I've made chocolate ganache many times and did attempt white chocolate ganache once. After it failed, that's when I looked it up to find the white chocolate takes almost twice as much as chocolate. Lesson learned.

I had another random thought today about trying different flavors, which is probably old news to most everyone! With butterscotch, peanut butter, cinnamon chips, etc.......would these take the same amount of chocolate, or do they require more like the white chocolate?????

I did a search on here and found nice pictures of cupcakes dipped in a butterscotch ganache, which stated they just mixed it until it looked right!

I am not much of an "until it looks right" person until I've made it a few times and have an idea of what the looks right should look like!

Anyone have a base amount to start out with for the ratio of chips to cream?

oh...sounds yummy! Butterscotch and peanut butter...I am so hoping somebody has an answer for you!!

oh...sounds yummy! Butterscotch and peanut butter...I am so hoping somebody has an answer for you!!

I make all kinds of ganache. Most of the different "flavours" are based on the white chocolate style of ganache, and from that point, you need to assess whether what you are adding is a solid or a liquid, and then adjust the chocolate content accordingly.

Therefore, when I make strawberry ganache, I add pureed strawberries and strawberry oil to my white ganache. Hence I need to add MORE white chocolate to counter-act the liquefying effect of the strawberries.

When I have made a 'nutella' flavoured (my hazelnut-chocolate ganache) I make a milk choc ganache and stir in a few big TBSP nutella. As nutella is softer than ganache, I add in a little bit extra chocolate. This would also be the same for peanut butter.

When I have made choc-mint ganache, I add a few drops of peppermint and spearmint oil, and then crumble up several mint crisp bars and stir it through when the ganache has cooled but not set. I don'ty modify the ganache recipe at all in this case, as the mint crisp bars are solid and dry, and a few drops of oil are neither here nor there.

Its true - you need to experiemnt a bit and get comfortable with your ganaches. I don't ever work from a recipe when it comes to modified ganache recipes. But the standard ratios are used as a base point, and I modify it from there.

Evoir -
The strawberry ganache sounds divine. Would you mind sharing approximate amounts of the ingredients? I absolutely adore strawberry anything!

And for the PB ganache, do you add the PB to white ganache or regular chocolate ganache?

Jamielc - I basically wash, dry and hull a punnet of strawberries (250grams) and puree them. You can leave it in a muslin-lined seive overnight to eliminate additional water if you like. Make your white ganache to a 4:1 ratio starting with 800 grams (or more - it does depend on the wateriness of your strawberries) of white choc and 200grams of cream, and when it has cooled (not set firmly), stir through the strawberry puree, and then 3 drops of strawberry oil, or essence. It will be a natural strawberry pale colour, so add a couple drops of red or pink colour if you prefer that (I don't).

I have used this as a cake filling, but mostly I use it for my strawberry macarons! Its delicious (I love anything strawberry too!)

Its an oil-based strawberry essence. You use it for chocolate-making, as water or alcohol based would seize the chocolate.

Mmmm...
I wonder if any of these alternative ganache flavors work for spreading on a cake that's meant to be covered with fondant?

Evoir...is the strawberry oil Lorann's?

The one I use isn't Lorann's (I'm in Australia) but I assume they would have it in their range. Its not essential - I just use oils in tiny amounts to blend out my flavours.

And yes - if you are not adding chunks, you can use it underneath fondant. I do this with all my mudcake varieties, in complementing flavours.

I just made several batches of Peanut Butter ganache for my Basket of Chili Peppers cake, using Buddy's Cake Boss recipe and Reese's chips and it was perfect. I assume the butterscotch chips would work similarly.
I would shy away from using any 'candy' and stay safe with the 'chips' sold for this purpose.

recipe:
1 cup heavy cream
9 oz. chips
1 tbsp light corn syrup

the mint sounds divine. I can't wait to try that.

You can also add liqueurs or extracts after mixing the cream and chocolate together. Start with 2 tablespoons for each half cup of heavy cream, adding more or less to taste. Your ganache can be as creative and tasty as you would like

Thank you for the great information, everyone...
I had never even considered anything but plain chocolate or white chocolate when using ganache under fondant.

(I'm not a fan of Lorann's aftertaste anyway, so I'll look into other brands).

i was thinking about using ANDES MINTS to make ganache (you know, those lovely little chocolate candies with the green mint middle). is there any reason i couldn't use these in ganache with the same recipe i would use for regular chocolate ganache?

diane

I just completed a chocolate making class, and the chef had us making all different kinds of ganache and we made an andes mint ganache it was soooo good! you make it the same way you make a regular ganache.

thank you! it sounds so good to me!

This is my recipe for White Chocolate Strawberry ganache.......

White Chocolate Strawberry ganache
Ingredients
1 12 oz. Package white chocolate chips
8 oz. heavy whipping cream, scalded
1 Tbs. of softened butter
1/2 package Strawberry or Raspberry jello ( I would think any flavor of your choosing would do )
Instructions
1. Pour white chips into medium sized bowl. ( I use metal because it seems to hasten the cooling process.

1.2. Heat 8 oz. of heavy whipping cream to the boiling point.
2.3.Pour cream and sprinkle about 1/2 package of jello ( your choice) over chips. Let stand for a couple of minutes, then stir until chips are melted.
3.4. Place bowl into refrigerator until cooled and thickened ( can be placed in freezer if you are in a hurry.
4.5. Whip with mixer until thick and fluffy enough to spread between cake layers..

Thanks, Evoir for sharing your strawberry ganache tips!

And thanks to everyone else as well for offering up suggestions. I've only made ganache a handful of times in the last few months, but I'm definitely going to be experimenting now that I have all these wonderful ideas!

These all sound so good! I wish I had some flavor/idea to share but I don't. Maybe there are more flavor ideas out there? So open to trying new things.
Thanks to the OP and all who posted!!

Thanks for all the information! I love anything mint and sounds great! The Andes mints would definitely be worth a try!

I've used Andes mint as a ganache, just like plain chocolate. It was awesome.

Andes mint ganache sounds delicious. But beware of alternatives: Years ago, I made a delicious chocolate-mint fudge. Turns out green mint chips + brown chocolate chips + yellowish butter and sweetened condensed milk = an awful greenish-brown color. It looked like an unhealthy bowel movement...but it tasted great!

EWWWEEE........

These sound amazing! Have you used fruit other than strawberries? Like raspberries? Any ideas for a lemon ganache? Are you refrigerating the cakes because of the fruit?

What a great thread!! I didn't see, but has anyone made a butterscotch ganache with the butterscotch chips? I'm wondering how it turned out and was the ratio 2:1 or 3:1?

I do raspberry all the time! With butterscotch it would probably be a 3 to 1 ratio, similar to white chocolate or milk chocolate, but that is just a guess.

Worth a try. Thanks for sharing.

Oh gosh - Raspberry is my favorite so I have tried raspberries several ways. I sometimes just add raspberry liqueur, or if I really want the extra raspberry, I will add fresh or frozen raspberry either directly into the ganache after it is smooth or fold in after I whip it. Or I have placed a layer raspberries (or strawberries) in between ganache or used seedless raspberry jam and layered that with ganache. (I really like ganache!)

The picture below (if it shows up) is ganache with strawberries, but it's the same with raspberries.

Yes, I do the same with other berries. You just need to be careful of blending it in and maintaining the correct density you need for whatever you are making.

Other ideas that work really well are adding fruit preserves, or adding dehydrated berries (crushed or in pieces). Citrus flavours are done by adding fine zest and extracts to white chocolate ganache.

I have also made pouring ganache in several flavours for clients who don't like fondant or buttercream.

HTH