The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Need crisp pastry glaze

tamraclove's picture
tamraclove

Need crisp pastry glaze

Hello Fresh Loaf!

I'm looking for a crisp/hard shell pastry glaze that I had on a cinnamon roll in a coffee shop, here in Seattle.  We have a small chain called Storeyville Coffee that also makes their own pastries (I think).  

I've had both the croissant and cinnamon roll (which I think was actually the same pasty as the croissant, but with a cinnamon filling) and both were covered in a glaze that was rock hard, but very thin.  You had to give it a good whack to crack it with your fork, but there wasn't really any thickness to it - not like a powdered sugar glaze that had hardened.  It was a nice, deep brown.  I feel like it had to have been washed on after rising and that it must have been pretty thin. 

Any ideas what kind of glaze this might be?  Maybe a simple syrup of some kind?  I'd love to add this my my yearly Christmas morning cinnamon rolls!

Thanks for any ideas!  Merry Christmas!

tamraclove's picture
tamraclove

I feel like I'm getting into the right ball park with these 2:

Sugar mixed with water & vanilla, and applied to a cake - although I'm not looking for the sugar pieces - http://blog.ideasinfood.com/ideas_in_food/2013/03/crackling-crust.html

#4 glaze looks promising - https://books.google.com/books?id=C4_5MCUd6ucC&pg=PA731&lpg=PA731&dq=bake+on+clear+pastry+glaze&source=bl&ots=2f5TLzkyRT&sig=t3ernTDOga9Gp4SkEK86vtUXl...

jimbtv's picture
jimbtv

When I make cinnamon rolls I too add a clear glaze. I mix sugar, water, maple syrup, cinnamon and maybe some other spices at times, then begin a boil-down process,

I use a candy thermometer and push the temperature upwards of soft ball. Maybe your bakery is pushing closer to hard ball. I then let it cool for a minute or two and then drizzle it over the top.

Another possibility would be to make a similar solution, pour it over the buns before the end of the bake, and let the oven force out the water and create the crystals. I'd have to play around with that concept a bit before I would endorse it though.