
• Condensed milk - 100 gr.
• Dye - 3-4 drops.

Step-by-step cooking recipe:

1. Soak gelatin in very cold. almost icy water. You will not find a sheet, take the usual powder, it is also poured with water, but the ratio is 1: 6. This means that 12 grams. powder you need to take 72 gr. water.
2. Put the condensed milk and chopped chocolate in a blender glass.
3. Separately pour water into a saucepan, add sugar and syrup there, heat the mixture over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Do not stir the mixture, just shake or stir in a saucepan.
4. When the mixture boils, measure it with a thermometer - you need to bring the mixture to a temperature of 103 o C. Brought it, and immediately remove it from the heat. It is important to know here: overcook - the glaze will become too thick, if you do not cook it, it will drain.
5. Pour the syrup into a blender glass, squeezed gelatin there and watch the temperature - it should drop to 85 o C. Stir everything gently.
6. Add a couple or three drops of the desired dye and start working with the blender at minimum speed. Whisk a little, then decide on the color and add dye if needed.

Tip: hold the blender at a 45 ° angle, and turn only the glass when working. Then you will see how a funnel is formed in the mass and bubbles go into it. There shouldn't be a lot of them, and if you do everything right, then there won't be at all.

If bubbles do form, remove them by filtering the glaze through a sieve, and then covering with cling film so that a film does not form on the glaze surface.

Then place the container in the refrigerator to stabilize for 12 hours (overnight).

Check the quality of the mirror glaze the next morning. If you press it with your finger, then it should become elastic and springy.

Before decorating the cake:

• Warm the icing in the microwave, beat again with a blender and measure the temperature. Working - 30 - 35 degrees - adjust if necessary.
• Quickly strain the mixture through a sieve and into a jug with a spout (this will be more convenient for you to work), and remove the frozen cake from the freezer.

Important! Start decorating the cake right away. If it stands for at least a couple of minutes, condensation forms on it, due to which the glaze will quickly drain. And the temperature of the glaze will drop.

Colored mirror glaze

As I said above, mirror glaze is a water-in-oil emulsion. Based on this, dyes are selected for her. They must be both fat and water soluble.

Confectionery gel dyes are popular among culinary specialists, which are added by drops to achieve the desired color. Alternatively, you can use fat-soluble dry colors.

• For a stunningly pure white color, add titanium dioxide, a powder that produces a stable white pigment.
• You get a pearlescent effect if you add silver or golden candurin powder.

Attention! Cured mirror glaze will appear richer and more vibrant than warm glaze. Consider this when adding colorants.

By the way, if you dip a white plastic spoon into the mixture and freeze it, then you can find out the color of the future cake without pouring it.

A few more tips:

• If the frosting is glass, collect it and use it for decoration, but only if it does not contain cake crumbs. If hit, pass the mixture through a sieve, and then it can be used again.
• Make sure that no condensation forms, otherwise the glaze will wrinkle.
• If the glaze is too thick, you need to reheat it in the microwave and continue working. Thus, it can be heated several times.
• The excess glaze can be collected and left in the refrigerator for a month - no longer storage is provided.
• mirror glaze, cut with a hot dry knife.

Chocolate mirror glaze - recipe

Mirror frosting, known as chocolate, is the most popular homemade coating. Decorate the cake, cake, and soufflé. If you will not find molasses, make the syrup yourself, as described below.

• Gelatin - sachet.
• Sugar - 240 gr.
• Water - 95 gr. Sweet water - 80 gr.
• Cream, the fattest, more than 30% - 160 gr.
• Cocoa powder - 80 gr.

1. Soak gelatin: 30 ml powder. water, leaf - in 200 ml.
2. Add molasses and sugar to the water, bring to a boil, at the same time boil the cream in a separate bowl.
3. Combine cream with syrup, add cocoa in small portions.
4. Stir, add the swollen gelatin and begin whisking the frosting. The temperature of the mixture for decorating cakes is 37 o C.

Honey mirror icing for cake

Instead of glucose syrup, if you don't find it, you can use regular honey with success. Or make your own syrup (recipe below). The honey aroma will give your cake a special flavor.

• Water - 75 gr.
• Sheet gelatin - 12 gr.
• Sugar, natural liquid honey, white chocolate - 150 gr each. Condensed milk - 100 gr.
• Dye.

How to make the frosting:

1. The preparation of the mirror mixture is completely similar to the basic recipe. Just note that honey must be liquid, for this, melt it in a water bath.

Mirror glaze with homemade syrup

This syrup is called invert, which is very easy to make yourself. Used instead of molasses and glucose syrup.

How to prepare it:

1. Take: 350 gr. sugar, hot water - 155 ml, citric acid - 2 gr. (this is 2/3 teaspoon) and baking soda - 1.5 gr. (a quarter teaspoon).
2. Put sugar in hot water and cook until boiling. When this happens, add citric acid and cook for 20 minutes, covered with a lid. The syrup will turn light golden in color.
3. Remove from heat. Dilute the baking soda with a dessert spoon of water and pour into the syrup. Something like an explosion will happen. When the bubbles have settled, the syrup is ready. In color and consistency, it resembles liquid honey.

How to make a mirror glaze:

• Gelatin - 7 gr.
• Sugar, white chocolate and invert syrup - 100 gr of each component.
• Condensed milk - 70 gr.
• Dyes.

1. Soak the gelatin. Heat water, add sugar, syrup and bring the temperature to 103 degrees. Pour in condensed milk and add chocolate. Stir, add the desired dye and gelatin.
2. Beat with a blender (glaze temperature should be 30 - 35 degrees). Send it out in the cold. Warm up to the desired temperature before using for decoration.

Each housewife, when preparing a confection for a holiday or celebration, wants it to be not only tasty, but beautiful. One way to decorate is to glaze in different colors with added flavors. There are several ways to make frosting. Consider the most popular of them - those that are guaranteed to be prepared by any housewife!

How to make white frosting

Ingredients:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons of water
• flavorings

Preparation:

Sugar as finely ground as possible must be sifted through a sieve, poured into an enamel pan, if desired, add a flavoring agent (for example, vanilla, liqueur or orange oil) and warm water. Stirring continuously, heat this mixture to 40 ° C over low heat until smooth. If the confectionery semi-finished product turns out to be liquid, a little powdered sugar is added to it with stirring, if it is thick - water. When the mass has cooled enough and begins to thicken, it is applied to a cake, pie or cake with a spoon or brush. The finished product can be dried in the oven at 80-100 ° C if it does not contain butter in the cream. According to this recipe, approximately 200 g of product is obtained.

NOTE! The resulting cold mass of glaze can be put into small molds and allowed to solidify completely, resulting in sweet products for decoration.

Video recipe

Protein glaze recipe on water

Ingredients:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 glass of water
• 2 egg whites
• flavorings

Preparation:

A thick syrup must be cooked from sugar and water. To do this, the pan must be placed sideways on the burner so that it warms up strongly on one side. Foam will form on the opposite side and can be easily removed with a spoon or slotted spoon. After the foaming stops, the pan is placed in the center of the burner, as usual, and excess water is evaporated from the syrup until the desired consistency is obtained. Whisk the whites until a firm foam is obtained. Gradually pour the cooled syrup in a thin stream with continuous whisking into the whites. Then add the flavors (optional) and, stirring, heat the glaze to 60-65 ° C. The resulting glaze is applied to confectionery products with a brush or spoon. The finished product can be dried in a non-hot oven.

Protein icing from powdered sugar

Ingredients:

• 1 egg white
• 0.5-1 cup powdered sugar
• lemon juice

Preparation:

Beat the egg white with a whisk in a bowl, gradually adding the powdered sugar in small portions, whisking continuously. The amount of icing sugar is determined by the required glaze thickness. The larger the cake or pie, the thicker the layer should be, the more powdered sugar you need to take. At the end of the beating, add up to 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or a few drops of diluted citric acid for the stability of the composition.

White Chocolate Cake Frosting

All previous recipes have been used for many years and are found in old cookbooks. The next recipe is modern, its composition contains the signs of our time.

Ingredients:

• 1 white chocolate bar
• 4-5 tablespoons of sour cream 20-25%
• 100-120 g butter
• 4 tablespoons sugar

Preparation:

Beat the sour cream together with sugar in a steel or enamel saucepan (preferably with a thick bottom). Add softened butter and chocolate chopped into small pieces there, mix everything thoroughly. Put on fire, while stirring, bring to a boil (the first bubbles appear), make a slow fire, stirring occasionally, heat for another 3-5 minutes. After cooling, the white glaze is ready for use.

On the basis of white glaze, you can make a product of any color by adding food colors or syrups of various berries, lemon zest, beet juice. However, the most popular of the color options is chocolate, which contains cocoa.

Video recipe

Cocoa milk cake frosting

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 3 tablespoons
• 50 g butter

Preparation:

All products are mixed in a saucepan and, stirring, heated over low heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. On the surface of cakes and pastries (for example, eclairs), the cocoa icing is applied warm until it hardens.

Cakes, pastries, buns and muffins are just a small part of the variety that pastry shops and cafes offer us. But all these pastries have something in common that makes them even more appetizing and attractive - the icing. And it is not the prerogative of purchased confectionery. You can easily decorate your homemade cake or other dough creation with it. We will explain in detail how to make glaze at home in this article.

Decorating a cake is a matter of a few minutes

First of all, we need to decide what we need this decoration for. So, cakes, sweet rolls and pastries are best covered with chocolate icing. It will not only make homemade cakes more beautiful, but also successfully complement its taste. How to make a chocolate frosting? Very simple. You can choose an economical option - use cocoa powder as a base. Take two rounded tablespoons of cocoa. This amount will require 50 grams of butter, a glass of sugar or powdered sugar, and a little cream (70 grams). You can make the icing for the cake thinner or, conversely, thicker by adding more or less cream or milk.

Preparation

We will cook in a water bath. To do this, put a saucepan with hot water on the fire under the bowl with our ingredients. First, melt the butter, and then add dry ingredients and cream to it. Mix thoroughly and cook for about 5 minutes to get a homogeneous shiny thick mass. Remove the bowl with the finished fragrant icing from the heat and let it cool. We cover our cake. Instead of cocoa powder, you can use real chocolate - black, milk or white. Now you know how to make cake frosting in just a few minutes.

Sugar glaze from childhood

But what about buns and Easter cakes? For them, the combination with chocolate will not be as successful as for cakes. Surely you bought pastries with fondant on top as a child. We are going to cook it. How to make white sugar frosting? Just add milk to it. Just two ingredients, plus a pinch of salt, and your fudge sugar is ready. It is better to take powdered sugar, gradually mixing it into hot milk until a homogeneous mass is obtained. Lubricate the buns with not yet cooled glaze and, if desired, sprinkle them with confectionery powder.

Add colors

By the way, your baked goods can look very fashionable and creative. All it takes is food coloring. Dilute them in warm water beforehand and add to the glaze. You can make muffins or buns with red, orange, blue caps from colored glaze. It will look very funny.

A worthy decoration for Easter cakes

However, such a recipe will not work for Easter cakes. For them we need a meringue. It is made very easily from two components - egg whites and sugar. Beat them with a pinch of salt, then add sugar or powder and continue beating. "Peaks" will begin to form on the surface of the protein mass, and it will not spill out if you turn the bowl over. This is a sign that the glaze is ready, and you can safely coat the Easter cakes with it. It will harden very quickly and the pastries can be served. Now that you know how to make cake frosting, icing or meringue, you can head to the kitchen and turn your culinary fantasies into baking masterpieces!

Fashion trends penetrate all areas of our life. And cooking is no exception. Cake decorating techniques reflect the general mood in society. Remember how in the late 90s there were fashionable cornucopia cakes, when a huge chocolate horn lay on the surface, from which a riotous variety of oily flowers and fruits burst out. But life has changed since then, and new trends have appeared in decorating cakes. Now you won't surprise anyone with butter roses on the cake. Today, strict classical forms and laconicism, even stinginess in jewelry, are in vogue. However, the classics are always relevant. It is the classic English tradition of cake decorating that now dominates the culinary world. A cake decorated in a simple style is always clear lines, subtle patterns and one or three colors in the design. All attempts to decorate a cake in a classic style with butter cream will be doomed to failure: it is "sharpened" for other shapes (the same roses, for example). The icing will help transform your cake into the embodiment of elegance.

For each type of decoration, its own tools and techniques are used. To decorate with butter cream, it is important to have a cornet and a set of nozzles on hand, the cake mastic is rolled out with a rolling pin and cut with a knife, and for decorating with icing you will need a rotating stand, right (a perfectly flat strip of metal or plastic, the length of which is longer than the widest part of the cake) and a spatula (or a wide knife). The texture of the icing allows you to get a completely smooth surface, but it is very difficult to achieve this by circling over a stationary cake. Therefore, a rotating stand is indispensable in this matter. If there is no such stand, then you can try to set the dish with the cake on a foam circle, and, in turn, lower it into a basin filled with water. The foam circle must be wider than the cake dish, otherwise the whole structure will tip over. A professional glaze trowel can be replaced with a wide knife or you can buy a trowel for construction work. The spatula should be stainless steel.

It is not for nothing that a construction spatula is useful for decorating a cake with glaze: the principle of applying glaze is similar to filling. Place the dish on the turntable, place some of the frosting on the surface, unwind the cake and smooth out the frosting with a spatula, holding it at an acute angle to the surface. Adjust the thickness of the glaze by increasing or decreasing the pressure - the more you press on the trowel, the thinner the glaze layer will be. The angle of inclination of the trowel in relation to the surface also matters: the closer it is to 90 °, the more glaze you remove, the thinner the layer will be. Then remove the cake from the turntable and right-level the icing by placing it on the far end of the cake and pulling it towards you. The movement should be continuous, and the pressure should be the same along the entire length. Repeat the alignment if it didn't work the first time. Then remove any remaining icing from the edges and set aside the cake for 2-3 hours to dry the icing. After that, apply the icing to the sides of the cake. If the cake is round, place it on the turntable and apply the icing with a spatula, turning the cake gently and being careful to keep the spatula level. If the cake is square, then apply the icing on two opposite sides, remove the remaining icing, forming an even corner, set aside for 2-3 hours to dry, and then apply the icing on the remaining sides.

So, we figured out the tools and principles of work, it's up to the recipes.

Sugar icing for cake

Ingredients:
225 g icing sugar
30-40 ml hot water (2-3 tablespoons).

Preparation:
Sift the icing sugar into a bowl, pour in the water and rub with a wooden spoon until the consistency of thick sour cream. Continue whisking until the mixture is white and smooth. It should cover the convex side of the wooden spoon with a thick layer. This glaze dries quickly and must be applied immediately.

Ingredients:
2 squirrels,
125 g icing sugar
150 g butter.

Preparation:
Whisk egg whites in a heat-resistant glass bowl until bubbles are large. Gradually adding the sifted icing sugar, beat until smooth. Place the bowl in a saucepan of simmering water and continue whisking until the mixture is white and thick. Remove from the water bath and beat until cool. In a separate bowl, beat the butter until fluffy. Gradually add the protein mass, whisking well after each serving. The finished mixture increases in volume and becomes thick. Cover the cake with icing.

Royal icing for cake

Ingredients:
2 squirrels,
¼ tsp lemon juice
450 g icing sugar
1 tsp glycerin.

Preparation:
Royal icing can be used for a variety of decorations. You can pour it on the surface of the cake, squeeze it out of the cornet and draw patterns with it, or simply apply an even, smooth layer - it all depends on the consistency. Combine egg whites with lemon juice and rub with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add about 1/3 of the sifted caster sugar and mix well until it becomes heavy cream. Continue adding the icing sugar in small portions and rub the mixture until you achieve the desired consistency. Then add glycerin and mix well.

Butter glaze for cake

Ingredients:
125 g butter
225 g icing sugar
2 tsp milk,
1 tsp vanilla essence.

Preparation:
Whisk the butter in a bowl with a wooden spoon or mixer until fluffy. Stir in the sifted powder, milk and vanilla essence gradually to the butter and beat until smooth.

American icing for cake

Ingredients:
1 protein
2 tbsp water,
1 tbsp light molasses
1 tsp tartar,
175 g icing sugar.

Preparation:
Place the egg white, water, molasses and tartar in a heat-resistant glass bowl and beat until smooth. Add the sifted icing sugar, stir and place the bowl in a water bath. Beat until the mixture is white and thick, then remove from the water bath and continue beating until the frosting has cooled. Cover the cake with the finished icing. When dry, the glaze becomes slightly crispy.

Glaze "Toffee"

Ingredients:
75 g butter
3 tbsp milk,
2 tbsp fine brown sugar
1 tbsp black molasses
350 g icing sugar.

Preparation:
Combine butter, milk, molasses and brown sugar and rub until smooth. Place in a water bath and whisk, then remove from heat and beat, gradually adding the sifted icing sugar until the mixture is smooth and shiny. Pour over the cake immediately, or let the frosting cool and apply with a spatula.

Chocolate icing for cake

Ingredients:
175 g of black (or milk) chocolate,
150 ml low-fat cream.

Preparation:
Break the chocolate into pieces and place in the cream. Heat the cream gently, stirring constantly, until all the chocolate is melted and smooth. Cool until the frosting stops dripping from the wooden spoon. Apply the glaze immediately or wait until it has hardened enough to apply the pattern.

Sugar fudge

Ingredients:
1 protein
2 tbsp liquid glucose,
2 tsp rose water,
450 g icing sugar.

Preparation:
Pour protein, glucose and rose water into a clean bowl and rub thoroughly. Add the sifted icing sugar and knead with a wooden spoon until the mixture begins to set. After that, start kneading the mass with your hands until you get a ball. Place the ball on a table, lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar, and knead until the surface of the ball is smooth. The finished fondant should be elastic and pliable.

Protein honey icing for cake

Ingredients:
1 protein
120-150 powdered sugar,
1 tbsp honey.

Preparation:
Whisk the protein and the sifted powder until a stable, shiny foam is obtained. Add honey gradually. If the icing is thin, add the icing sugar. If, on the contrary, it is too thick, then add lemon juice. You can add cocoa to the glaze.

Yolk glaze with honey

Ingredients:
2 yolks,
100 g icing sugar
2 tbsp water,
1 tbsp honey,
100 g of sugar.

Preparation:
Beat the yolks with powdered sugar until frothy. Pour granulated sugar with water, mix with honey and put on low heat. Boil until syrup is drawn when it is pulled with string. Remove from heat, cool slightly and pour over the yolk foam, stirring constantly. Cool the mixture, stirring constantly, and pour over the cake.

Lemon icing with honey for cake

Ingredients:
250 g icing sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp honey,
2 tbsp boiling water.

Preparation:
Stir all ingredients until smooth. If it's too thick, add lemon juice.

Rum icing for cake

Ingredients:
200-250g icing sugar
½ cup boiling water
1 tbsp honey,
2 tbsp rum.

Preparation:
Mix the icing sugar with hot water, add honey and rum. Stir until the desired glaze density is obtained. If there is a need to obtain a denser structure, then heat the mass in a water bath, also constantly stirring. Milk can be used instead of water.

Cocoa coffee icing for cake

Ingredients:
200 g butter
40 g cocoa,
4 tablespoons strong coffee,
1 tbsp honey,
200 g icing sugar.

Preparation:
Combine butter and cocoa. Put the icing sugar in a bowl, add the coffee and honey and simmer for about 30 seconds over high heat. Strain. Pour the cocoa butter over the hot mixture and stir until the butter melts. If the finished icing is too thick, add a little lukewarm coffee. Decorate the cake with non-frozen icing.

Glaze "Caramel" for cake

Ingredients:
3 tbsp honey,
20 g chocolate
2 tbsp water,
30 g butter
1 bag of vanilla sugar.

Preparation:
Boil the honey and water until it caramelizes, then add the grated chocolate and vanilla sugar and simmer over low heat until the mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat and add oil, stir well. Use the frosting before it has set.

Ingredients:
120 g icing sugar
100 g of chocolate
1 tbsp honey,
3 tbsp water.

Preparation:
Boil sugar with water and honey until a thick syrup is obtained (until it starts to stretch with a string). Pour the hot syrup over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is completely dissolved. If it's too thick, add a little warm water. Use warm.

Ingredients:
120 g icing sugar
4 tablespoons water,
80 g chocolate
1 tbsp honey,
30 g butter.

Preparation:
Cook the icing sugar with chocolate, honey and water over low heat, stirring constantly. Once the mixture thickens, remove from heat and add butter, stirring well.

Glaze-honey fondant

Ingredients:
250-300 g icing sugar,
200 ml of water,
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp honey.

Preparation:
Boil the sugar and water, stirring and removing the sugar crystals from the sides of the dish. Before the syrup starts to boil, add the lemon juice and honey. Lemon juice inhibits the crystallization process and allows the glaze to retain its gloss and elasticity. When the syrup is ready, roll a small amount of frosting between your thumb and forefinger. If at the same time a thread is formed that does not break, and the glaze becomes white after grinding, the syrup is ready. Then place the syrup pan in a large dish of cold water and stir continuously until the whole mixture is white. If it's too thick, add a little lukewarm water. You can add rum, coffee, chocolate, cocoa, raw yolk, fruit juices to this fondant. These ingredients are added to the syrup during cooking.

Ingredients:
200 g of hard toffee ("Golden Key", "Kis-kis", "Creamy", etc.),
40 g butter
¼ a glass of milk or cream,
1-2 tbsp powdered sugar.

Preparation:
Bring the butter and milk (cream) to a boil, add the powdered sugar and sweets. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the toffee is completely dissolved and a homogeneous mass is obtained. Apply to cake warm.

You can add food coloring and flavoring to the glaze. You can substitute citrus juice or strong coffee for the water in your recipe. And if your soul does not lie to strict lines, but asks for curls and tricks, you can cover the cake with intricate glaze patterns or make a real "fur coat" on it! To do this, cover the cake with a layer of icing, then dip a spatula or wide knife flat into the icing, place the greased side on the surface of the cake and tear off the blade. The icing will remain on the cake in the form of sharp peaks. Such a "fur coat" can be used to decorate only the edges of the cake, and leave the top smooth (for lettering, for example), or make the whole cake "fluffy". You can mold figurines from fondant, roll it out and cut out leaves, twist roses ... Imagine!

Larisa Shuftaykina