So the holidays are coming up, and you have a fabulous dessert planned, but can you elevate that dessert? How can you make it look even more stunning than it already is?
If you're using fruit, we are here to help! A fruit glaze is an effortless way to make something look great instead of just good.
It's effortless, quick, and easy to make. We are trying to make the fruit shiny, bringing out its natural colors. My favorite fruit to do this on is raspberries. With their deep red color, a fruit glaze helps to make them a highlight of the dish!
If you've looked up fruit glazes in the past, you may have noticed one of two things. They may have been made from jam or jelly, or had cornstarch. That's great, but I'll tell you why I don't like doing it that way:
Jam or Jelly
Ok, so you have a beautiful raspberry, very vibrant in color. Then you slather it with a thinned-out and warmed-up jam. This has two effects I'm not a massive fan of. For one, it'll change the taste of your fruit- we want the fresh raspberry to shine through. Two, it creates a coating over the fruit that may dull the color slightly. Jelly is not transparent, so it will leave its color behind when you put it over something. The whole point of a fruit glaze is to highlight a fruit's natural beautiful color.
Cornstarch "recipe"
So what on earth is going on with these "recipes?" It's in quotations for a reason. It all comes back to what a fruit glaze is supposed to do, highlight the food and make it look better—the recipes I've seen and tried do just the opposite. Recipes with cornstarch, a thickener, make this so-called glaze very, very thick. A vast majority of recipes with this ingredient come out with a glue-type consistency. It's put on the fruit, and you have this thick concoction dripping down it, not appetizing at all if I saw that on my plate!
So Chef Olson, what do I do!? Well, it's effortless. We make sugar syrup of sorts. It's two ingredients: sugar and water. That's it, clean, simple, easy. It's clear for one, and it's not a glue you have to put on your fruit, and it'll highlight the color of your fruit.
I've often seen in baking competition shows where the person has gotten told off for not having a fruit glaze on their dessert. It's fast and easy to make one. Make it and paint it on the fruit. It's going to elevate your dessert's appeal.
So without further waiting, check out the recipe below and keep it in your mind when you whip up your holiday desserts!
Cheers,
Chef Olson
"The Flying Chef"
Fruit Glaze
Prep Time: ~5 Minutes Inactive Time: ~2 Minutes Total Time: ~7 Minutes
Ingredients
1. 1 Cup Water
2. 2/3rds cup water
Guide
1. Combine the sugar and water in a small sauce pan.
2. Stir continuously over medium heat until the sugar disappears.
3. Let the syrup cool slightly and paint over your fruit with a pastry brush.
Recipe By: Chef Olson Thewoodenspoonchefs.com
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