This is the recipe I use on mousse cakes like the “Royal au chocolat”. I have tried other recipes but this one gives a really nice “mirror” result and is not too gelatinous.
Nothing difficult to prepare but keep in mind few tips :
- prepare it the day before decorating your cake (if needed, you can keep your cake in the freezer after pouring this icing on it)
- you can use it only on frozen preparations
- when pouring it on the cake, you have to be quick to remove any excess on the top or on the sides. Because your cake is frozen, the icing will cool down very quickly and if you wait too long, it will leave a mark where you touch it.
Ingredients :
- 150 gr of sugar
- 150 gr of glucose syrup
- 80 gr of water
- 100 gr of condensed sweetened mild
- 150 gr of dark chocolate (70%)
- 9 gr of gelatin
Put the gelatin leaves in a bowl of cold water. Chop the chocolate in tiny pieces and put them in a bowl.
In a pan, warm up the sugar, the glucose syrup and the water together until it reaches a temperature of 103 degrees. Then, remove the pan from the heat and add the condensed milk. Remove the gelatin from the water, press it in your hands to remove as much as water as possible and add it in the pan. Stir gently.
Pour it on the chocolate and mix it using an immersion hand mixer. Try to not move it in the bowl to avoid incorporating air bubbles. If you see tiny air bubbles, don’t panic, they should not be visible on the cake.
Cover it with cling foil directly on the icing. If it doesn’t touch the icing, a thin crust will appear on the icing. Put in the fridge for few hours (I usually leave it overnight).
When you’re ready to decorate your cake, take the icing out of the fridge, remove the foil and place the bowl on a “bain-marie”. It will take some time to become liquid again and you may exceed the required temperature at first but simply wait until it cools down again. Stir it from time to time.
When a temperature of 35-40 degrees has been reached, take the cake out of the freezer and put it on a bowl placed in an oven tray. I prefer to do this rather than placing the cake on a rack because it’s easier to then transfer the cake on a serving plate with wide spatulas. Then pour the icing on the cake and make sure the entire cake is completely covered. Remove gently the excess on top with a spatula. i know you will want to admire this amazing show but do it right after pouring the icing. Like I said above, the temperature of the frozen cake will make the icing cool down very quickly. You may also think there is not too much icing on the top but there will and it won’t taste very good…
When it stops dripping on the side, use your spatula to remove the falling excess and transfer your cake to your serving plate. You may notice that the sides are not looking very nice. I usually cover the sides with crushed nuts or rasped coconut to hide the imperfections. If you want to do the same, I recommend to do it before transferring the cake to the plate.
Once you’re done with the decoration, put the cake back in the fridge for few hours so that the cake has time to slowly unfreeze.
