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I'd like to press some edible flowers onto a cheesecake I will be making. I'll need some sort of a glaze, and my first instinct was egg whites, but then I learned that those tend to brown, which is why they're mostly used for bread and pastries. I then looked into clear cake glazes, and all of them used a thickening agent such as gelatin or corn starch, but I don't want a very noticeable glaze, I just want something that'll keep the flowers pressed to the surface of the cake without being too sticky.

Would just sugar and water (and possibly a bit of rosewater) work as a glaze?

jackwise
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  • I've heard of people using either corn syrup or honey for this. Never tried it myself, though, – Joe Apr 02 '16 at 23:01
  • Those make sense, but if possible I'd like it to set to some extent so it's not that sticky. – jackwise Apr 03 '16 at 14:57
  • King Arthur Flour makes something called CLEARJEL. I've never used it, so I don't know if it will have the effect you want. Maybe someone here has used it. – Paulb Apr 03 '16 at 16:39
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    Clearjel is starch (usually corn) that's already been gelatinized so that it doesn't require further cooking. – SourDoh Apr 04 '16 at 05:47
  • Can I ask, why the need to avoid starch or gelatin? – Escoce Apr 04 '16 at 14:32
  • @Escoce I just want to keep the glaze from being too thick. – jackwise Apr 04 '16 at 15:28
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    Then I would recommend corn starch, just experiment so you know what consistency you are getting. And remember corn starch takes time to activate, so add it a little at a time and wait to see what happens. – Escoce Apr 04 '16 at 15:29
  • related: https://cooking.stackexchange.com/q/41369/67 – Joe Dec 21 '17 at 00:38

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Bakery glazes are frequently made with pectin, so that is an option. It would still be a noticeable glaze, though it would be clear and could be flavorless. If you just want the flowers to stick to the top of the cheesecake, it's possible that it would be tacky enough without any glaze. They might just stick to the surface. Alternately, you could use one of the other glazes, but just put a dot under each flower rather than glazing the whole surface.

SourDoh
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  • just a thought -- if the petals are airtight, and they can make good contact with the surface, then they should be held on by air pressure. In a cheesecake, you can deform the surface to get it to take the shape of any stiff part of the flower ... but a drop of something behind each petal would ensure there's good contact. (sort of like wetting down a window cling) – Joe Dec 21 '17 at 00:37