Martha's Mrs Millman's Chocolate Frosting

[Geminigirl]

Hi everyone,

I have searched for anyone discussing about Mrs Millman's Chocolate frosting made famous by Martha Stewart but to no avail.

I actually have tried this recipe twice, but it doesn't turn out as thick as shown on Martha's video clip on her web site. Any one has made this frosting before? I followed the recipe word for word, except for the length of time cooking it on the stove. Am not sure how long I should be cooking it on the stove. If anyone can help me, really appreciate it.

I actually have a bowl of semi liquid Mrs Millman's frosting sitting in my fridge which I would like to salvage.

Thanks

Geminigirl

[chefpeon]

FYI: It always helps to include the link when you are talking about something on the web so

we can all refer to it easily instead of having to hunt around.

Took me a little while to find the elusive Mrs. Milman's frosting because of a spelling error, but I did eventually find it. I had assumed you were talking about some sort of boiled icing, so I was surprised to find that Mrs. Milman's frosting is simply...............ganache (with a little corn syrup in it).

The only reason this icing is "cooked" (or should I say "heated") is to melt the chocolate and cream together. You control how thick the cooled ganache is by increasing the ratio of chocolate to cream; meaning more chocolate-less cream. Heating ganache over a direct heat source for a longer period of time will only get you burnt tasting ganache.

Note that the recipe says to cool the ganache (I refuse to call it Mrs. Milman's!! ), until it's a spreadable consistency. When hot, the ganache is of course a lot thinner.

There's lots of things you can do with ganache. You can cool it to room temperature and spread it like icing. You can refrigerate it and scoop it into little balls to make truffles. You can use more cream to chocolate then chill, and then whip it for a whipped type chocolate filling. Also, you can pour it warm over your cake to give it a shiny fudgy glaze.

If your Mrs. Milman's-um-er-ganache frosting wasn't thick enough after cooling, then I would suggest increasing your amount of chocolate to cream. Remember with ganache, it's:

More chocolate+less cream=thicker

Less chocolate+more cream=thinner

Just take your too-thin ganache out of the fridge, add some more chocolate, reheat til chocolate is melted, then cool again.

I wanna know who the heck this "Mrs. Milman" is, and why she's so presumptuous to call ganache "Mrs. Milman's Chocolate Frosting". You are SO BUSTED Mrs. Milman!!!!!

Cheers.

Edited April 2, 2007 by chefpeon (log)

[alanamoana]

it's also possible that if you're a novice making a ganache that you didn't get a good emulsion going when combining the cream with the chocolate. so, you might have a 'broken' ganache. there are many remedies for this, if it is the case, but follow chefpeon's advice first.

[Geminigirl]

FYI: It always helps to include the link when you are talking about something on the web so

we can all refer to it easily instead of having to hunt around.

Took me a little while to find the elusive Mrs. Milman's frosting because of a spelling error, but I did eventually find it. I had assumed you were talking about some sort of boiled icing, so I was surprised to find that Mrs. Milman's frosting is simply...............ganache (with a little corn syrup in it).

The only reason this icing is "cooked" (or should I say "heated") is to melt the chocolate and cream together. You control how thick the cooled ganache is by increasing the ratio of chocolate to cream; meaning more chocolate-less cream. Heating ganache over a direct heat source for a longer period of time will only get you burnt tasting ganache.

Note that the recipe says to cool the ganache (I refuse to call it Mrs. Milman's!! ), until it's a spreadable consistency. When hot, the ganache is of course a lot thinner.

There's lots of things you can do with ganache. You can cool it to room temperature and spread it like icing. You can refrigerate it and scoop it into little balls to make truffles. You can use more cream to chocolate then chill, and then whip it for a whipped type chocolate filling. Also, you can pour it warm over your cake to give it a shiny fudgy glaze.

If your Mrs. Milman's-um-er-ganache frosting wasn't thick enough after cooling, then I would suggest increasing your amount of chocolate to cream. Remember with ganache, it's:

More chocolate+less cream=thicker

Less chocolate+more cream=thinner

Just take your too-thin ganache out of the fridge, add some more chocolate, reheat til chocolate is melted, then cool again.

I wanna know who the heck this "Mrs. Milman" is, and why she's so presumptuous to call ganache "Mrs. Milman's Chocolate Frosting". You are SO BUSTED Mrs. Milman!!!!!

Cheers.

←

Sorry for the spelling error , that's probably the reason I couldn't find anything on it.

Thanks for the input, really appreciate it. Mrs Milman didn't name the frosting, Martha did. In the show, Mrs Milman (who is the mother of one of Martha's staff) did say she got the recipe at the back of a packet of chocolate chips.

Anyway, I knew this is a ganache recipe, I was just curious how come even though I followed the recipe to the letter (except of the timing), it didn't turn out the way it did on her show.

( http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/m...n&rsc=ns2006_m3 )

I did wait until it became cool but it never went to anywhere near to semi solid state. It stayed liquid. After leaving it in the fridge for overnight it still is too soft to spread like what was shown in Martha's show.

Ok, I need to melt some more chocolate to repair this, and I guess that this recipe's a dud for me.

Good news though. I still used the semiliquid frosting to top the chocolate cake for my bakesale ( I covered the whole cake with M&Ms) and I managed to sell it within 20 mins!

Thanks chefpeon and alanmoana for your input.

Geminigirl

[Beanie]

Not to be off topic, but Mrs. Milman is the mother of Hannah Milman, Martha Stewart's crafts director. Here's the recipe: Mrs. Milman's chocolate frosting. I guess if your daugher works for Martha, you get famous using a recipe from a bag of chocolate chips. The rest of us have to work for a living. Recipe calls for cooking the mixture for 30 minutes. Personally, I think you should follow chefpeon's instruction, not Mrs. Milman's.

[chefpeon]

biggrin.gif Recipe calls for cooking the mixture for 30 minutes.

Yeah, and I thought that was really bizarre too. All you really have to do is pour hot cream over chopped chocolate or chocolate chips and stir til melted and smooth.

Which brings me to what alanamoana brought up......maybe in the process of cooking the icing to death it actually broke and that's why it's not setting up for geminigirl.

Geminigirl, does your (did your) ganache look grainy and/or separated?

What kind of chocolate did you use? Chopped chocolate or chips? What brand?

And how about the cream? It was heavy cream.....not milk or half and half, right?

[Geminigirl]

biggrin.gif Recipe calls for cooking the mixture for 30 minutes.

Yeah, and I thought that was really bizarre too. All you really have to do is pour hot cream over chopped chocolate or chocolate chips and stir til melted and smooth.

Which brings me to what alanamoana brought up......maybe in the process of cooking the icing to death it actually broke and that's why it's not setting up for geminigirl.

Geminigirl, does your (did your) ganache look grainy and/or separated?

What kind of chocolate did you use? Chopped chocolate or chips? What brand?

And how about the cream? It was heavy cream.....not milk or half and half, right?

←

Nope it didn't break. It was smooth and shiny. I used chocolate chips, unfortunately some cheap brand (which may be the cause of the problem) and used heavy cream. I didn't cook it as long as 30 minutes, I just heated (with low flame) until the chocolate melted.

Normally, I use less cream to chocolate than what the Mrs Milman's call for, when I make my ganache, and that usually works for me. But I just was so itching to try to make it work, even though I knew from my first attempt it would fail.

Thanks for the input.

Geminigirl

[Lindacakes]

I wouldn't necessarily trust photographs of food from an enterprise like Martha Stewart Omnimedia -- a food stylist working for the camera can put all sorts of stuff in food to make it photograph beautifully . . .

The photograph of this cake that I remember reminds me of that old commercial where they take a can of frosting and use a paper knife to spread it.

By the way, how does it taste?

[Geminigirl]

I wouldn't necessarily trust photographs of food from an enterprise like Martha Stewart Omnimedia -- a food stylist working for the camera can put all sorts of stuff in food to make it photograph beautifully . . .

The photograph of this cake that I remember reminds me of that old commercial where they take a can of frosting and use a paper knife to spread it.

By the way, how does it taste?

←

I actually watched the video. If you noticed on the page I attached, there is a tab for the video. Watching the video made me want to try it again, even though I failed once.

Anyway, the cake was nice and the frosting (being chocolate and cream) was rich. It was sold off quite quickly, probably because of the M&Ms I slathered all over the cake

[reenicake]

cooking for half an hour probably busts the cocoa molecules in the chocolate and swells the starch in it, thus creating a thicker frosting. Also the long cooking time probably causes enough evaporation to change the liquid/fat/sugar proportion, like fudge.

I hate the flavor of chocolate chips so I have never been tempted to try this particular recipe, but their high sugar content and amount of emulsifier is what would make this work.

[chefpeon]

cooking for half an hour probably busts the cocoa molecules in the chocolate and swells the starch in it, thus creating a thicker frosting. Also the long cooking time probably causes enough evaporation to change the liquid/fat/sugar proportion, like fudge.

I hate the flavor of chocolate chips so I have never been tempted to try this particular recipe, but their high sugar content and amount of emulsifier is what would make this work.

Well, that certainly makes sense, but it sure seems like a longer way to go to achieve the same results you can get by adjusting your cream and chocolate proportions.