I'm not good at remembering to take pictures. Actually, I'm really bad at it, especially taking progress pics while I'm in the middle of something. So, here are some before and after pics of my first attempt at white chocolate ganache...
My first time using ganache under fondant was when I took a course at Planet Cake back in February, but the ganache was pre-made for us.
I'm making a cake with swiss meringue buttercream for a friend (pics to come soon) and I wanted to make sure the cake maintained its shape. It's been a warm few weeks here and the SMBC does not hold up well in heat. I wanted something to seal the cake in and keep the lines nice and clean.
I had a bit of a hard time finding a recipe for the white chocolate ganache. Every site I checked had different quantities listed. Very frustrating! After much research (too much probably as I ended up going with the first one I found anyhow ;-) ), I settled on a 3:1 ratio of white chocolate to whipping cream (for milk or dark chocolate use a 2:1 ratio).
600g of white chocolate
200ml of whipping cream
I used high quality white chocolate which I chopped up into small chunks and then heated it in the microwave a few times to melt it a bit (10 second intervals, stirring the chocolate in between each). I read that this helps emulsify the chocolate and cream together since they're both warmed up.
Once it started to melt I brought the cream to a boil and poured it over the chocolate. I let it sit for 3 or 4 minutes and then started to stir slowly from the middle outwards. It wasn't looking good at first... the cream wasn't being incorporated with the chocolate, but after some more stirring it came together quite nicely.
I used the instructions from this site: http://www.baking911.com/chocolate/ganache_truffles.htm
Now, here's where I should have a picture of mixing the cream into the chocolate and then another of the mixture combined. Instead, the next one I remembered to take was this:
The ganache was the perfect consistency (kinda like peanut butter) and was really easy to smooth -- pop it in the fridge for a bit and then smooth with a hot scraper.
looks fantastic! thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! I've been wanting to try white chocolate ganache under fondant just haven't had the time to try. Please let me know how it holds up in the heat.
ReplyDeleteThanks guys :). I was too paranoid to leave the cake out for too long, even with the ganache, so I kept it in the fridge for the most part anyhow...sigh. It seemed seemed pretty sturdy though once I applied it to the cake. Definitely better than just a buttercream and I loved how smooth it made the sides and gave sharp edges for the fondant.
ReplyDeleteLooks gorgous! I havent had the guts yet to try ganache, but the final product is stunning I would love to see the finished cake!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Ganache was well worth it and I'll probably use it on all my cakes going forward. I'll do a blog post about the finished cake soon (haven't had time!), but in the meantime you can see it here :).
ReplyDeletehttp://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1752039
Sorry to bump this old post of yours!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this useful tip in making white chocolate ganache! Will be attempting to use this as a base under fondant.