Gorgeous Glazes to Make Your Food Shine
Glazes make everything better. Their glassy coating makes pottery shine, while they protect fine artwork and deepen its color. Edible glazes can also elevate your food. Whether it's on a cake or on a roasted meat dish, a good glaze delights the eyes and the palate. Its shiny looks make food more appealing, while its coating lends extra flavor and texture to your meal. We've collected some glaze recipes that will make your meals pop with color and flavor.
Sweet, sugary glaze recipes
Food glazes come in various types to suit the kind of meal you're preparing. Bakers making pastries and donuts often use a sugar glaze made from powdered sugar, which mixes well with sweet flavors like chocolate for baking. One of our favorites is a Vanilla Glaze, which works on everything from cupcakes to cinnamon rolls. It's also fantastic on donuts like the ones in this Mini Baked Donut Glaze recipe.
Tastes like vanilla and chocolate are traditional for baked treats, but you can also delight people with some surprising alternatives. How about some anise - traditionally a taste associated with licorice? These Glazed Anise Cookies temper the glaze's sweetness with some sophisticated extra flavor.
You can also vary the consistency of your glaze to create a candied snack. This Glazed Walnuts Recipe uses less liquid to create coated nuts that mix traditional sweet vanilla tastes with hot cayenne. This will confuse your taste buds so much that they'll demand you investigate further. Trust us: Make more than one batch.
Vegetable glazes
Sugar glazes aren't just for desserts. They're also excellent for roasted vegetables, and you can use various forms of sugar to get the desired effect. Check out these Glazed Carrots, which use honey and warm cinnamon for their sweet, succulent glaze.
Brown sugar is also a common glaze for roasted veggies. These Brown Sugar Carrots use a little cinnamon for a fabulous fall flavor, but you can also use ingredients that contrast with brown sugar's sweetness to create a deep, complex flavor profile. Our Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Glazed Green Beans mix garlic powder and onion powder into a sweet recipe that lends a whole new dimension to butter-cooked green beans.
Meat glaze recipes
If glazes breathe new life into roasted veggies, just watch what they do to meat recipes. Some, like these Balsamic Glazed Pork Chops, rely on brown sugar for the glaze, but dial in some umami flavor with ingredients like balsamic vinegar.
You can also use different sources of sugar for the glaze that introduce extra notes. Peach preserves, with their rich fruit and intense sweetness, make the perfect glaze for pork chop dishes like this Roast Pork Tenderloin with Ginger Peach Glaze recipe. Some thick meat glazes like this one with a very high sugar content will burn if you cook them for too long, which is why we only brush this glaze on during the last few minutes of cooking.
Alternatively, consider a glaze from our sweet-toothed neighbors to the north. Syrup's thick consistency makes it a great glaze ingredient for meats, and maple syrup is one of the best. Make these Cayenne Cinnamon Ribs with Maple Glaze and you'll realize just how versatile this syrup topping can be. Cayenne and paprika lend a tantalizing warmth to this delicious dish.
A delicious glazed fish dish
Glaze recipes are also great for fish. Salmon's firm texture stands up well to various cooking methods, and its rich, fatty flavor complements sweet and savory glazes alike. Honey is the ingredient of choice in this Honey Glazed Salmon recipe. Soy sauce deepens the honey's sweetness, while orange juice brings tangy notes to create an irresistable glaze for this Asia-inspired recipe. Wrapping the fish in foil means that you don't have to baste while cooking.
So, whether you're cooking pastries, pork, or fish, there's a glaze for you. Try some of our recipes to bring a new shine to your favorite ingredients.
More Glaze Recipes
Once you've savored these glaze recipes, we have some more for you to try.
