Glaze recipes are referred as those dishes which have a shiny or glossy outward appeal. These recipes are prepared by glazing, a cooking technique wherein the dish, after its preparation, is coated with glazing agents like egg whites and icing agents. Glaze food forms an integral part of almost every cuisine. Variations in glaze recipes are popularly found in preparing confectionaries like doughnuts, pastries, candies, meat dishes and more.
Origin of glazing
The origin of Glaze recipes can be traced back to the medieval British period. Although the year of origin of glaze food is not clear, historical books have elaborately highlighted on the application of Elizabethan glaze on the pastries of early times. This glazing was prepared from sugar and beaten egg white.
The process of glazing
Glazing is ideal to render a rich and luxurious appeal to the dish. However, one needs to follow a set of guidelines to prepare perfect glaze recipes.
1. Coating with glaze should be done only once the glaze food is ready to serve.
2. Pastry or other confectionary item should be mildly brushed with the water and egg yolk glaze. In order to render a brown-glossy finish to the dish, the egg yolk glaze can be mixed with little cream and salt.
Popular dishes prepared through glazing
There is a global appreciation and fondness for glaze recipes prepared in American and European cuisines. For example, doughnut glaze, a specialty of American cuisine prepared from the water and confectioner’s sugar, is popularly savored in other cuisines as well. Pastry, a traditional European specialty, is commonly glazed with a fine coating of egg whites. Besides egg whites, glazing from fruit extracts can be used for coating glaze recipes like pastries and candies. Edible wax glazes can also be used for coating meat products and above mentioned confectionaries.
Advantages and disadvantages of Glazing
Coating in Glaze recipes, undoubtedly improve their appearance and define an identity to the food. As long as, one is restricting the choice for glaze materials to natural foods like honey, egg white, grinded brown sugar and fruit extracts, the glaze is not liable to cause any harm to the eater. However, the frequent consumption of other wax based polishing agents in the glaze food like candilla wax, shellac, beeswax, lanolin, carnauba wax, petroleum jelly and more, may be harmful to the body. Moreover, the exposure of the glaze recipes towards the environmental air for a long time may deteriorate the quality of the food.