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Self-leveling dark chocolate ganache?


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I posted something very similar earlier, but this question is slightly different. I am wondering if I’m chasing a unicorn or if a self-leveling dark chocolate ganache is an actual achievable thing. ;) 
 
Does anybody have tips on how to get a dark chocolate ganache that will self-level—like Susanna Yoon in the link below?

https://instagram.com/p/BdV8inwHgiP/

When I use the Valrhona emulsion method, more often than not I get something akin to actual chocolate mayonnaise in viscosity. If I do hot cream on chocolate pieces, it’s much more fluid but by the time it’s down to the proper piping temperature for molded bonbons it at least leaves a mound or a peak. I have fairly decent piping skills (I’ve been piping macarons for 4 or 5 years) and I’m using a 1:1 chocolate to cream ratio—using medium fluid couverture chocolate (not craft chocolate without extra cocoa butter)—with 6-8% invert sugar and about 12% butter.  I’m nervous to add more liquid because of reduced shelf life.

What am I doing wrong? If you’ve achieved this, can you share details? What chocolate? Temperatures? Method? I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!

 

(I copied and pasted this from the Ecole Chocolat grad forum—I didn’t get a response—and it did something weird to the font.)

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4 hours ago, Pastrypastmidnight said:
I posted something very similar earlier, but this question is slightly different. I am wondering if I’m chasing a unicorn or if a self-leveling dark chocolate ganache is an actual achievable thing. ;) 
 
Does anybody have tips on how to get a dark chocolate ganache that will self-level—like Susanna Yoon in the link below?

https://instagram.com/p/BdV8inwHgiP/

When I use the Valrhona emulsion method, more often than not I get something akin to actual chocolate mayonnaise in viscosity. If I do hot cream on chocolate pieces, it’s much more fluid but by the time it’s down to the proper piping temperature for molded bonbons it at least leaves a mound or a peak. I have fairly decent piping skills (I’ve been piping macarons for 4 or 5 years) and I’m using a 1:1 chocolate to cream ratio—using medium fluid couverture chocolate (not craft chocolate without extra cocoa butter)—with 6-8% invert sugar and about 12% butter.  I’m nervous to add more liquid because of reduced shelf life.

What am I doing wrong? If you’ve achieved this, can you share details? What chocolate? Temperatures? Method? I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!

 

(I copied and pasted this from the Ecole Chocolat grad forum—I didn’t get a response—and it did something weird to the font.)

Do you happen to know what ganache that is? I filled with a gianduja tonight and it was self leveling.

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Ms Yoon recommends eating her bonbons within 10 days of purchase. 

 

So you can have super runny fillings like she does, or you can have shelf life.  I think the only thing you're 'doing wrong' is having unrealistic expectations.  If shell molding just doesn't work that well with thicker ganaches, try dipping or enrobing cut pieces or scooped balls instead.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

Do you happen to know what ganache that is? I filled with a gianduja tonight and it was self leveling.

I don’t actually know. It just looked dark to me. I know she does a 72% Venezuelan and it’s beautiful and the shell is a perfect uniform thickness and there are no air bubbles. I agree, I’ve not done a gianduja but my praline paste/chocolate fillings self level beautifully. 

 

1 hour ago, pastrygirl said:

Ms Yoon recommends eating her bonbons within 10 days of purchase. 

 

So you can have super runny fillings like she does, or you can have shelf life.  I think the only thing you're 'doing wrong' is having unrealistic expectations.  If shell molding just doesn't work that well with thicker ganaches, try dipping or enrobing cut pieces or scooped balls instead.

 

 

That may be part of the problem. It just seems that most chocolatiers fill molded bonbons with dark ganaches and if they’re too stiff it is very difficult to cap them nicely. It seems like there must be something more I can do. But I am glad to know that it’s not just that I’m missing something obvious. :) 

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So I totally just looked at Christopher Elbow’s flavors online (he’s local to me and our family’s favorite chocolatier) and he totally does all of his ganaches as slabbed pieces and his molded pieces are all caramels. Because he’s a genius. As I suspected ;) . The lemon has a white ganache at the bottom, but those level much more easily. @pastrygirl, I suspect you are on to something (you must be a genius too!). 

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I have never seen a true gianduja with that degree of fluidity.  My guess is that it is more of a hazelnut ganache that uses cream.  Because of the high percentage of cocoa butter and cocoa solids in dark chocolate, you need to use more cream to get a more fluid consistency.  It will definitely affect the water activity reading.  You could thin the chocolate with cocoa butter but that won't give a very pleasant texture to the crystalized ganache.

Offtopic:  Have you seen Susanna's self-leveling marshmallow? Now that's MY holy grail!

Also, I heard or read that Christopher Elbow does slabbed ganaches because of the economics.  He said it was difficult to run satisfactory margins doing mostly molded pieces because of the much higher labor costs involved.  On the other hand, Norman Love doesn't really do any slabbed ganaches and still does a great business.  More than one way to skin a cat, I suppose.

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4 hours ago, Bentley said:

I have never seen a true gianduja with that degree of fluidity.  My guess is that it is more of a hazelnut ganache that uses cream. 

 

In my experience giandujas are more runny because of the added nut oil which is liquid at room temp, but the cacao butter solidifies if it's tempered.  Depends on your ratio of course.   I make a peanut butter gianduja that's 1 pb : 2 milk chocolate.  It is quite runny at 89F but will break all the guitar strings if I wait too long to cut it. 

 

I find gianduja a little hard as a bonbon filling though - it's so nice to have that contrast of crisp shell and soft filling.  When you add water and emulsify, the texture changes.  A small amount of water will thicken it too much.  That's why chocolate is so weird - accidentally get a tsp of water in your pound of chocolate and it seizes, but add a cup and emulsify and you have ganache. 

 

BTW, if anyone else wants the Notter book, message me.  Mine's in good condition since I never use it - I keep Greweling in the kitchen and  Wybauw at home, (plus others).  And I mostly just make it up as I go along anyway ;) 

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1 hour ago, pastrygirl said:

I find gianduja a little hard as a bonbon filling though - it's so nice to have that contrast of crisp shell and soft filling. 

 

I completely agree. I have tried to soften the gianduja by adding more nuts (or less chocolate), but it still hardens. Don't you think there must be a spot somewhere in the middle where the complete gianduja remains soft? When I bought some Valrhona (already-made) gianduja in bar form, it softened immediately in my hands, but as you say, it still doesn't offer that contrast with the shell.

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19 hours ago, Jim D. said:

 

I completely agree. I have tried to soften the gianduja by adding more nuts (or less chocolate), but it still hardens. Don't you think there must be a spot somewhere in the middle where the complete gianduja remains soft? When I bought some Valrhona (already-made) gianduja in bar form, it softened immediately in my hands, but as you say, it still doesn't offer that contrast with the shell.

Add a bit of coconut oil. 

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1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

Add a bit of coconut oil. 

Definitely worth trying. It reminded me of a question someone had on another forum (I think it was The Chocolate Life) who was seeking a way to make dark chocolate shells not so firm (you know, without that snap that we all work so hard to attain).

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/16/2018 at 5:57 PM, Kerry Beal said:

Add a bit of coconut oil. 

I wanted a bonbon filling that remains somewhat soft (unlike gianduja, which gets rather firm) so I substituted Greweling's praline meltaway for gianduja. He calls for milk chocolate, but I used dark. I was very disappointed in the lack of hazelnut taste in the result; I don't know if milk chocolate would have made it all that different. I compared his recipes for this meltaway and hazelnut gianduja, and the amount of hazelnut praline paste in the latter is much greater. I am wondering if there is any formula to calculate how much coconut oil can be used in a meltaway before it refuses to thicken enough. In other words, I want to increase the praline paste to chocolate ratio and assume I would also need to up the amount of coconut oil.

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And it’s the coconut oil and the nut paste that makes things soft and the cocoa butter/chocolate that makes it set up, right? So if you upped the praline paste that should soften it and you would use less oil not more?

 

Forgive my ignorance—I haven’t made meltaways, but I’ve noticed that with praline. 

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12 minutes ago, Pastrypastmidnight said:

And it’s the coconut oil and the nut paste that makes things soft and the cocoa butter/chocolate that makes it set up, right? So if you upped the praline paste that should soften it and you would use less oil not more?

 

Forgive my ignorance—I haven’t made meltaways, but I’ve noticed that with praline. 

For gianduja, Greweling specifies 2:1 praline to chocolate, and it still firms up quite a lot. You are right that it is the praline paste and the coconut oil that soften things. Greweling's ratios for meltaway are (roughly) 1:1.5:4 coconut oil:praline paste:chocolate. You can see the proportion of chocolate is very large. I need to play around with increasing the amount of praline. One additional factor over which I have no control is that the consistency of praline paste varies a great deal, even when the hazelnuts and oil are well mixed.

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21 minutes ago, Pastrypastmidnight said:

So if you upped the praline paste that should soften it and you would use less oil not more?

 

That's my thought as well.  More nut oil will make it softer.  You could even try adding a pure nut oil like this one http://a.co/9W2P81T

 

And are you roasting your hazelnuts?  I'll allow you your preference for raw pistachios, but hazelnuts are one that I think are vastly improved by a significant roast.

 

Why is your praline paste so inconsistent, are you using different brands? 

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1 hour ago, pastrygirl said:

 

That's my thought as well.  More nut oil will make it softer.  You could even try adding a pure nut oil like this one http://a.co/9W2P81T

 

And are you roasting your hazelnuts?  I'll allow you your preference for raw pistachios, but hazelnuts are one that I think are vastly improved by a significant roast.

 

Why is your praline paste so inconsistent, are you using different brands? 

I don't make my own hazelnut paste (or pistachio--I do make pecan and almond because I can those smooth enough in the food processor). I use Cacao Barry's, but as I don't have room to store the big pail in the freezer/refrigerator, I buy it from L'Epicérie in smaller containers--obviously it's been repackaged and I am at the mercy of those who remix and package it.

 

"I'll allow you your preference for raw pistachios":   You must be using "you" in the sense of "everybody" because I am one who lightly toasts pistachios (we have discussed this). I tested my preference again recently and was confirmed in my view that toasting makes them tastier. And, of course, hazelnuts cry out to be roasted/toasted.

 

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