I did a ganache last night and let sit over night on my counter top. Today when I want to used it, it was really hard (not spreadable). Is it normal or I need to use more cream next time?
This time I used dark chocolate (72% cacao) 1: 2 ratio
Was it like fudge?
To get it to a spredable consistency. You can warm it in the microwave a little at a time, i would only do it in 5 second intervals til you have your desired consistency.
For setting ganache mine is pretty solid the next day. As long as I could run a knife through the solid ganace I was happy with it.
I find heating a small amount in a bowl and adding it to a larger amount of the stiffer ganache makes it easier to get spreadable consistency without doing the too runny, too hard, too runny to hard I was getting with the microwave and fridge
yup that's normal, just short blasts in the microwave to get it to a spreadable consistency.
Agreed - it is normal because of the dark chocolate. Although when you say 1:2 do you mean 1:chocolate to 2:cream, or the other way around? If you did :2 cream I would have expected it to be more spreadable. I do my 70% ganache at 1:1 and it is always soft enough to whip...but really only spreadable after I whip it....even then it does need to be softened up a bit as it is a b---- to get on the cake LOL. But SO worth it!
Thats a high percentage of cocoa solids - I usually use a bittersweet couverture with around 55-60% cocoa solids. If you like the taste of the 70% just add a bit more cream to get a softer, more spreadable ganache.
I generally use 70% and find that 1 part cream to 1 part chocolate works perfectly. I always wondered how people managed to spread the 2:1 recipes often recommended until I got Alice Medrich's "Bittersweet" book. She explains in there how higher cocoa percentage will affect ganache setting.
Thanks I really appreciate your feedback.
Ceshell : I used 1 cream for 2 chocolate
Next time I will try the 1 : 1 ratio.
Oh I would definitely recommend 1:1 unless you are specifically trying to get it super firm. Give it a try! Be warned though: as I said it is still a bit tough to get onto your cake, so that GENTLE microwaving tip is a good one. I did a basketweave with 1:1 bittersweet ganache and I definitely had to soften it to get it to pipe, but once it returned to normal temp the basketweave was nice and solid!
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