When you are going on a vacation to Russia, there are several things you cannot miss. For sure, you must visit its remarkable destinations, such as the remains of the Kazan Kremlin and Bauman Street (a shopping street) in Kazan. You also have to visit Saint Petersburg and enjoy a cruise in its Neva River. It is not a trip to Russia if you do not spend some times in Moscow, a city where you can watch many high-quality art productions such as ballet and theatrical performance.
As you travel from one city to another, you need to put “tasting the traditional meals of Russia” into your to-do list. Knowing the taste of local dishes will help you to learn more about the culture. When we talk about dished, it is also included desserts and cakes. Just like any other countries, Russians also have their authentic cakes that taste just as delicious, if not more, like cakes, you find in your local bakeries.
The first Russian cake you need to try when you are in Russia is the Moskva Cake. This cake gained the most votes during a competition held by the city official. This is a simple sponge cake layered with walnuts and condensed milk covered with red icing. This delicious cake is very easy to find all through the cake or coffee shop and bakeries in the city of Moscow.
If you prefer the flavor of nuttiness in your cake, you can try Kiev Cake. This dacquoise cake has five types of nuts in each of its layer, including hazelnuts and cashew. You will also taste the buttercream-like filing when you bite this cake, with chocolate glaze decorating on the top of the cake. This cake will go great when you want a sweet treat to have with your cup of tea or coffee.
Another example of the Russians’ cake is Russian mirror glaze cake. Just like its name, this cake is covered with a glaze that has the characteristic of a mirror. So, how did the Russian mirror glaze cake become famous? How to make it? Here are all you need to know about Russian mirror glaze cake.
Russian Mirror Glaze Cake
- What Is Mirror Glaze
Mirror glaze is a mirror-like liquid used to coat a cake. As stated, since the glaze has the characteristic of a mirror, the glaze makes the cake looks shiny and glassy. It is not easy to make the glaze. But, of course, you are welcomed to try to make one. You just need the ingredients which are sweetened condensed milk, some chocolate (you can use the white one), water, and gelatin. When you see the pictures of mirror glaze cakes on the internet, you will see many colorful cakes. For these variations, you can use food colorings and let your imagination plays 🙂
- How Mirror Glaze Cake Became Famous
A dean of one of the culinary institutes in America stated that mirror glaze has been around for a long time. Chefs have been making it for 30 years. But, this was not a popular thing until a Russian uploaded the pictures of mirror glaze cake she baked into her social media account.
The second thing you need to know about Russian mirror glaze cake is how Olga Noskova helped to popularize this particular cake. She is a Russian baker. Her passion to learn about cakes started with her love with macarons. She devoted many of her times to learn about confectionery arts which led her to the desire of making mousse cakes. As she was practicing to make the mousse cakes, she ended up with the mirror glaze cake.
She made many designs of mirror glaze cake. She baked one egg-shaped cake that coated with the mixture of purple and pink color of mirror glaze. She also made the one with dark blue color which makes the cake looks like a night sky with stars on it. All those beautiful designs of the cake attracted so many attentions. People are mesmerized by how magnificent the cakes look and wondering how she makes it. Noskova was surprised by how much appreciation and the positive response she got for her works. She keeps her recipes and techniques as secrets but at least she already contributes to creating the attention for the mirror glaze cake.
- How To Make Russian Mirror Glaze Cake
As mentioned above, making a Russian mirror glaze cake is not easy. But, if you follow the instructions correctly, you will find that you can make it! So, here are the ingredients and the steps for you to follow in the make of Russian mirror glaze cake.
Ingredients:
- 150 grams of granulated sugar
- 180 grams of white chocolate
- 100 milliliters of sweetened condensed milk
- 1/3 cup of water
- 4 teaspoons of gelatin powder
- 1/4 cup of water
- Food coloring
Instructions:
- Put the granulated sugar, sweetened condensed milk, and 1/3 cup of water into a saucepan. Heat it over medium-low heat. Stir the whole mixture occasionally.
- In a separate container, mix the gelatin powder with 1/4 cup of water. Let it sit for a few minutes.
- When the mixture in the saucepan (point 1) starts to simmer, add the bloomed gelatin into it. mix it all up until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
- Pour the whole saucepan on top of the white chocolate. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Then, whisk it all together until the whole chocolate is melted.
- Mix the food coloring (choose any color you want) with the mixture. Then, pass it all through a strainer to make sure there are no lumps in the glaze.
- Let the glaze cool down to the temperature 37o
- Once it is cooled down, you can pour it over a frozen cake. Leave it for around 5 minutes. After that, using a hot knife, you can even out the glaze and remove the drips. There you have it, your Russian mirror glaze cake!
Those are all you need to know about Russian mirror glaze cake. Do not forget to try the mirror glaze cake recipe above 🙂