I've just made some whipped ganache for a filling today, but I need to make some again to do some piping of borders, etc. How long do I let it get cold for before I can pipe it? And will it hold it's shape after? I need to fill a cake with some regular ganache, whipped, etc.

I don't think there's a magic "time" number...it's just a matter of when it is stiff enough. If you are asking how long to chill it AFTER whipping, I'd say, not long at all...maybe 15 minutes? If that....it also depends on the recipe you use with regard to how stiff it might already be. It may already be stiff enough once it's whipped. Dark gets so firm on its own, I actually had to SOFTEN it to pipe...I had to nuke it for like 2 seconds on low (it melts FAST) in order for it to even come out of my piping bag.

It holds its shape just fine after piping. I did a basketweave in whipped dark ganache.

Hi

I'm making a wedding cake next week and want to use a whipped chocolate ganache for a filling. Do you have a good recipe that you can share. Also - if I fill the cake and then crumb coat it, will it be ok room temp for 2-3 days. Wedding is on Saturday, I was planning on filling the cake on Thursday, crumb coating, then doing all my decorating on Friday. I'm attending the wedding, so planning on delivering to the hall Saturday morning.

Thanks for the help !

I do allow my ganache to stay at room temp for 2 days only, but I make it with dark chocolate (70%) at the 1:1 ratio (i.e. same amount oz. of chocolate to oz. of cream). Also I use chef-grade heavy cream which I think is...37-40% fat. I get it at Trader Joe's, that's their standard heavy cream. You just chop up the chocolate (the smaller the better) and put it in a heat-proof bowl, bring the cream to a boil over med-low heat and boil for exactly 1 minute, pour hot cream into chocolate and let sit 1 minute, and then whisk slowly until smooth. I then add some soft unsalted butter and some vanilla to deepen the flavor. With 70% chocolate, some add corn syrup to sweeten it a bit, but I don't unless I am using it as icing and I want it shiny.

My understanding is that whether or not ganache can be left room temp is a subject of debate on a lot of sites and is often dependent upon whether or not you prepare it correctly. For example I have no idea if a milk chocolate ganache is considered stable at room temp for that long. You might want to search the forums, I am sure the answer is in here somewhere!

Thanks for the recipe and advice. I'm not sure if I can fit the cake in my fridge once it's stacked. Do you think it would be okay to leave it in a cold air conditioned room ?

Also - after you wisk the chocolate to melt, do you refrigerate it till it's cold, then whip it or just leave it at room temp then whip ? should I prepare it the day before ?

You can leave it at room temp to whip, but it takes at least 8 hours to cool to a thick enough consistency. You can definitely speed up the process by putting it in the fridge. You want to wait til it's as thick as peanut butter before whipping, and then, don't whip it for very long AT ALL - I use a hand mixer and would be surprised if I even whip it for a minute. You only whip it til it lightens in color a bit. If you overwhip it, it will turn grainy .

If you plan to leave it out on the cake, I'd hedge my bets and make the ganache as close as possible to the time you plan to use it, that way it's the freshest. I can't really give you a definitive answer about whether it's safe out of the fridge and for how long, but personally I leave dark chocolate ganache cakes out of the fridge for 3 days...but those are for me. If it were a cake I was making for someone else, I would still feel ok with it out overnight if the room was nice and cold.

Check out this truffle recipe - truffles ARE ganache! http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Truffles-233316 . Note that with a higher chocolate ratio (but not much...it's nearly 1:1) this particular ganache can be left out 2 weeks or so they claim. The ba king 911 website says 2 days is ok and in fact recommends ganache for cakes that have to sit out, so this is what I always used as a guide (even though some places will state that it should stay refrigerated). Check out this page full of great ganache information! The catch is, you have to take out the *asterisks in order to get the URL correct; you can't link directly from CC: www.ba*king*911.com/chocolate/ganache_truffles.htm