Banana Ganache

[prairiegirl]

I have only experimented a little with making a banana ganache and I haven't liked the outcome. Does anyone have any good ideas or recipes for a delicious banana ganache for bonbons?

[Kerry Beal]

I'm in the same boat - never made a banana ganache that I liked. Seems to be a texture thing more than anything.

[Lior]

Callebaut recipe

I have not tried it but it is from their site.

[Tri2Cook]

I like this one from Michael Laiskonis' workbook blog. His adaptation of a Norman Love recipe. I'm not familiar with the original recipe so I don't know if he's tweaked it any or not... but it's good.

[ejw50]

I like this one from Michael Laiskonis' workbook blog. His adaptation of a Norman Love recipe. I'm not familiar with the original recipe so I don't know if he's tweaked it any or not... but it's good.

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That's a great find on a lot of levels.

- There's some pretty sweet stuff on that blog.

- It's a banana ganache recipe.

-It also gives an insight into the composition of Norman Love's recipes,

who doesn't publish his recipes (I don't think).

Edited June 28, 2009 by ejw50 (log)

[Tri2Cook]

Yeah, his Notes From the Kitchen and Workbook blogs are both awesome. I follow(ed) them religiously but he's become busy to the point that neither has been updated for some time. I miss it.

[ejw50]

Yeah, his Notes From the Kitchen and Workbook blogs are both awesome. I follow(ed) them religiously but he's become busy to the point that neither has been updated for some time. I miss it.

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Ah, found this about the Banana Ganache recpie

"This filling originally came from Norman Love; we've adapted it to be a little bit softer and slightly less sweet. I don't often use white chocolate-based centers, but this is one of my favorites."

so there you go , those are the (approximate) changes.

I'm bummed I missed out on Chef Laiskonis when he was still in MIchigan (where my parents live). Back then, I was just getting into Pastry. Oh well.

Edited June 28, 2009 by ejw50 (log)

[lebowits]

During our 2009 Candy Conference (thanks again Kerry), one of the attendees had a wonderful "Bananas Foster" in white chocolate that several of us really liked. I've not named him because I don't know if we wishes to contribute to this thread. I hope he chooses to.

In any case, I was intrigued with this flavor and put together my first attempt at getting a good banana flavor.

My formula is below. I need to tweak it a bit and I haven't decided how yet, but so far the results are good and the shelf life has been excellent. Pieces on my shelf for 4 weeks show no signs of deterioration or spoilage. If you try the formula, please let me know what you think.

2 medium ripe banans (should have a few spots on skin)

1 vanilla bean, scraped

150 g walnuts

325 g dark brown sugar

225 g white chocolate, melted

25 g butter, soft

80 g dark rum

1. Process the bananas and walnuts in a food processor until the fruit is smooth and the nuts well chopped

2. Melt the sugar in a pot with the scraped vanilla and bring to a boil

3. Add the banana and walnut mixture to the pot and continue to cook for several minutes, stirring to thoroughly combine

4. Take the pot off the heat and add the butter, stirring to combine

5. Add the sugar mixture to the melted chocolate and mix to combine

6. Allow the mixture to cool to about 100F

7. Add the rum and combine

8. Allow to cool to room temp

Pipe into molded white chocolate shells and seal.

[mostlylana]

During our 2009 Candy Conference (thanks again Kerry), one of the attendees had a wonderful "Bananas Foster" in white chocolate that several of us really liked.  I've not named him because I don't know if we wishes to contribute to this thread.  I hope he chooses to.

In any case, I was intrigued with this flavor and put together my first attempt at getting a good banana flavor.

My formula is below.  I need to tweak it a bit and I haven't decided how yet, but so far the results are good and the shelf life has been excellent.  Pieces on my shelf for 4 weeks show no signs of deterioration or spoilage.  If you try the formula, please let me know what you think.

2 medium ripe banans (should have a few spots on skin)

1 vanilla bean, scraped

150 g walnuts

325 g dark brown sugar

225 g white chocolate, melted

25 g butter, soft

80 g dark rum

  1. Process the bananas and walnuts in a food processor until the fruit is smooth and the nuts well chopped

  2. Melt the sugar in a pot with the scraped vanilla and bring to a boil

  3. Add the banana and walnut mixture to the pot and continue to cook for several minutes, stirring to thoroughly combine

  4. Take the pot off the heat and add the butter, stirring to combine

  5. Add the sugar mixture to the melted chocolate and mix to combine

  6. Allow the mixture to cool to about 100F

  7. Add the rum and combine

  8. Allow to cool to room temp

Pipe into molded white chocolate shells and seal.

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Oh... my... God... that sounds so good! I will definitely try it. Moving in a few weeks - I'll see if I can squeeze it in.

[Lior]

Well thank you!! I will try this as well! I think maybe a dark chocolate shell could also be nice. What do you think?

[cmflick]

I've made this banana/caramel ganache quite a few times. Caramel and banana go well together.

114 grams glucose

286 grams sugar

114 grams heavy cream

229 grams banana -- cut into thin slices

389 grams milk chocolate

69 grams cocoa butter

Cook the glucose and sugar to a light caramel. Add cream to deglaze, followed by bananas. Mash bananas well in caramel. Pour mixture over milk chocolate. Mix thoroughly. Cool to about 88F and pipe into shells. I use dark chocolate shells. It's thick to pipe and could probably be slabbed as well.

This is based on something that I saw elsewhere, but I lost track of where the original recipe was.

[John DePaula]

During our 2009 Candy Conference (thanks again Kerry), one of the attendees had a wonderful "Bananas Foster" in white chocolate that several of us really liked.  I've not named him because I don't know if we wishes to contribute to this thread.  I hope he chooses to.

...

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Oh, feel free to name names... Doesn't mean I gonna publish my recipe

That looks like a nice recipe you've got there, though.

Edited June 29, 2009 by John DePaula (log)

[Lior]

[mrose]

Recipe from a demonstration sponsered by Chocovic

100 gm banana puree

300 gm 35% cream

60 gm glucose

40 gm butter

3 gm salt

500 37% milk chocolate (they used one with yogart powder)

boil cream, puree, glucose & butter

cool to 75c pour over chcocolate & set

process with hand blender

table till elastic & thick enough to pipe

plain tip & pipe into truffle shape. Let crystalize 24 hrs

enrobe in 70% chocolate

[lebowits]

During our 2009 Candy Conference (thanks again Kerry), one of the attendees had a wonderful "Bananas Foster" in white chocolate that several of us really liked.  I've not named him because I don't know if we wishes to contribute to this thread.  I hope he chooses to.

...

←

Oh, feel free to name names... Doesn't mean I gonna publish my recipe

That looks like a nice recipe you've got there, though.

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You know I wouldn't "out" you! It is a good formula. Good banana flavor, consistent rum component, and not too sweet, even in a white chocolate shell.

[lebowits]

Well thank you!! I will try this as well! I think maybe a dark chocolate shell could also be nice. What do you think?

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I think this would go well in dark and milk chocolate as well. I would prefer the dark chocolate myself as it would further set off the sweetness of the center.

I'm going to have to try that myself. I've been decorating my molds with a swirl of yellow cocoa butter.

Edited June 29, 2009 by lebowits (log)

[Lior]

definitely banana looking! Yum!

[chocoera]

During our 2009 Candy Conference (thanks again Kerry), one of the attendees had a wonderful "Bananas Foster" in white chocolate that several of us really liked.  I've not named him because I don't know if we wishes to contribute to this thread.  I hope he chooses to.

In any case, I was intrigued with this flavor and put together my first attempt at getting a good banana flavor.

My formula is below.  I need to tweak it a bit and I haven't decided how yet, but so far the results are good and the shelf life has been excellent.  Pieces on my shelf for 4 weeks show no signs of deterioration or spoilage.  If you try the formula, please let me know what you think.

2 medium ripe banans (should have a few spots on skin)

1 vanilla bean, scraped

150 g walnuts

325 g dark brown sugar

225 g white chocolate, melted

25 g butter, soft

80 g dark rum

  1. Process the bananas and walnuts in a food processor until the fruit is smooth and the nuts well chopped

  2. Melt the sugar in a pot with the scraped vanilla and bring to a boil

  3. Add the banana and walnut mixture to the pot and continue to cook for several minutes, stirring to thoroughly combine

  4. Take the pot off the heat and add the butter, stirring to combine

  5. Add the sugar mixture to the melted chocolate and mix to combine

  6. Allow the mixture to cool to about 100F

  7. Add the rum and combine

  8. Allow to cool to room temp

Pipe into molded white chocolate shells and seal.

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hey there darlin'! have you tried with dk shells? does that affect the taste much? also, does this recipe make 1 tray, 2, 4? i might mess around with it this weekend!

PS- kisses to your lovely wife!!!

[prairiegirl]

Wow. Thanks everyone for all the recipes. They all look awesome. I will be trying every one of them. Any more ideas...keep them coming. Again THANKS.

[lebowits]

During our 2009 Candy Conference (thanks again Kerry), one of the attendees had a wonderful "Bananas Foster" in white chocolate that several of us really liked.  I've not named him because I don't know if we wishes to contribute to this thread.  I hope he chooses to.

In any case, I was intrigued with this flavor and put together my first attempt at getting a good banana flavor.

My formula is below.  I need to tweak it a bit and I haven't decided how yet, but so far the results are good and the shelf life has been excellent.  Pieces on my shelf for 4 weeks show no signs of deterioration or spoilage.  If you try the formula, please let me know what you think.

2 medium ripe banans (should have a few spots on skin)

1 vanilla bean, scraped

150 g walnuts

325 g dark brown sugar

225 g white chocolate, melted

25 g butter, soft

80 g dark rum

   1. Process the bananas and walnuts in a food processor until the fruit is smooth and the nuts well chopped

   2. Melt the sugar in a pot with the scraped vanilla and bring to a boil

   3. Add the banana and walnut mixture to the pot and continue to cook for several minutes, stirring to thoroughly combine

   4. Take the pot off the heat and add the butter, stirring to combine

   5. Add the sugar mixture to the melted chocolate and mix to combine

   6. Allow the mixture to cool to about 100F

   7. Add the rum and combine

   8. Allow to cool to room temp

Pipe into molded white chocolate shells and seal.

←

hey there darlin'! have you tried with dk shells? does that affect the taste much? also, does this recipe make 1 tray, 2, 4? i might mess around with it this weekend!

PS- kisses to your lovely wife!!!

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Hey back sweetie! I haven't yet tried this with dark shells but think that would also be quite tasty.

The mold I'm using is the 32 cavity cherry cordial mold from Tomric. I've only made this the one time and it made just shy of 4 molds so I need to scale it a bit. Your mileage may vary depending on the mold and how much you fill them.

Let me know how yours turn out and what you think of the flavor.

[chocoera]

hey steve,

couldn't wait for the weekend...made some last night! so, at first, i was scared when i added the puree to the brown sugar base (i was like...seriously?) but it all came together with a minute or two of stirring and tasted divine. Finished the recipe, and i used some shallow molds so i could cure a bit of it and see if it can be cut and dipped, instead of molded (won't try that till tomorrow) Made a slight modification, since i'm not a huge rum fan, (i'm more of a vodka girl myself!) i only did 60 g rum and 20 g cream, and it was still "rummy" enough, nice subtle taste.

question: would you ever consider a white sugar caramel base instead of brown? i like the way this tastes with a dk shell...it seriously is like you bottled up banana bread and stuck it in a truffle shell. but, just wondering what everyone thinks a white sugar base would do with this recipe?

as a whole...love it a lot if i end of making another recipe from this thread, i'll make sure to post it and let you see the difference...but here's what i made last night, some flavors are a caramel/black sesame chocolate ganache, as well as a chai tea, raspberry, dk choc/vanilla with cocoa nibs, citrus/mint, stevie banana-rama (the yellow one) and ( i cut into the banana so you could see it...) and a salted lavender liquid caramel

hope to hear from ya'll.....and let me know if anyone tries this recipe out, or any others!!!

PS- so inspired by the truffle....i made banana bread this morning. yes. i am a dork.

[lebowits]

hey steve,

couldn't wait for the weekend...made some last night!  so, at first, i was scared when i added the puree to the brown sugar base (i was like...seriously?)    but it all came together with a minute or two of stirring and tasted divine.  Finished the recipe, and i used some shallow molds so i could cure a bit of it and see if it can be cut and dipped, instead of molded (won't try that till tomorrow)  Made a slight modification, since i'm not a huge rum fan, (i'm more of a vodka girl myself!)  i only did 60 g rum and 20 g cream, and it was still "rummy" enough, nice subtle taste. 

question: would you ever consider a white sugar caramel base instead of brown?  i like the way this tastes with a dk shell...it seriously is like you bottled up banana bread and stuck it in a truffle shell.    but, just wondering what everyone thinks a white sugar base would do with this recipe? 

as a whole...love it a lot   if i end of making another recipe from this thread, i'll make sure to post it and let you see the difference...but here's what i made last night, some flavors are a caramel/black sesame chocolate ganache, as well as a chai tea, raspberry, dk choc/vanilla with cocoa nibs, citrus/mint,  stevie banana-rama (the yellow one)  and ( i cut into the banana so you could see it...) and a salted lavender liquid caramel

hope to hear from ya'll.....and let me know if anyone tries this recipe out, or any others!!!

PS- so inspired by the truffle....i made banana bread this morning.  yes.  i am a dork.

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I would be curious to taste how a "white" sugar caramel tastes with this. The brown sugar will certainly give it a "depth" that you don't get with white sugar.

I chose brown sugar (and dark brown is preferred) because it is "true" to the original idea of "Bananas Foster". That being said, I think experimentation and going with what you like best is what makes this whole thing so much FUN.

If you give it a try, post the result. I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to try it myself.

[pringle007]

I did a tribute to Elvis last year where I did a banana ganche molded in chocolate. I put a thin layer of a Peanut Butter ganache I made. They had a VERY short shelf life!! The banana in the ganache seemed to turn very quickly. I used fresh bananas and made a puree with a bit of Confects sugar, but after just a few days the ganach darkened up a bit and had that "bad bananas" taste

[Desiderio]

I made a while back some banana peanut butter chocolates, didn't think of Elvis, anyway they are layered chocolate, slabbed and dipped. Now I still have them and taste them yesterday and they are still good, I used fresh banana as well, I didn't noticed any alteration, but the banana flavor is subtle. Since this piece is in my collection, I have been thinking to modify the banana ganache and try frozen banana powder. Since is paired with a Gianduja type a butter ganache would be intersting, no as much water content to worry about, anyway even with fresh banana I think we can have a longer shelf life is treated properly.

[Lior]

Would the powder dissolve? It would not be grainy? There is also freeze dried powder - could even be added to the chocolate coating.