Banana Ganache

[chocoera]

hey steve- i'll let you know when i get a chance to try with white sugar base, thanks for the input, as i do agree the depth of flavor is wonderful with brown sugar....

as for powder banana...where would you find something like that? interesting...

[lebowits]

hey steve- i'll let you know when i get a chance to try with white sugar base, thanks for the input, as i do agree the depth of flavor is wonderful with brown sugar....

as for powder banana...where would you find something like that?  interesting...

←

I did a quick search and found it here and here.. Chef Rubber also has it here but seems to be much more expensive than the other two. I haven't tried to compare the products yet to determine if one is better suited than another.

Your mileage may vary.

[Lior]

Van Drunen farms gives samples and are great to work with.

[rio marie]

I'll second what Lior says about Van Drunen Farms, I asked for a couple of samples and they sent me 13! Including Banana, Blueberry, Pomagrante, Peach, Passion Fruit, Mango, and the ususal....They are great to work with.

Rena

Edited July 7, 2009 by rio marie (log)

[ejw50]

Whole Foods near me carries the 'just' line of products that Steve mentions.

Whole foods doesn't have powders, but you can use a coffee grinder or whatever to grind up the whole blueberries (strawberries, apples, etc...).

The quality of their fruit is good, I give it thumbs up.

[CacaoC]

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

Hello, it's my first post here, but I have been a lurker for many years.

I tried this delicious recipe back then ( thanks Steve for sharing it!) and I can't remember exactly how was the texture, firm or semi-soft? I would like to use this recipe as slabbed ganache and I'm affraid that the porportions are too soft for slabbing.

How could I modify the recipe so the ganache would be firmer without altering the flavour too much? Add more white chocolate? Or use white sugar instead of brown and boil it a little bit longer?

[YetiChocolates]

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.

Ok Steve, maybe I'm being an idiot here, but have been giving your banana ganache a go, and I'm perplexed by the boiling of the dark brown sugar. Are you adding any water to it? If not you are essentially doing a dry caramel, which when I try doesn't really boil it just starts to melt and then burns. Do you have the heat super low? And do you warm the banana/walnut mixture up any because it just seizes the sugar when I add it. Help!

[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.

Ok Steve, maybe I'm being an idiot here, but have been giving your banana ganache a go, and I'm perplexed by the boiling of the dark brown sugar. Are you adding any water to it? If not you are essentially doing a dry caramel, which when I try doesn't really boil it just starts to melt and then burns. Do you have the heat super low? And do you warm the banana/walnut mixture up any because it just seizes the sugar when I add it. Help!

yes, it is essentially a dry caramel method. If you have trouble with that, then add a bit of water to even out the heating. It will boil off. It simply adds to the cooking time.

On a personal note, I've not used this formula in a while. While I thought it tasted pretty good, it didn't sell very well. Maybe I should try it again. I've also had very good luck with the Boiron ganache and caramel formulas which can be downloaded from their web site. If this doesn't work for you, take a look there and see if they have a banana puree based formula.

Edited November 16, 2013 by heidih
Fix quote tags (log)

[YetiChocolates]

Hey Steve, thanks for the quick reply, I actually did look at the callebaut banana recipe and have made some personal alterations to the formula to give me that banana foster flavor, to see if it works a little better for me (haven't tried it yet). We'll see how it goes, I'm planning on putting it on the holiday menu (if I ever get the formula right) to see how much interest it will generate.

[patti_h]

I'm glad this thread got resurrected, I've been working on a bananas foster using the M. laiskonis recipe. Steve I think this recipe sounds wonderful & I am going to give it a go.

I am so thankful for all the people on eg who share information so freely. I'm really looking forward to the conference next spring.

[YetiChocolates]

I ended up using a variation of the frutti recipe on Callebaut's website and I really like the results! Thanks Steve for the original inspiration though

[lebowits]

I ended up using a variation of the frutti recipe on Callebaut's website and I really like the results! Thanks Steve for the original inspiration though

Do tell! (or post if you're willing to share)

[YetiChocolates]

105 g dark brown sugar

50 g glucose

121 g cream

1 vanilla bean

138 g banana

1 generous Tbsp of cinnamon

50 g butter

72 g white chocolate

17 g rum

I heat the glucose and brown sugar together until the brown sugar is liquefied and smells like it's about to burn (as you cannot really tell when brown sugar caramelizes). Add heated cream (that I scrape the VB into) into the brown sugar and mix to combine, letting it boil for a few. Heat banana puree and cinnamon, then add to the sugar mixture and heat to 106 C. Take off heat and cool a bit, then add butter. Let cool some more, then add white chocolate and rum. Emulsify then pipe into molds. Could be a bit more rummy, but overall I like the flavor and consistency, and adding the glucose to the brown sugar helps with the caramelizing/crystallizing problems I was having with the dry caramelizing before.

[dhardy123]

Wybauw has a Banana Ganache in his 2nd book that I have used before. It uses puree however

[YetiChocolates]

Wybauw has a Banana Ganache in his 2nd book that I have used before. It uses puree however

I guess I should have specified that it is banana puree in the formula I posted, I just took bananas and pureed them in a blender. Don't have Wybauw's 2nd book so I cannot comment on what he does, but I'm sure you don't have to use frozen boiron banana puree (if that's what he uses), you can just puree your own bananas fresh.

[Jim D.]

105 g dark brown sugar

50 g glucose

121 g cream

1 vanilla bean

138 g banana

1 generous Tbsp of cinnamon

50 g butter

72 g white chocolate

17 g rum

I heat the glucose and brown sugar together until the brown sugar is liquefied and smells like it's about to burn (as you cannot really tell when brown sugar caramelizes). Add heated cream (that I scrape the VB into) into the brown sugar and mix to combine, letting it boil for a few. Heat banana puree and cinnamon, then add to the sugar mixture and heat to 106 C. Take off heat and cool a bit, then add butter. Let cool some more, then add white chocolate and rum. Emulsify then pipe into molds. Could be a bit more rummy, but overall I like the flavor and consistency, and adding the glucose to the brown sugar helps with the caramelizing/crystallizing problems I was having with the dry caramelizing before.

The recipe looks good. I am puzzled, however, by the proportion of chocolate to cream. I would think that if there is so little chocolate (compared to liquids in the recipe) that the result would be quite runny, might never firm up. But you say that it could be more runny. I ask because today I attempted Wybauw's "Frutti" recipe for the second time. The first time I made it, it never firmed up. So today I added more chocolate and some cocoa butter. The result was a total mess--the ganache separated.

[YetiChocolates]

105 g dark brown sugar

50 g glucose

121 g cream

1 vanilla bean

138 g banana

1 generous Tbsp of cinnamon

50 g butter

72 g white chocolate

17 g rum

I heat the glucose and brown sugar together until the brown sugar is liquefied and smells like it's about to burn (as you cannot really tell when brown sugar caramelizes). Add heated cream (that I scrape the VB into) into the brown sugar and mix to combine, letting it boil for a few. Heat banana puree and cinnamon, then add to the sugar mixture and heat to 106 C. Take off heat and cool a bit, then add butter. Let cool some more, then add white chocolate and rum. Emulsify then pipe into molds. Could be a bit more rummy, but overall I like the flavor and consistency, and adding the glucose to the brown sugar helps with the caramelizing/crystallizing problems I was having with the dry caramelizing before.

The recipe looks good. I am puzzled, however, by the proportion of chocolate to cream. I would think that if there is so little chocolate (compared to liquids in the recipe) that the result would be quite runny, might never firm up. But you say that it could be more runny. I ask because today I attempted Wybauw's "Frutti" recipe for the second time. The first time I made it, it never firmed up. So today I added more chocolate and some cocoa butter. The result was a total mess--the ganache separated.

Jim, the banana puree seems to make up for some of the cream in making the consistency thicker, you may not be cooking the sugar, cream, banana mixture long enough, as though the ganache is a bit soft, it does firm up enough to shell and cap just fine. I said "rummy" not runny as I meant there could be more rum in the mix. Personally I think the ratios work just fine for what adjustments I've made to Wybauw's recipe. However I've never made the Frutti formula in it's true form, so I cannot say how finicky it can be.

[Jim D.]

"Rummy," not "runny." I must need new glasses. I'll give your recipe a try. When I was cooking the caramel-banana-passion fruit mixture (Wybauw says to 221 F.), it looked as if it was about to burn. Good point about the banana thickening the ganache. It's the flavoring that makes it so difficult to determine the ratio of chocolate to liquefier--some liquefiers are more liquid than others! To make matters more difficult, Wybauw's recipes can be rather vague at times: "Caramelize the sucrose and glucose until they acquire an attractive golden brown color."

Jim

[pantoufle]

 

Posted 28 June 2009 - 08:39 PM

 

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.

 

 

Thank you lebowits for the delicious Bananas Foster ganache recipe!  I am currently enrolled at Ecole Chocolate and made your recipe for my first assignment.  It is delicious and has gotten rave reviews! :-)  I piped it into dark chocolate shells and really like the flavor.  I think I could have used a thicker chocolate shell since I really love the flavor of dark chocolate with this ganache!  Thanks again!

[jillc]

On 11/24/2013 at 10:00 PM, patti_h said:

I'm glad this thread got resurrected, I've been working on a bananas foster using the M. laiskonis recipe. Steve I think this recipe sounds wonderful & I am going to give it a go.

I am so thankful for all the people on eg who share information so freely. I'm really looking forward to the conference next spring.

Hi Patti, The link to the M. Iaiskonis recipe isn't working any longer. You're the most recent on this thread. Do you still have the recipe? Thanks!

[Tri2Cook]

6 hours ago, jillc said:

Hi Patti, The link to the M. Iaiskonis recipe isn't working any longer. You're the most recent on this thread. Do you still have the recipe? Thanks!

Yeah, he discontinued the blogs a long time ago. He put up .pdf files with the information from the blogs and a warning that he was going to be killing them in the fairly near future which was a nice thing for him to do. I did grab them but I already had all the information saved in text files anyway. I followed his blogs closely and saved everything as soon as he posted it. So if Patti doesn't have it, I do.

[Gwbyls]

It’s obviously gone. Would love a copy. Gwbyls@hotmail.com

thanks!