1,478 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 78 videos

The baker always gild twice

I've already told you about gilding, the beaten whole egg that is spread with a brush on anything that needs to brown in the oven: puff pastry, pastries, etc. and that professionals use a lot, I'm going to come back to this to clarify a bit how to do it, and give you a professional tip.

31 K 4.2/5 (28 reviews)

Keywords for this post:Bakery Pastry Gilding Glaze Egg

Last modified on: June 9^th 2019

For this post: Comment Follow Send to a friend

The baker always gild twice

"Gilding" therefore means coating the surface of something that is going to be baked withbeaten egg, the thin layer of gilding applied will colour when baked and give a very appetising appearance to your puff pastry or your pastry.

dorer

Some people, and I am one of them, think that it also influences the taste, a cake or a pastry all pale or whitish, even if it is successful "inside", will seem much less good than if it is all beautiful, all golden. What do you want, it's like this: all the senses are involved when we taste something.

brioche dorée

It's very simple in the end, this gilding is just a brush stroke, but there is a way to do it that makes it even better. Let's imagine that you start making a brioche: you knead your dough, you put it to puff up in a warm place, then a stroke of gilding and in the oven.

This is already very good, but you can still do better, here is how:

Once finished, you put your brioche dough in its mould
Bake the dough once, and let it rise in the warmth (we say "rising")
Once the brioche is well pushed, you gild a second time
Only then do you put it in the oven

This way of doing things, browning twice, has only advantages: Your dough will be protected from crusting during the baking process, so there's no need to cover it, and the golden colour of the brioche when baked will be even more marked.

Be careful, if it is a puff pastry that you are making, and you have planned drawings(inlays) on the top, they should only be done after the second browning.

To sum up: when you gild something, always do it twice.

Lasts posts

Travel cakes

You may have come across the term "travel cakes" ("gateaux de voyage" in french) for certain pastries, so let's take a look at what they're all about.
January 27^th 20252,218

The aromatic power of sugar

In the kitchen, sugar doesn't just sweeten, it also has an exceptional ability to capture flavors. Combined with aromatic ingredients, such as citrus zest, it acts as a veritable sponge for aromas. By taking the time to let the sugar soak up the flavors, you can transform your desserts, making...
December 25^th 20242,5545

The little trap of thick cream

When you need to add cream to a recipe, you might be wondering: thick (heavy) cream or liquid cream? In most cases, there's no big difference: you can use either. But there is one exception, and that's when the cream needs to be cooked, for a sauce for example, and here the difference between...
December 13^th 20243,1195

Sauce and salad: When and how to mix them?

When dressing a salad, there's a kind of golden rule: add the dressing very shortly before serving, especially if your salad contains crunchy elements such as croutons or fresh vegetables, which will retain their crunchiness or crispiness. But, as is often the case in the kitchen, there are...
November 29^th 20243,2825

No need to boil gelatin

Gelatin is a magical ingredient for making light, creamy, structured desserts, yet it's often misused in the kitchen. A common mistake in some recipes is the idea that it needs to be boiled for it to work properly, but this is a mistake indeed: gelatin melts at a much lower temperature, around...
November 21^th 20243,1835

See all posts Random post RSS feeds

Other pages you may also like

The super powers of cornstarch

I start this new year by evoking an old product, that you most probably have in your cupboards, a white powder, often in a small cardboard package with a slightly outdated look, only the "gluten free" is relatively recent, it is simply cornstarch, hence its name of maïzena. It's used for a lot...
January 14^th 202211 K

What is the difference between bakery and patisserie?

This is a question that you may well have asked yourself and which I will attempt to answer. In France the two trades of "boulangerie" (bakery) and "pâtisserie" (patisserie and confectionery) have always been quite distinct, but where exactly do the boundaries lie? .
February 7^th 2017126 K 14.1

The golden-brown finish on puff pastry

Let's take a look at the tricky matter of producing puff pastry with an attractive, golden-brown finish. French pastry chefs call this "dorure" (literally, "gilding"). Behind this quirky term there lurks a real problem (and the solution): when using puff pastry (pâte feuilletée) for a pie, or...
February 8^th 201843 K 24.6

Kitchen ovens

You certainly have one in your kitchen, an oven, the essential tool for all kinds of cooking, whether in the kitchen of course, but also in pastry, bakery, pizza, and many others. Here is some information on its structure and operation.
May 16^th 202028 K4.4

Fruits which can ruin your jelly

There are many ways of making a fruit mousse, but one of the simplest is to prepare a fruit jelly (basically a fresh fruit coulis with gelatine) and then mix this jelly before it sets completely with whipped cream. The result is perfect for filling a charlotte, for example. But do beware;...
March 6^th 201373 K4.0