Mirror Glaze ...on naturally red (?) Red Velvet Cake

 Warning: This is much longer than my typical recipe post!! Definitely more 'bloggy' about the process...for my own record mostly. 

I wanted to try out a mirror glaze technique, but figured  I might as well try a new cake recipe while I was at it. Not that I really need more and more cake recipes (!) but Cooking Light has a red velvet recipe that is "naturally red" by using beets. I already have a red velvet cake recipe; like most, it uses red food coloring. I also have a chocolate beet cake recipe that I love. It's not red; however, it does call for cocoa powder (and I often use dark cocoa powder) and dark chocolate and brown sugar...all of which contribute to masking the color of the beets (and flavor...the beets just make the cake wonderfully moist!).

Cooking Light's recipe for "naturally red" velvet cake IS natural (no red food coloring), but...not very red. I used a light (well, 'normal') cocoa powder, not dark, to let the color come through. The beets, again, result in a wonderfully moist cake. But if the desire is for a red velvet cake, I don't think I'd use this one. Still, it was a fine cake for testing out mirror glazing.

I made a few small cakes for practicing on rather than one larger cake.

I experimented with a miror glaze recipe that uses sweetened condensed milk; others use corn syrup which I am not opposed to (I know some people think it's evil and to be avoided). Might be worth experimenting to see how it impacts opacity...

The glaze, either way, is quite runny. That does make it easier for smooth, complete 'sheets' of glaze dripping down the sides, but it was a bit thin in many spots and, as you can see in the photo, a LOT drips right off the cakes. If you work reasonably quickly, you wouldn't have to be super fast, you could re-use the 'drippings', though that might work better with a single, solid color.

And it's really important with a thin glaze to make sure your 'crumb coat' of base frosting is very smooth, and relatively thick since you can see through the thin glaze in quite a few spots.

I was working with two colors to see how easy (or challenging) it would be to marble them. Not difficult at all as long as you're not trying to be too exact. Throw on some sprinkles and edible glitter dust, pipe colored frosting (not more runny glaze!) around the bottom -- or use more sprinkles, chopped nuts, etc. -- to hide the bottom drip edge and it looks pretty good!

Next time, I think I'll thicken it a little with a higher ratio of (white) chocolate - see below. But not too much as it hinders marbling and a smooth-surfaced, shiny glaze. This recipe makes enough to glaze a two-layer 8" cake (or 9") ...as long as you don't drip TOO much down coating the sides.

Ingredients

1 ¼-ounce pkg unflavored gelatin powder

¼ C + 3 T water

¾ C sugar

1/3 C sweetened condensed milk

 6 oz white 'chocolate' chips

gel food coloring(s)

optional: edible glitter and sprinkles for decorating

Directions

Mis en place* all of your ingredients, including cakes pre-frosted with a base of icing spread very smoothly and refrigerated overnigh or frozen for at least 2 hours; this helps the gelatin in the mirror glaze to set.

* Mis en place: Gather ALL of the utensils and equipment you will need and pre-measure all of your ingredients so you have everything you need, ready to move from one step to the next without things just sitting (cooling, setting or hardening when they shouldn't be!) while you're looking for the next needed tool or ingredient.

In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 2 tablespoons of the water; stir, let sit for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine remaining water, sweetened condensed milk and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve all sugar. Remove from heat; stir in gelatin until completely dissolved.

Pour hot mixture over chocolate pieces in a heat proof (glass or metal) bowl; let sit 3-5 minutes until chocolate pieces are very soft. Stir until totally melted and well combined. If needed, strain through fine mesh sieve. (Some 'white chocolate' baking morsels have additives that help them retain their chip form during baking -- great for cookies, not so great for mirror glaze.)

If two colors are desired for marbling, divide mixture and color each as desired.

Pour the colored glaze(s) over the cake, starting at the edges, drizzling to evenly coat the sides, then swirling over the top surface. (If you want to try combining the colors in one bowl to pour out a marbled effect, check out Step Nine in these instructions from Food Network.)

I had a 6" cake left after my blue-purple glaze -- reserved because I wanted to try a chocolate (semi-sweet) mirror glaze...for flavor as well as to see how it looked.

The darker chocolate loses its shine more quickly, but even the white chocolate had a decidedly more matte finish after 24 hours. The marbling still gave it a nice look, just not shiny.

Chocolate Beet Cake

I was in at the local farmers' market recently with a friend. One of the vegetable stands was selling beets, had samples of beet hummus available, and was giving out copies of the hummus recipe. It was...okay. But we spoke to the gal working the stand; she mentioned a chocolate-beet cake recipe.
I found a couple, played with them, combining and tweaking here and there (using some real chocolate, not just cocoa powder) and came up with this. Delicious! You can hardly taste the beets, but they do add texture and a lot of moisture to the cake. I drizzled a simple ganache over it and dusted it with kosher salt, but it's moist enough it's fine on its own...or simply dusted with a little powdered sugar just to 'finish' it.

Ingredients:
5 oz  chocolate (I used dark)
2 C cooked beets, pureed
1 tsp vanilla
1 C butter, softened
1½ C brown sugar
3 eggs
1¾ flour
4 Tbls cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375˚.

Melt the chocolate with ¼ C butter; combine with pureed beets and vanilla. Set aside. In another bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream the remaining butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat until well combined. Stir in chocolate beet mixture. Gradually add the dry ingredients.

Scoop or pour better into a fluted tube pan coated with non-stick cooking spray. Bake 45-50 minutes. Cool in pan about 10 minutes before turning onto wire rack or serving plate to cool completely.

Pickled Beets (spiced)

Ingredients:
1 lb beets
¼ C sugar
½ tsp pickling salt
2/3 C apple cider vinegar
1+ tsp whole cloves
1 3" cinnamon stick

Directions:
Wash, trim and large dice beets.

Combine remaining ingredients and bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce to simmer and add beets, cooking until fork tender.

Beets should be stored in the pickling brine - refrigerate in a covered container to serve within a week or two; can in sterilized containers for longer storage.

Pickled Beets

I think this recipe came from my grandma Margaret originally. One of my dad's favorites...

Ingredients:

about 4 medium beets

2 C vinegar
2 C sugar
1 Tbls cinnamon*
1 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp allspice berries

* If you'd prefer to use cinnamon sticks, one 3-4" cinnamon stick can replace about a teaspoon of cinnamon. 3 teaspoons make a tablespoon, so for this recipe...use 3 cinnamon sticks.

Directions:
Combine all ingredients except beets in large saucepan. Add 2 cups water. Bring to boil; reduce heat and let simmer while preparing beets.

Clean, trim, and slice beets (or dice them, as you please; smaller pieces will cook faster, of course). Add beets to saucepan and simmer until beets are tender (about 25-30 minutes).

Cool. Beets can be served warm, or chilled.

Leftovers can be canned to preserve for later use.

Beet Gratin

6 medium-sized beets (red, yellow, white...)
3 Tbls butter
2 Tbls minced shallot
2 Tbls flour
2 C milk
4 oz crumbled sweet blue cheese
(Roquefort, Point Reyes, etc.)
salt
pepper

trim beets and place in a deep pot, cover with cold water aand 1 Tbls salt. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer until they are soft and easily fall when stabbed with a thin life. Strain beets; cool to room temperature. While they cool...

Heat a medium saucepan and add butter; when sizzling, add shallot and saute until soft, but not brown. Add flour and whisk over medium-heat. slowly add milk and whisk until thickened. Remove from heat and add blue cheese. Whisk until incorporated and season with salt and pepper; cover and set aside.

When beets are cool, rub skins off and cut beets into bite-sized pieces. Preheat oven broiler placing rack 3-4 inches below the flame. Lay beets in a single layer in a baking dish (or individual ramekins). Spoon the béchamel (the white sauce with shallots) over beets, taking care not to drown them. Place gratin dish under flame until bubbling and well browned. Remove and serve immediately.

Garnish with any of the following: julienned beet greens, arugula, tossed greens tossed lightly in a simple vinaigrette, crisped prosciutto, crisp fried shallots...