I've always used bc to ice my cakes before covering with fondant, but after watching Inspired by Michelle's technique using ganache, I want to start doing that, it looks so much nicer.

My question is, does anyone know what kind of chocolate to use for the ganache that she's making to cover the cakes? Is it is regular baking chips, chopped up chocolate (like Bakers/Hersheys unsweetened bars) or something else?

Any help on this is appreciated!

I was wondering the same thing and I concluded that the chocolate has to be at the veryleast semi sweet because there isnt any sugar added to the ganache. I know for the white chocolate she used the same chocolate that is used to make chocolate lollypops.

I thought the same thing of the white chocolate, which made me wonder if I could use that same chocolate for the regular chocolate ganache.

I can't speak for what was used in the video you saw - however, the one important thing to consider when making ganache is that there is really nothing in it to alter the flavor of the chocolate. Assuming she's using the same basic ganache recipe of a 2:1 chocolate to cream ratio, that is. (If not, I'm about to stick my foot in my mouth! )

Since ganache is just chocolate and heavy cream, you do NOT want to use only unsweetened chocolate. (Blech!) Anything you would want to just open up and eat is probably fine. Anything from plain ol' semisweet chips to Godiva. Me, well, I can't exactly afford to use Godiva, so I personally usually use a combination of Nestle's semisweet morsels plus dark chocolate - sometimes chips, sometimes bars. But since the flavor is so exposed, I don't use Baker's chocolate.

It's mostly a matter of preference, though. But unless you're inclined to bust open an unsweetened bar of chocolate and munch away, I'd say DON'T use unsweetened.

As far as I know I think she said dark chocolate. I've used Lindt bars 60% cocoa solids. I've also used the 60% cocoa chocolate chips, but it was harder to work with as the ganache hardened much quicker and I had to keep microwaving it. It's the additives in the chips that do this.

With white chocolate, there is a difference between what is called "white chocolate" (which isn't really chocolate) and what is almond bark or candy coating. White chocolate will have cocoa butter as an ingredient while the candy coating has hydrogenated vegetable fat.

what is the advantage or disadvantatge of ganache over butter cream to ice the cakes and then put fondant on top

i was told hit would bleed through the fondant so therefore only use butter cream

fellow cakers help please, i am a newbie

using ganache gives the fondant a much stiffer surface creating a cleaner look with no bulges and you can make sharp edges.

I had nothing but problems with bc so I started using ganache and I will never go back to bc!! I get a much cleaner edge and NO BULGING!!

I did a groom's cake last week in chocolate ganache. I used two parts semi-sweet and one part milk chocolate, plus the cream and butter. The recipe I used called for 2 cups chips, 1/4 cup butter and 1/3 cup cream. I was making a triple batch, so I used 4 cups semi-sweet and 2 cups milk chocolate. It tasted great and was easy to work with as an icing and also for piping trim.

I also did a wedding cake with white chocolate ganache under the fondant. I let the ganache set up overnight, then I used piping gel to adhere the fondant to the ganache. I also read that you can use simple syrup, but the fondant tore the first time I tried to put it on, so I assumed it was the water in the simple syrup and went with piping gel. If anyone knows of a better way, please let me know.

You can look at my photos for both cakes. The groom's cake is chocolate ganache and the bride's cake with the pearl fondant balls on it has white chocolate ganache under the fondant.

Can you post a link to Michelle's technique for ganache? I would love to look at it. Thanks!

Thanks for all the replies, it really helps.

Here are the links that I used - it's a 3 part series that shows how to make the ganach, covering the cake with the ganache and covering with fondant to get sharp edges.

http://www.youtube.com/user/InspiredByMichelle?blend=2&ob=1

http://www.youtube.com/user/InspiredByMichelle?blend=2&ob=1#p/u/4/OgrXxYLm0Sk

http://www.youtube.com/user/InspiredByMichelle?blend=2&ob=1#p/u/3/imfDvvSZn5I

I also kept having issues with bc. I just couldnt get crisp corners, so I changed to ganache and won't go back. I know it's something that is learned with experience, but I just didn have the patience for it!! It's SO much nicer. You can tell in my photos that my earlier cakes were using BC under my fondant and my newer cakes are using ganache

A tip my Mom and I figured out last week to get the ganache really smooth (we were icing with it, then pouring on another layer and spreading it smooth on the top and sides with a spatula). After it set up a bit we warmed a metal decorator's spatula over a gas stove burner (not too hot), then smoothed out any rough edges. You have to wash (not just wipe) the spatula each time before you heat it or the sugar will burn on it. Turned out great!

Just watched the videos by Michelle! Thank you for the tips and the link. I didn't think you could put water on chocolate, so we were heating the knife without water (over a gas burner). Can't wait to give this a try.