Mirror Glaze Chocolate Gateau  

I’m back to what I really love making – complex patisserie! Being the massive baking nerd that I am I love making things like this that take ages but look really cool once finished. This gateau is mirror glazed, which is a kind of icing that has a gorgeous reflective finish. I always find something really elegant about mirror glazed things and when done right they can look really professional. They also have this deceptive, exterior simplicity to them which is broken when they’re cut into and all the layers, colour and textures pour out, like the doors being opened to a vibrant party.

The trick when making something like this is just to take your time and to not rush any of the steps. I actually made this one over three days, partly because I was a bit busy and so I was making elements whenever I had some free time. This meant that I could leave each element to set completely which was really useful for when it came to assembling, although it would also be possible to make this in a single day if you wanted to.

Recipe

Serves 10

Time: 3 1/2 hours plus lots of chilling

Ingredients

For the Brownie

• 55g Butter
• 70g Dark chocolate
• 1 Medium egg
• 70g Caster sugar
• 15g Plain flour

For the Jelly

• 200g Frozen Strawberries
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 50g Caster sugar
• 2 1/2 Leaves of Gelatine

For the Crispy layer

• 100g Cornflakes
• 50g Milk chocolate

For the Mousse

• 3 1/2 Leaves of Gelatine
• 175g Milk chocolate
• 175g Dark chocolate
• 220ml Milk
• 350ml Double cream

For the Glaze

• 150ml Double cream
• 135g Caster sugar
• 60g Cocoa powder
• 3 Leaves of Gelatine

To Decorate

• 2 Fresh strawberries

Method

1. Begin by making the brownie. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Grease and line a 12.5 cm round tin with butter and baking paper.
2. Put the butter and chocolate into a glass bowl over a pan of gently simmering water and leave to melt.
3. In another bowl whisk the eggs and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Pour in the chocolate mixture and stir together until smooth. Add the flour and mix it in until everything is combined.
4. Pour the brownie mixture into the lined tin and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until a crispy top has formed and the cake is still a little gooey. Take the cake out of the tin and then leave it to cool until needed.
5. To make the jelly put the strawberries, lemon juice and sugar into a pan and bring to the boil. Then leave to simmer until the sugar has dissolved and the strawberries have become a mush (about 15 minutes).
6. In another bowl leave the gelatine to soak in some cold water for 5 minutes, until it’s soft and flexible.
7. Blend the strawberry mix into a puree with a hand blender and then add the gelatine to the warm mixture. Stir until the gelatine is completely dissolved and then leave to cool.
8. Line a 12.5 cm round tin with cling film and then pour the cooled jelly mix into the tin. Leave to set in the fridge for at least 3 hours or until needed.
9. Next make the crispy layer. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.
10. Pour the melted chocolate into a bowl with the cornflakes and mix everything together until the flakes are completely coated in the chocolate.
11. Line a 12.5 cm round tin with clingfilm again like you did with the jelly, and then tip the cornflake mixture into the tin. Even the layer out with a spoon so that it’s relatively flat. Then leave to cool/set and leave to one side until needed.
12. When everything’s ready (the brownie, jelly and crispy layer) you’re ready to make the mousse. Put the gelatine into a bowl with some cold water and leave to soak.
13. Finely chop the chocolate until it’s the texture of a broken up ice cream flake. Then transfer the chocolate to a bowl.
14. Heat the milk in a pan until it reaches a boil. Take the pan off the heat, squeeze the gelatine to remove excess water and then stir it into the milk until dissolved. Then pour the warm milk over the chocolate to melt it and stir to make sure it’s smooth. Set aside to cool.
15. Pour the cream into a bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. When the chocolate mix is completely cool, fold the whipped cream into the mixture until the colour is even and the mixture is smooth.
16. Line a 17.5 cm tin with clingfilm. Pour a little of the mousse mixture into the lined tin so that it just covers the base. Leave the tin in the fridge for 30 minutes to set this layer.
17. Once set, carefully place the jelly layer in the centre of the entremet. Then top the jelly layer with the brownie and then the crispy layer. Pour the rest of the mousse over the layers so that they’re completely covered. Then leave everything in the fridge to set for at least 4 hours, or better overnight.
18. When ready make the glaze. Put the cream, sugar, cocoa and 150ml water into a pan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Bring the mixture to the boil and then leave for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
19. Soak the gelatine in a bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes, until flexible. Squeeze out the excess water and then add the gelatine to the glaze and stir to dissolve.
20. Cool the glaze down to 38˚C and then it’s ready to use. This can take a while so I’ve found that transferring it into another bowl and whisking it every so often will help! Sieve the glaze to make it super smooth.
21. Unmould your gateau and place it on a wire rack with a large roasting tin underneath to catch the excess glaze that will drip off. Then pour the glaze over the cake so it evenly covers the gateau. Leave the gateau for 30 minutes to allow the glaze to set slightly.
22. Quarter your strawberries and then place them around the top of the gateau. Serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x