bundt cakes

[bohh]

Hi,

What does every one call the topping you put on bundt cakes ? Is the proper word to use a glaze or a icing ?

Thanks,
Bohh

[Kelleybean]

Hi bohh,

You can use a glaze for the topping but you can also use pretty much of whatever you want. I've used raspberry jam that I thind down with heat, whipped cream. even a simple dusting of powdered sugar. Your the cook. Do what ever tickles your fancy. Just have fun

[bohh]

thank you, but still would like to know what you call it ...glaze or icing?

Bohh

[bohh]

I am asking bec. the bundt cakes I seen and recipes i have for say a glaze for the top, say to make the glaze thick always thought glaze is suppose to be thin? Am I missing something here? If it is thick wouldnt it be called a icing more than a glaze.

BOHH

[Erik]

Personally, I'd call it a glaze as I pour it on. I usually spread icings.

[boar_d_laze]

A thin, glossy coating which adheres to the surface to which it's applied, is usually characterized as a glaze. Glazes are highly concentrated. frostings less so. For instance, a ganache glaze is made of equal parts chocolate and cream, while ganache frosting is usually one part chocolate to three parts cream (1 : 2 is a truffle). What makes a glaze so good with a bundt form is the glaze's ability to stick to the various slopes, and yet be thin enough to show the contours of the cake.

BDL

[bohh]

So a glaze isnt thick can only be thin.? Than why are some recipes calling for a glaze want it to be thick?

Bohh

[Kelleybean]

You want your glaze to be thin enough to fall over the sides of your cake but not so thin that it will run off the top. Making it thicker, but not too think, will help to keep the glaze on top of the cake yet allow it to fall over the edges. Does any of this make sense? I feel like I’m rambling too much. Well I hope that this has helped a bit.

Kelley

[bohh]

I thank you for your help,but just would like to know why some people say the stuff on top of a bundt cake is sometimes called a glaze and sometimes called a icing what defines the two? When do you classify it a glaze or icing?

Bohh

Many recipes ran across and web site seem to say glaze for bundt and also icing for bundt.

[boar_d_laze]

Terminology is tricky. To make it worse, I'm not much of a baker, less of a pastry maker, and certainly no pastry chef -- whether in the past, now or ever.

Nevertheless:

Icing can be done with many things, including glaze. Icing is what you do and what you use to cover a baked product with a sweet substance. "Icing" can be, but is not always synonymous with "glaze." As I understand the term, icing also includes frosting.

In my earlier post, when I termed glaze as "thin," I meant: As a finished coating on the final product, a glaze will end up only a fraction of an inch thick. As a texture, once cooled, glazes are usually termed "stiff" or even "brittle." You may be conflating "stiff" with "thick," which is legitimate. I was not, which may have been confusing. To make it even more confusing, syrup and sugar glazes are often applied hot when they're thinnest. On the other hand, egg washes which are also glazes, are thinnest when they're cool and before baking.

Cake icings are broken into several categories. "Frostings" are the fluffiest. Glazes lie the flattest. The "thinnest" glazes I know of are egg washes and syrups. Fondants are not glazes, they are very thin frostings. Glazes are (almost always) applied as liquid. Cakes with holes in the middle, such as bundts, are a PITA to frost. Perhaps that's why glazes predominate as icings.

My head hurts,
BDL

[ajoe]

Just for kicks, I decided to check the dictionary:

icing
the sweet glaze used in confectionary

frosting
icing

So there you have it. In common use, icing = glaze = frosting, and all three terms are both a noun and a verb.

We can also find a similar reference in Larousse Gastronomique where it is said, "In France the term glacage is also used for glazing cakes with icing (frosting) and..."

And so it goes...

[bohh]

Thanks all for the help.

Bohh