Spectacular Mirror Cake
Some trends spread like wildfire and suddenly everyone wants a piece of the action, and it's no different in the culinary world. You've probably seen those cakes covered in a glossy, reflective glaze and wondered how the chef did it. Well today we're going to let you in on a secret – there's actually not much to the famous mirror cake!
Equipment
- Hand mixer
- 8-inch cake pan
- 9-inch springform cake pan
- Saucepan
- Immersion blender
- Sieve
- Baking tray
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1.25 cups sugar
- 1.67 cups flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 0.5 tsp baking powder
- 3 cups milk
- 9 sheets gelatin, soaked
- 16 oz white chocolate, chopped
- 3 cups whipped cream
- 1.67 cups sugar
- 1.25 cups water
- 1.33 cups sweetened condensed milk
- 10 sheets gelatin, soaked
- 24 oz white chocolate, chopped
- red & white food coloring
- 18 oz strawberry jam
Instructions
- Beat the eggs and sugar with a hand mixer until frothy. Add the flour, salt, vanilla extract, and baking powder and mix until smooth. Pour the cake batter into a greased 8-inch cake pan and cook in a preheated oven at 350°F for 30 minutes. Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the pan and cut it in half horizontally. Spread the strawberry jam over the bottom of the 8-inch cake pan, press 1 of the cake halves into the jam, and transfer the pan to the freezer. Set the other cake half aside for later.
- Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Squeeze the liquid out of the soaked gelatin sheets and stir them into the milk until dissolved. Add the chopped white chocolate and stir until the mixture is smooth and the chocolate has melted. Remove the saucepan from the heat, let the mixture cool, and fold in the whipped cream. Pour half of the white chocolate mousse into a 9-inch springform cake pan and smooth out the top.
- Remove the frozen cake from the 8-inch cake pan and press it into the white chocolate mousse in the 9-inch springform cake pan, with the jam layer facing down. Spread the rest of the white chocolate mousse over the cake and place the other cake half on top.
- Once the white chocolate mousse has set, arrange 3 drinking glasses in a triangle in the center of a baking tray. Remove the cake from the springform cake pan, flip it over so that the mousse-covered top is facing up, and balance the cake on the glasses.
- Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the sugar, water, and sweetened condensed milk, and whisk until combined. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Squeeze the liquid out of the soaked gelatin sheets and stir them into the mixture until dissolved. Pour the mixture over the chopped white chocolate and puree with an immersion blender until smooth. Pour the mixture through a sieve and divide it into 3 equal portions. Use food coloring to color the 3 portions of mirror glaze – 1 white, 1 pink, and 1 red. Pour the 3 portions of colored mirror glaze into a large pitcher in any order and stir the mixture with a wooden skewer to create a marble effect.
- Pour the mirror glaze over the cake in a circular motion so that the excess glaze drips down onto the baking tray. Let the mirror glaze dry before serving the cake.
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Notes
Once the glazing has dried, you'll be able to see your reflection in the cake's surface. You can experiment with other colors or even do without the glaze altogether — a white cake looks just as elegant. Enjoy!