Making ganache with coconut cream

[akonsu]

Hello,

I wanted to make ganache from one part of coconut creme and two parts of white chocolate. I bought a can of coconut milk, it stood for too long on a shelf, so when I opened it, the white fat was on top and the water was separate. I took out the fat, which was solid, heated it in a microwave, and added it to the unmelted white chocolate. I expected that the resulting colloid (the emulsion) will solidify again when it cools. But this did not happen. The mixture got thicker but it is still fluid. It has been 10 hours or so in a fridge. Could someone explain this? I mean the ingredients are solid by themselves at room/fridge temperatures, why is the emulsion fluid? Or I just did not wait long enough?

thanks!

[Kerry Beal]

3 hours ago, akonsu said:

Hello,

I wanted to make ganache from one part of coconut creme and two parts of white chocolate. I bought a can of coconut milk, it stood for too long on a shelf, so when I opened it, the white fat was on top and the water was separate. I took out the fat, which was solid, heated it in a microwave, and added it to the unmelted white chocolate. I expected that the resulting colloid (the emulsion) will solidify again when it cools. But this did not happen. The mixture got thicker but it is still fluid. It has been 10 hours or so in a fridge. Could someone explain this? I mean the ingredients are solid by themselves at room/fridge temperatures, why is the emulsion fluid? Or I just did not wait long enough?

thanks!

Eutectic effect of one fat on another fat means that the resulting melting point is different than the melting points of the initial fats. 

 

I suspect you could probably get this to solidify by tempering it. 

[pastrygirl]

You added all the water from the coconut milk and little of the fat. It might be a little firmer if you had stirred the coconut milk all together. 

 

For now, I’d just add more white chocolate to the desired thickness. Next time, emulsify your coconut milk first, then add the liquid a little at a time so you have more control over the consistency. 

[akonsu]

21 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

You added all the water from the coconut milk and little of the fat.

Thank you. I added the white part and discarded the transparent liquid. As I understand, the white part is the fat of the coconut milk that comes from the pulp that they heat when the milk is produced..

[pastrygirl]

1 minute ago, akonsu said:

Thank you. I added the white part and discarded the transparent liquid. As I understand, the white part is the fat of the coconut milk that comes from the pulp that they heat when the milk is produced..

Oh, that’s odd then.

[Merry Berry]

Which brand of coconut milk did you use?  I have tried quite a few and I always find the fat to water content ratio to be wildly different between brands.  

 

Also, just like with regular ganache, you probably should have used coconut cream just as you would use heavy cream versus milk.  Better fat content ratio.  That is what I am guessing went wrong, but I have never made ganache with coconut cream so maybe someone who has will chime in.

[Jim D.]

For my coconut cream ganache, I use 150g coconut milk (emusified so that water and coconut are thoroughly mixed), 450g white chocolate, and 15g coconut rum (plus other flavorings). As Merry Berry implied, it is probably best to stick with the same brand of coconut milk (or you can purchase coconut purée from such manufacturers as Boiron). 465:150 is a very high proportion of chocolate to liquid, but the coconut milk I use is quite fluid.

[Tri2Cook]

I mix a packet of dried coconut cream into a can of coconut milk and, according to the information on the packet and can and assuming my math is correct, that puts me almost spot on with the fat content of heavy cream. As Kerry mentioned above, it's a different type of fat from the dairy and has a softening effect greater than the sum of it's parts but, as Jim mentioned, that can be compensated for by ratios and I only use it in shell molded chocolates so I don't need it to be as firm as I would for cutting and dipping.

[akonsu]

Thanks everyone! This was quite helpful. What I gathered from this is that this happened because I used almost pure fat instead of coconut cream or milk, and if I added water the mixture would have more chances to solidify. 

[pastrygirl]

3 hours ago, Tri2Cook said:

I mix a packet of dried coconut cream into a can of coconut milk and, according to the information on the packet and can and assuming my math is correct, that puts me almost spot on with the fat content of heavy cream. As Kerry mentioned above, it's a different type of fat from the dairy and has a softening effect greater than the sum of it's parts but, as Jim mentioned, that can be compensated for by ratios and I only use it in shell molded chocolates so I don't need it to be as firm as I would for cutting and dipping.

 

Coconut cream powder is one of my secret weapons!

 

 

16 minutes ago, akonsu said:

Thanks everyone! This was quite helpful. What I gathered from this is that this happened because I used almost pure fat instead of coconut cream or milk, and if I added water the mixture would have more chances to solidify. 

 

Even if you added pure coconut fat, it should firm up eventually and be temper-able.  And if you did add pure fat then you don't have an emulsion, you have a fat-based gianduja.  Adding water or coconut liquid might actually thicken it up if the fats are emulsified instead of free-flowing.

[akonsu]

Also, here is a post that kind of explains this that I found: https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_does_a_mixture_of_lauric_fat_coconut_or_palm_kernel_oil_and_cocoa_butter_is_unable_to_crystalize

[Merry Berry]

39 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

Coconut cream powder is one of my secret weapons!

 

 

You don't say!!  I will have to check it out 

[akonsu]

5 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

I suspect you could probably get this to solidify by tempering it. 

@Kerry Beal, thank you. How would I go about tempering cacao butter in a mix like that? I hear this can be done using the silk that your EZTemper machine makes, but can I do this without it? I would appreciate any pointers.

EDIT: I guess that the method is the same as tempering any chocolate, please disregard this then.

Edited April 19, 2019 by akonsu (log)

[Kerry Beal]

35 minutes ago, akonsu said:

@Kerry Beal, thank you. How would I go about tempering cacao butter in a mix like that? I hear this can be done using the silk that your EZTemper machine makes, but can I do this without it? I would appreciate any pointers.

EDIT: I guess that the method is the same as tempering any chocolate, please disregard this then.

 

Actually, pre EZtemper I used to temper this by putting in a bowl over another bowl of cold water and stirring until starts to thicken.