can anyone show us a picture of what whipped ganache looks like? do you just put it in the mixer straight from the fridge?
i love ganache but have never tried to whip it. you guys are making me crave chocolate! you're bad! LOL
I don't have a pic but I do have an answer for the other part of your question: you don't want the ganache COLD before whipping, you only want it room temperature (if it's cold it'll just be hard). I sometimes put it in the fridge covered in plastic wrap (on the surface of the ganache) to hasten the cooling but then I take it out and let it sit to make sure it's room temp.
Whipped ganache really just looks like chocolate icing, or the inside of a truffle (since it's basically just a truffle). One key result is that it gets a little bit lighter in color. I use dark chocolate, around 65%, and I can tell you that stuff gets seriously FIRM! I piped a basketweave on a cake with it. It's still smooth and creamy to bite into, though, just like the inside of a truffle.
Ironically I actually LIKE to use dark chocolate whipped ganache as my dam because it sticks the cake together like glue. I use a 1:1 ratio of 65% chocolate and heavy cream (40% fat)...bring cream just to a boil, pour over chopped chocolate, allow to sit for 1 minute then whisk till smooth. Then whisk in 1 tbsp unsalted butter (appx, for I think 6oz choc/6oz cream) and 1 tsp vanilla. Cool to room temp before whipping. Mine only takes about...30 seconds till it's whipped...a minute? NOT long at all. If you overwhip it it becomes grainy and is destroyed.
I tried melysa's delicious milk chocolate w.ganache and it is great! but much softer than dark choc. ganache so a little more "slippery" inside my cake.
ANYTHING you ever wanted to know about ganache.........
http://www.baking911.com/chocolate/ganache_truffles.htm
grama can you type out the link please...that one does nto work. Thanks a bunch
Try this one........
http://www.baking911.com/chocolate/ganache_truffles.htm
I don't know what is wrong.... I have it in my favorites on my computer and it comes right up......
http://www.baking911.com/chocolate/ganache_truffles.htm
Grama leave off the http://www or insert spaces into the link and it should show up, just won't be clickable.
Grama_j, you're trying to post a blocked site's webpage. You can insert spaces into the word in another thread so we can type it in manually. It might be because you need to pay to view most of its site.
I have whipped cold ganache with no issues. I've never waited until it was RT.
For my ganache/truffle filling I use -
12oz of chocolate (your choice)
2/3 cups heavy cream
2 tbl sugar
2 tbl butter
flavoring of choice.
Heat the cream to just boiling, add sugar and butter, stir until dissolved. Pour over chocolate.Let sit 5 mins and then stir chocolate until smooth. Stir in flavor.
Pour into a 9X13 baking dish (cools faster then in a bowl).
Cool in fridge.
Microwave until it is spreadable and then fill the cake (with a bc dam) and then refridgerate the cake until the filling is firm again.
The filling will remain firm, even at room temp, just like a truffle, it will only melt once you eat it.
wow, thanks yourstrulytx... 
i'm so excited to try your recipe. i'll be baking a vanilla cake and i'm planning to make a white choco ganache using your recipe for my father-in-law's bithday... i've read about using white chocolate in baking and it's quite scary. you might have any tips that you can share? 
I don't know what is wrong.... I have it in my favorites on my computer and it comes right up......
http://www..com/chocolate/ganache_truffles.htm
(Raises hand) I know I know!
This is the b aking 911 website, I believe it's something like they do not allow other websites to provide direct links to their content, so CC has to block the domain name when typed in. Or some other issue like that.
Anyway I recognized the link even without the domain name cuz that is like my BIBLE resource for ganache. Lots of good info. To access the website simply type in www.ba*king*911.com/chocolate/ganache_truffles.htm WITHOUT the asterisks. This trick works for any blocked site such as s*ugarcr*aft (why you'd want to access them is beyond me but sometimes people here are referring to the artform rather than the website) and a few others I've noticed are blocked.
Well if that doesn't look delish!! Oh my!!!!!
Milk chocolate ganache is my most popular filling. All I do is take equal party high quality milk chocolate chips and heavy whipping cream. Pour the hot whipping cream over the chips and mix it with my hand whisk. I set mine in an ice bath and occasionally whip it with my hand whisk. This process works fine for me because I make my filling and then put it directly on my cake, with a dam. Sometimes I'll take it from the ice bath and put it in my KA and whip it on high for a minute or two to fluff it up. Works like a charm and is so creamy too. It's also great to use to ice a cake with especially an Angel Food! I have a few pics in my photos where I have iced an AF cake with MCG!
Amy
For my chocolate ganache, I use 2 cups heavy cream, bring to a simmer and add 16 oz. of semi-sweet chocolate. I do not use chips I use the ghiradelli bars. Once I mix the two I refrigerate for up to two hours, as it cools it thickens, and I stir it about every 30 minutes. After two hour it is perfect for piping or icing cake!!!
I haven't read all the responses, but wanted to add my 2 cents! When I use ganache as a filling, I make it and then refrigerate it - when it comes time to use it, I put in between 2 layers of saran wrap and roll it out to the diameter I need with a rolling pin.....that way is it the "fudge" consistency, which is really hard to spread - rolling it works like a charm....I then just set it on the cake - easy and no torn cake or mess!
I have a question... If I want to make this a white chocolate ganache... The 911 site says use 1 part cream to 3 parts white chocolate... So that means I can just use 1 cup of cream to 3 cups of white chocolate, then do all the other directions as it says? How much will this make? If I need more ganache should I use 2 cups of cream and 6?? cups of white chocolate?
Thanks!
Loucinda--I have used that method with peanut butter ball filling and put it between layers of choc. cake, Never thought to do that with thick ganache.
I have a question... If I want to make this a white chocolate ganache... The 911 site says use 1 part cream to 3 parts white chocolate... So that means I can just use 1 cup of cream to 3 cups of white chocolate, then do all the other directions as it says? How much will this make? If I need more ganache should I use 2 cups of cream and 6?? cups of white chocolate?
Thanks!
You're sort of on track, but it would be better if you had a scale so that you could weigh your white chips. Technically it would be 1 cup of cream (8oz) to 24oz of white choc chips. I'm not sure if 3 cups dry measure will yield you 24oz. Of course if you don't want to deal with measuring chips at all, you could do the reverse math: how many oz is your bag of chips? Just use the whole bag and divide by 3 to determine how much cream to add.
And yep, if you wanted 2x as much ganache, you would just double those quantities. It's just a ratio so it extrapolates to any amount.
I'm not sure how much ganache you'd get as a result though, it seems like it would be the combined weight so if you had 8oz cream, 24oz chips, you'd get 32oz ganache. Since it's liquid at that point, it may actually come out to 4 cups.
Hope that made sense!
I filled a cake with ganache earlier this week. I made the ganache, chilled it, and then just whipped it with a whisk. I did a bc dam, and then spread the ganache - it went on like a dream. It was so smooth and easy to spread. It set up very well and was beautiful in between the layers. Although I didn't ever have the cake outside except for transporting to my office, and it's only been around 85 degrees here this week so I can't tell you if it would have melted. I think it would have been fine though.
Ganache recipe:
8oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 tablespoon light corn syrup
Heat cream and syrup on the stove top to near boiling
Cut the chocolate into small pieces in a mixing bowl
When cream mixture is heated, pour onto the chocolate and immediately start mixing with a whisk until the chocolate is totally melted and you have a thin ganache.
At that point depending on whether I'm pouring it on top of a cake or using it for filling, I either use it or put it in the fridge.
Good luck on your cake!
This could be a silly question....
After whipping ganache, does it need to be used immediately? Can I whip it and then refrigerate it for use the next day?
Also, any long term storage options, besides me eating it.
I'm fairly certain you can whip it and use it the next day, or you can just wait until the next day to whip it!
As far as long term storage, I keep my extra in the freezer. I've kept it in there for a month or so and it comes out great. But of course if you're not into freezing extras, you'll just have to eat what you have leftover!
I agree with DollyCakes, I'd just wait til the next day to whip it. It usually takes less than 1 minute to whip so it's not much of a timesaver to whip in advance. It can be stored at room temp overnight or you can put it in the fridge (plastic wrap on top of the ganache) but be sure to let it return to room temp before whipping!
Freezer for long term storage, definitely! Much better option than eating it all yourself, which is far too easy to do 
I have never tried ganache as filling and am certainly ingtirgued! yum!
Dollycakes method of adding a tablespoon of corn syrup really worked for me! Corn syrup prevents crystallization - a technique I was familiar with from America's Test Kitchen homemade ice cream recipes. Since I was in a rush to make my ganache this was a huge help since I couldn't let it setup at room temp like some advise (claiming refrigeration and freezing with impair its texture) so into the freezer it went. This really did whip up beautifully and spread onto my cake layers with ease. I was glad I used this recipe for my first try as it did seem more stable than a standard ganache. I was transporting my cakes in extreme summer heat over an hour away. But the cakes and the ganache stood the test - everything arrived as it should and most importantly tasted great!
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