If you can't get a perfectly clean top edge on a glazed mousse cake (the ones done in plastic rings) try the trick used by auto painters to produce clean painted trim lines.
Glaze with clear glaze first, the clear glaze seal all the imperfections around the edges, follow with colored/flavored glaze and it will look perfect around the edge when the mousse is unmolded.

By W.DeBord on Sunday, April 16, 2000 - 03:42 pm: Edit

Oh no, I don't follow. I use ganache (alot) or gelatinized fruit juices (occasionally) to glaze a cake....What is clear glaze, does it have another name?

By tj on Sunday, April 16, 2000 - 10:39 pm: Edit

i did not get what the tip is for...
if the cake is done in a ring mold , how can there be imperfection? if you smooth the mousse with a spatula, in a ring mold there will be no impercfections. freeze the cake well. than glaze with a hot glaze to get a super thin ,very shiny even miroir glaze finish.
clear glaze is made with a neutral glaze like gel-fix, star-fix(patisfrance), or gel-fix (hero).etc.it is mainly fruit pectine jell with no added color or flavour.i use it instead of all other flavored jells ,couse i can add to the clear gel both a fruit flavor and a specific color and make what ever glaze i want.you can also use apricot jell as clear jell,it will have better taste on its own.

By tj on Sunday, April 16, 2000 - 11:26 pm: Edit

i dont use ganache as a chocolate glaze for my cakes.it does not have the fine smooth shiny finish of a chocolate miroir.doesnt look half as good or stay shinier, smoother ,longer as a choloate miroir.

By W.DeBord on Monday, April 17, 2000 - 08:48 am: Edit

Chocolate miroir as in what, exactly?

I believe this falls into one of the things Americans don't like. If the gelatin can be seen they will avoid the product, unless it's jello.

I leave the top of my mousse cake naked other than garnish. The only time I use a jel or glaze is to seal a decorative layer of fruit I may have placed in the mousse. Even with that they would prefer extra, extra fruit placed on top of the mousse and nothing to ancor it to the cake.

By tj on Monday, April 17, 2000 - 10:28 am: Edit

chocolate miroir is sometimes called chocolate glacage, has no gelatine in it.it is made with pate a glacer noire or brune along with dark semisweet chocolate,and a mixture of cream,milk,sugar sirop and glucose.fruit glazes that are based on nuetral gel or clear gel have no gelatine either.they are very smooth and shiny and look almost like a miror on the cake.

By tj on Monday, April 17, 2000 - 10:32 am: Edit

here are my recipes for chocolate miroir(glacage):
500 gr milk
400 gr heavy cream
500 gr sirop at 30 baume(1000water+1350sugar)
200 gr glucose
heat all to 80c, or 180f.
400 gr dark couverture
1200 gr pate a glacer brune (cacao barry)
melt together.add to the hot cream mixture.mix slowly.straine.and use hot on frozen cakes.
very atractive chocolate glaze!

By tj on Monday, April 17, 2000 - 10:38 am: Edit

this is for white chocolate miroir.this recipe is quite rare.not too many people know how to make it:
250gr milk
200gr heavy cream
250gr sirop at 30 baume
25gr titanium oxide (white food color powder)
100gr glucose
15gr gelatine sheets (about 7 sheets of 2gr)
1250gr white couverture
same prosedure as the dark glacage.melt the gelatine in the hot cream mixture.
very smooth shiny white chocolate glacage.

By tj on Monday, April 17, 2000 - 10:44 am: Edit

and this is a general purpes fruit miroir(glacage)
1000 gr gel-fix,star-fix or clear-gel-firm(hero),or apricot-gel
700 gr sugar sirop at 30 baume
200 gr glucose
plus fruit compound to taste and/or color of your choice.
mix all together over the fire.until is is smooth.do not let it reach over 80c./180f.strain through a fine strainer, use hot.this will allow for a very thin and even layer of the glacage on frozen cakes.

By Panini (Panini) on Monday, April 17, 2000 - 05:31 pm: Edit

tj,
I assume you use the glacage instead of straight brune for the cutting of the product?? I appears to be softer . Will it crack with out being scored?
Help, I've formulated one of my best sellers around Driedopple sp? Amaretto compound. My distributor has said they have pulled it out of Dallas Tx. The distributor replaced it with uh? I don't know orange bottle, you probably know.
NOT EVEN CLOSE!! thin, high sugar content. Have any suggestions?
Also do you know where I can get powdered white food color, I can only get the liquid that I use for sugar, but its crap.I'm going to try the white glacage if you don't mind.

By Mikeh (Mikeh) on Monday, April 17, 2000 - 06:58 pm: Edit

The quick and dirty glaze that I learned is 4 parts bittersweet couverture, 2 parts coating compound and 1 part vegetable oil. It's not as nice as pouring ganache, but it doesn't take as long and bubbles aren't a problem.

By tj on Monday, April 17, 2000 - 10:17 pm: Edit

both my white and dark glacages are soft, and set on the cake like a ganache does.the difference is they stay very shiny ,and soft with out cracking after a while like some ganaches do.it is not like an opera cake glaze that is a thin hard glaze.as for the dreidople compound, the orange buttles you are getting are probebly made by brown,and are distributed by able and scheifer.there are a few companies that sell dreidopple in the states.it is ,in my opinion the best compound company in the world! try in orlando,lipton and company 1-800-food-123, and also in miami,rader foods 1-800-223-1103.i think both carry dreidopple and will ship ups.by the way,i have tried over 20 compounds from dreidopple and they are all extraordinary!

By tj on Monday, April 17, 2000 - 10:20 pm: Edit

by the way, dont worry too much about the titanium oxide, it is for a whiter shade of the glaze.you can buy it at albert uster, and from ewald notter`s confectionary school.it is used alot for poured sugar work, to make the sugar opacke (not transparant).

By W.DeBord on Monday, April 17, 2000 - 10:37 pm: Edit

THANKS tj, I will have to try your glazes. Do you handle/spread/pour as you would ganache? To reheat... over a water bath till soft, is fine? Assuming they hold and reheat with-out any problems.

By W.DeBord on Tuesday, April 18, 2000 - 08:45 am: Edit

tj do you give your students these recipes too? Chocolatiers cookbooks on pass plate desserts from "famous" pastry chefs (can't think of the title) has a couple of items that use mirror glazes now that I think about it. But I really can't think of any other English published cookbooks that show or use them.

This does support your argument for the use of mentoring. It frustrates me that with-out the ability to read french there are certain things I don't have access to. Although if you don't know about something you don't know what your missing, so you make due or create something different.

By Panini (Panini) on Tuesday, April 18, 2000 - 01:03 pm: Edit

tj, thanks, I'll try those two companies today. I looked today, the orange bottle is Dohler, boy its bad. I hate to trash products, but its sugarwater and costs more money. All of my compounds are from driedopple, I really like the champagne and citron.

By tj on Tuesday, April 18, 2000 - 04:03 pm: Edit

from my experience dohler is the worst company ever. they send me last month a tiramisu base as a sample to give an opinion.it was the most bland ,tastless ,texturless product i ever put in my mouth.no flavour! i am not kidding ,unbeliveble that they sell this base to humans with a taste bud.
the marc de champagne is one of my favorites, very delecate, very fruity, you can smell the grapes when opening the container.i also like the truffle praline they make,with just a touch of alcohole.the orange and lemon are extraordinary among all other companies.the aroma is a very big part of what make these compounds so good.a wonderful company.

By tj on Tuesday, April 18, 2000 - 04:14 pm: Edit

w.debord
i keep all my glazes in tubs in my cooler.then scoop some in to a plastic container and microwave it to the right temperatue .about 60 deg.c.mix well and strain.
you use it just like a ganache ,only you will find that they are thinner smoother,and leave a lighter ,finer coat on the cakes.they have a very long shelf life in the freezer when put on the cakes.they will not crack or produce spots, or discolor.actualy ,cacao barry sell the exact same thing in 5 kilo tubs for $10 a pound or somthing like that.i think they call it glacage noire and glacage ivoire .whoever buys it is crazy!
you can use the white chocolate glacage recipe i gave, for many things,glaze your petit fours,eclaire,cream puffs,add a few drops of oil based food color to get pastel shades...marble it with the dark glacage...very versetile.

By Oli on Tuesday, April 18, 2000 - 10:01 pm: Edit

tj
Excuse my ignorance but the only chocolate I use is Calebaut, what chocolate can I use for your recommendation of pate a glace noire or brune, if I don't use Cacao Barry? Can I freeze this glaze and if I rewarm it will it still be shiny?
Thanks

By tj on Wednesday, April 19, 2000 - 05:02 pm: Edit

no substitutes for pate a glacer.its not chocolate.
pate a glacer is a very thin mix that is based on vegetable fat, cocoa and sugar with emulsifiers.it is made by several companies, including cacao barry, patisfrance, dgf and felchlin.comes in a plastic or metal containers.all are available in the states.it can be used in a spray gun as it is, since it is very thin,it is also used alot for glazing the top and bottom of opera cakes.the recipe i gave is especialy good for the freezer.it will stay shiny,and moist,and it can be reheated unlimited number of times and stay nice and shiny.

By tj on Wednesday, April 19, 2000 - 05:27 pm: Edit

if, for some reason you can`t get pate a glace , try using in the recipe 1300gr dark couverture and about 200-300gr peanut oil.it will make the recipe close to pate a glacer based glaze but not perfectly the same...and i realy don`t think its a problem getting p.a.g. in any area here...

By vbean on Sunday, June 25, 2000 - 03:27 am: Edit

try this glaze, it is so easy to remember! Shiny and good too. 3 2 1 1/2
3# bittersweet
2# butter
1c corn syrup
1/2c brandy (or alcohol of your choice). I also never use ganache, I don't like how sticky (and dull looking) it gets.

By Ungarot (Ungarot) on Tuesday, September 19, 2000 - 08:26 pm: Edit

excuse my ignorance, but could you tell me what is meant by coating chocolate? I understand couverture.

I get the impression that most of the posting here come from people in large establishments? Hotels and the like? With the use of bases and whatnot?

By Mikeh (Mikeh) on Wednesday, September 20, 2000 - 12:32 am: Edit

Coating chocolate is couverture with the addition of a hydrogenated vegetable oil that allows it to be used without tempering -- although it doesn't set as hard as true tempered couverture. The percentage of vegetable oil varies from a small amount in good quality brands to a larger amount in cheaper brands. Guittard's Melt'n'Mold (called A'peels in the 25# boxes) is coating chocolate; so is Wilton's candy making chocolate.