Frozen mirror glaze

[Belly72]

Hi all...I've been screwing around with mirror glaze for ice cream cakes....not much success..seems once it's frozen it looses it's sheen. Second issue, if it's warm it melts the ice cream and we loose our sharp neat edges. Any one have any suggestions for something that works well frozen?

 

[chefpeon]

I think when it comes to ice cream cakes you have to accept your limitations. There are some things you just can't do with them. Also, considering the fact that you really can't display them for very long outside of a frozen environment leads me to the conclusion that decorating an ice cream cake to the same extent as a cake that can be left out and displayed before being eaten, isn't the best use of time or resources. Decorate it simply using methods already deemed successful and make it look appetizing, which really is the whole point of decorating a cake anyway. Your primary concern should be, "does it sell?"

 

[Belly72]

I think when it comes to ice cream cakes you have to accept your limitations. There are some things you just can't do with them. Also, considering the fact that you really can't display them for very long outside of a frozen environment leads me to the conclusion that decorating an ice cream cake to the same extent as a cake that can be left out and displayed before being eaten, isn't the best use of time or resources. Decorate it simply using methods already deemed successful and make it look appetizing, which really is the whole point of decorating a cake anyway. Your primary concern should be, "does it sell?"

Were pretty high end, and like to set ourselves apart, definitely not the usual DQ looking thing. So when you look at the big picture of is it time well spent...when it sets you apart from every other cake out there...it definitely is.

 

[chefpeon]

I'm not really talking about doing anything Dairy-Queen-esque. There are many types of simple and classy ways to dress up an ice cream cake. Mirror glaze isn't going to work, obviously, because of the nature of the cake being frozen. There's tons of other things you can do....for instance have you ever perused pictures of some high end entremets like I've attached here? Some of these have a very shiny glaze, but really, the high shine isn't totally necessary to pull these off in an ice cream cake:





Putting chocolate tiles around the outside would really spark things up too. Also, consider a jelly glaze.....that shine will hold up in the freezer case.

 

[chefpeon]

Another thought: All the ice cream cakes I’ve done (and seen) have the ice cream in the middle of two layers or more of cake. So if you’re pouring a glaze on top, over the cake, you won’t lose your edges like if you’d poured warm glaze directly over the ice cream.

 

[jcakes]

it's expensive but given your price point, perhaps you could consider a spray that gives you a flocked/textured finish. You can spray it on a frozen product and then use whatever garnishes you like.

 

[chefpeon]

it's expensive but given your price point, perhaps you could consider a spray that gives you a flocked/textured finish. You can spray it on a frozen product and then use whatever garnishes you like.

jcakes has an excellent suggestion. A sprayed velvet finish is as stunning as a shiny one. You also don't have to worry how your ice cream cake is built (ice cream on top or cake on top). I've used a Wagner Spray Gun designated for food only and filled it with 50/50 melted cocoa butter and chocolate. Make a 'booth" out of cardboard, put your cake in there and spray away. Easy. Quick. Stunning.

 

[Belly72]

it's expensive but given your price point, perhaps you could consider a spray that gives you a flocked/textured finish. You can spray it on a frozen product and then use whatever garnishes you like.

Yes that's the kind of look were going for, I've been doing a valrhona raspberry chocolate coating, which is stunning but they also get sweaty looking once out of the freezer, the velvet finish might be just the solution in looking for, thanks!