Greetings, Ladies
I am going to attempt my first ganache covered cake for Valentine's Day. Some of you fill (what happens to the line in the middle once you cover with ganache-is it visible?), some of you don't (but do you ice it or not?). (Do you just bake the cake and pour the ganache on, no icing, no filling?)I'm kinda confused on the process and would like your ideas/thoughts/instructions on the easiest way for a beginner. Looking forward to hearing from you!

I made my first ganache cake this past weekend. I filled---and yes you can see the line. however, I think if you do a better job in the crumb coat than I did, you may be able to camoflauge the line. Just a thought.

Did you ice the cake?

Hi,

I just made my first ganached (is that a word?) cake last night. You can see it in my photos. I did some research on here and iced in chocolate buttercream first. You can't see the line b/c I iced it fairly thick. I filled with a dam of buttercream and chocolate mousse. Good luck!

I use the ganache more like an icing instead of pouring it. I let it cool to room temp or even chill it in the fridge for a little bit (be careful, though, you don't want to let it get too hard.) I half pour-half spread it on the cake with a metal spatula. If you get a think enough layer on the sides, the layers won't show.

I love putting filling in ganache-covered cakes. Whipped ganache, chocolate mousse, chocolate whipped cream, cookies & cream filling--all good.

I think I've posted this cake 3 times in the last week--sorry to those who've seen it over and over again. These ganache threads just keep coming up.

The icing and the piping are ganache

Wow! That's NICE!

Thanks for your imput ladies!

ummmmmm ganache!!!!! give me a spoon, a bowl of ganache and you'll find me huddled in the corner lookin like a two year old who has been playin in the mud. LOL

The 2 ganache recipes on this site have only been given 2 stars. Is there a better recipe? Which one do you use?

What a pretty cake! It's absolutely perfect.

thank you!

Cheftaz posted the following recipe last week. I used it on the cake in the picture. I like it better than my old ganache recipe, which didn't call for butter.

f you use these proportions your semi sweet ganache pipes beautifully and has texture of truffles, but must refrigerate for at least 1 hour before piping
8 oz (240ml) cream
1 tbls butter (optional but makes it stay really shiny even after refrigerating)
1 oz sugar
12 oz (340 g)chocolate
Break chocolate into 1/2 oz pieces and place in stainless steel bowl
Heat cream, butter and sugar to boiling. Pour over chocolate and let stand 5 minutes. Stir from center out until smooth. After refrigerating then fill your piping bag

White chocolate use nearly double the chocolate to cream
240 ml cream
455 g white chocolate

I used heavy cream and Guittard semi sweet chocolate chips.

Haven't tried the recipes on this site. Here is the one I use, it is out of Toba Garretts book The Well-Decorated Cake.

1 1/2 C heavy cream
1lb semisweet or bittersweet dark chocolate

In a heave saucepan, boil heavy cream. Turn off heat. Add chopped chocolate ( I just use chocolate chips) and let rest until chocolate is melted. Use a rubber spatula to stir the mixture until all the pieces are melted. (I use a wire whisk)

Pour it into a room-temperature bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the ganache until firm.

It's super easy to make and tastes sooo good.

My prefernce is to fill it. I also ice it lightly in chocolate buttercream, so that I have a good smooth surface to start with.

Think different people do different things here.

I still think that ganache should be illegal LOL.
I got my recipe from the show "Death by Chocolate"
Usually here's how I make it. Kinda just guesstimated:
I use
1 pint of heavy whipping cream
24 oz. bag semi-sweet chocolate chips (don't have fancy schmancy chocolate here o well)
4 Tbs. of butter
and
2 Tbs. sugar
I boil the cream, 2 Tbs. butter and the sugar.
Pour this over the chips in a heat proof bowl. Stir till smooth then add the other 2 Tbs. butter and stir till melted. Let sit til cool and then pour over the cake or into the mouth or (we could go on forever ya know). You can chill the leftovers for piping or whipping later. Sometimes I will add chopped almonds or pecans or even hazelnuts to this for a filling. Yuuuuummmmmmay!!!