Ganache: Tips, Techniques & Troubleshooting

[alanamoana]

As for the cocoa butter , I do sometimes add it to my ganaches,expecially ones with white chocolate that tend to be much sweeter and it does gives a great mouthfeel and more structure ,I do use with some fillings and flavors coconut butter ( or oil ),expecially with exoctic flavors, I remeber an italian famous ( actually he lives in Switzerland ) chocolatier mentioned the use of fat in ganaches and the different effect etc. The first was the coconut butter then cocoa butter last the butter ,the coconut butter leaves a fresh backtaste without overpowering the taste like the cocoa butter.

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Vanessa,

when you say you don't add sugar or glucose to your ganaches does that mean your recipes are based only on chocolate, butter or cream, and flavoring?

[Trishiad]

Vanessa, is that Guiliano Sargenti you're referring to?

I, too, sometimes use cocoa butter to beef up a filling, even a caramel but I've not tried coconut butter. I like the idea of the flavor not being overpowering. Too much cocoa butter makes bonbons taste cold to me. The seductive quality of the chocolate becomes sort of frigid.

Tell us more about coconut butter....

[Kerry Beal]

I'm late to the party here, but I also never add sugar to ganaches. I usually add a touch of glucose for the preservative effect. I also add some liquor.

The dark chocolate I use for the majority of my ganaches is bittersweet, but I do have some Callebaut Intense L60-40 -NV, very viscous, makes a nice firm ganache, not at all sweet.

I would love to hear more about the coconut butter too.

Any chance that the recipe will be available to examine?

[Desiderio]

The chocolatier I am talking about is Elise Tonti.

Alana , yes usually I dont add sugar , sometimes some honey depends of what I am making ( the raspberry ones I add a little bit in the puree when I reduce it before adding it to the cream etc.Even though I am thinking of not adding any at all next time), but I did add some cocoa butter to tame the sweetness etc.

About what Tonti said about the fats in ganache , I just found the article I was referring to and I can report what it says:

About fat in ganches ;

Butter makes the ganache more tender ( can you say more tender or just tender ?)and it makes hand handling more difficult .Life shelf its also shorter.

Cocoa butter is a fat of high quality , has a low fusion point and has a long shelf life,but often its taste will overpower the flavor of the ganache.

High quality coconut butter has the same good quality as cocoa butter ( low fusion point and long shelf life ).Plus leaves a nice fresh mouthfeel and its neautral flavor enhance the flavor of the ganache.Note that the cocnut butter has to be melt at low temperature to avoid the effect called " saponificazione " ( I cant think of a translation , but it means that it will turn foamy and soapy .Melting it in warm water bath is the best option.

It seems he prefer the coconut butter inside his ganaches , I only have few pages from a professional magazine I used to buy back in Italy ,he did publish several books and have classes over in Italy as well.

[Kerry Beal]

The chocolatier I am talking about is Elise Tonti.

Alana , yes usually I dont add sugar , sometimes some honey depends of what I am making ( the raspberry ones I add a little bit in the puree when I reduce it before adding it to the cream etc.Even though I am thinking of not adding any at all next time), but I did add some cocoa butter to tame the sweetness etc.

About what Tonti said about the fats in ganache , I just found the article I was referring to and I can report what it says:

About fat in ganches ;

Butter makes the ganache more tender ( can you say more tender or just tender ?)and it makes  hand handling more difficult .Life shelf its also shorter.

Cocoa butter is a fat of high quality , has a low fusion point and has a long shelf life,but often its taste will overpower the flavor of the ganache.

High quality coconut butter has the same good quality as cocoa butter ( low fusion point and long shelf life ).Plus leaves a nice fresh mouthfeel and its neautral flavor enhance the flavor of the ganache.Note that the cocnut butter  has to be melt at  low temperature to avoid the effect called " saponificazione " ( I cant think of a translation , but it means that it will turn foamy and soapy .Melting it in warm water bath is the best option.

It seems he prefer the coconut butter inside his ganaches , I only have few pages from a professional magazine I used to buy back in Italy ,he did publish several books and have classes over in Italy as well.

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This is very interesting stuff Vanessa, thanks for paraphrasing it. I'm going to have to get some good quality coconut butter to play around with, I'm sure there are a couple of places where it might come in handy to accomplish a certain effect.

Re the translation thing, both tender and more tender work. Re saponificazione, in english that would equal saponification which is what happens when a base (vs an acid) reacts with a fat or oil to form a soap. It's the same thing that happens when you take lye and add lard or other fat to produce soap. So it is really good to know that we must take care not to overheat our coconut oil or we will get a soapy product.

[miladyinsanity]

What's the difference between coconut oil and coconut butter? Or is coconut butter "solidified coconut oil"?

[Desiderio]

Its the same thing .Its called butte when its in solid form etc.

[sote23]

vanessa,

very interesting. I've not heard of anyone using coconut butter or oil. so it doesn't effect the flavor too much? Where do you buy it?

Luis

Edited September 17, 2006 by sote23 (log)

[escry]

A thought occurs with respect to the initial question of sweetness: should a ganache made from 72% e. guittard (with no added sucrose, glucose, etc.) be too sweet as a bonbon, then the final sweetness of the confection can be adjusted by the choice of couverture for enrobing.

From comments later in the thread I understand that just the one bittersweet chocolate is used; for ganaches and enrobing? If so then this thought may not be of immediate help.

When faced with a new chocolate, with which I wish to formulate a ganache, I try to balance the elements in four steps:

1) What is the ratio of total dairy fat (within the butter and cream) to cocoa fat (cocoa butter) that suits this chocolate? eg 4 parts cocoa fat to 3 parts dairy fat

2) What is the ratio of butter fat to cream fat? eg 1 part butter fat to 1 part cream fat

3) Does the moisture level need enhancing by adding water? eg 2 parts cream to 1 part water

4) Choose a couverture for enrobing, using the same chocolate as used for the ganache as a standard against which to judge others.

This process allows me to experiment along two dimensions at a time, and usually gets me quite close to the final formulation that I seek. How do others break down this process?

Asides: two traditional recipes would meet the above example criteria, namely i) one part chocolate to one part cream, and ii) four parts chocolate, two parts cream, one part butter, one part water (alcohol). Also, I don't add sugars, but occasionally add invertase to invert some of the constituent sugar within the chocolate to glucose and fructose to assist with shelf life.

[Desiderio]

vanessa,

very interesting. I've not heard of anyone using coconut butter or oil.  so it doesn't effect the flavor too much? Where do you buy it?

Luis

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I have seen it at the grocery store , but I buy mine at my local health store ( like vitamine cottage , whole foods )

[Desiderio]

A thought occurs with respect to the initial question of sweetness: should a ganache made from 72% e. guittard (with no added sucrose, glucose, etc.) be too sweet as a bonbon, then the final sweetness of the confection can be adjusted by the choice of couverture for enrobing.

From comments later in the thread I understand that just the one bittersweet chocolate is used; for ganaches and enrobing? If so then this thought may not be of immediate help.

When faced with a new chocolate, with which I wish to formulate a ganache, I try to balance the elements in four steps:

1) What is the ratio of total dairy fat (within the butter and cream) to cocoa fat (cocoa butter) that suits this chocolate? eg 4 parts cocoa fat to 3 parts dairy fat

2) What is the ratio of butter fat to cream fat? eg 1 part butter fat to 1 part cream fat

3) Does the moisture level need enhancing by adding water? eg 2 parts cream to 1 part water

4) Choose a couverture for enrobing, using the same chocolate as used for the ganache as a standard against which to judge others.

This process allows me to experiment along two dimensions at a time, and usually gets me quite close to the final formulation that I seek. How do others break down this process?

Asides: two traditional recipes would meet the above example criteria, namely i) one part chocolate to one part cream, and ii) four parts chocolate, two parts cream, one part butter, one part water (alcohol). Also, I don't add sugars, but occasionally add invertase to invert some of the constituent sugar within the chocolate to glucose and fructose to assist with shelf life.

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Escry , as always very technical and helpfull.I really like the way you always explain your process ,experimenting and stuff .

Thank you .

[reenicake]

I too am late to the party, but I would suggest to your friend to adjust sweetness level, just eliminate any sugar that she adds rather than adding cacao mass... And try a different chocolate for the infusions, 72% might be too strong, or even a different brand. At Le Cirque we used to use a lower-cocoa mass, higher sugar DGF for the Grand Marnier ganache because the flavor did not come through with Valrhona.

The coconut butter I have experience with has a very strong coconut smell, but a great breaking texture like cocoa butter. I had thought about it for a coconut ganache... it is almost certainly not as refined as the product you get. Is there a brand you recommend?

[sote23]

vanessa,

very interesting. I've not heard of anyone using coconut butter or oil.  so it doesn't effect the flavor too much? Where do you buy it?

Luis

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I have seen it at the grocery store , but I buy mine at my local health store ( like vitamine cottage , whole foods )

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vanessa,

do you use the butter or the oil or both?

luis

[Desiderio]

vanessa,

very interesting. I've not heard of anyone using coconut butter or oil.  so it doesn't effect the flavor too much? Where do you buy it?

Luis

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I have seen it at the grocery store , but I buy mine at my local health store ( like vitamine cottage , whole foods )

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vanessa,

do you use the butter or the oil or both?

luis

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Is the same thing the coconut "fat" will be in liquid form over a certain temperature, since has a low melting point. Says around 77 and higher becomes liquid ,stays solid under 76 and lower.

[sote23]

vanessa,

very interesting. I've not heard of anyone using coconut butter or oil.  so it doesn't effect the flavor too much? Where do you buy it?

Luis

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I have seen it at the grocery store , but I buy mine at my local health store ( like vitamine cottage , whole foods )

←

vanessa,

do you use the butter or the oil or both?

luis

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Is the same thing the coconut "fat" will be in liquid form over a certain temperature, since has a low melting point. Says around 77 and higher becomes liquid ,stays solid under 76 and lower.

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I understand. thanks for clearing that up.

[ChristopherMichael]

Does anyone here use or have used invert sugars in their ganache for chocolates? Does it change the taste? I know it does change the texture or atleast that's what I read. How much does it extend shelf life? Is it worth using? Any other reason why or why not I should use invert sugars would be great.

[Desiderio]

I was trying to find the many thread we have on this argument , for now I founf only this maybe later if I have more time Ill look for more , but if you reserche the forum I am sure you will find many.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ates+shelf+life

[ChristopherMichael]

I was trying to find the many thread we have on this argument , for now I founf only this maybe later if I have more time Ill look for more , but if you reserche the forum I am sure you will find many.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ates+shelf+life

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That was a good thread, thank you very much. So I would say that you don't use invert sugar. It's probable that chocolatiers like Recchiuti, Christopher Elbow, Donnelly Chocolates, etc. don't use them either, would you say?

[choux]

I'd say that Recchuiti definitely uses invert sugar because every ganache recipe in his book has it. I use it, it does make the ganaches a bit sweeter, but I also find it makes the chocolate taste more intense. My Manjari truffles taste way better to me than another chocolatier that I've tasted that doesn't use invert sugar. If the other chocolate wasn't specifically labelled 'Manjari' I wouln't have picked out the flavour. I can't comment on the other chocolatiers that you mentioned because they won't ship to Canada.

Edited October 19, 2006 by choux (log)

[sote23]

I was trying to find the many thread we have on this argument , for now I founf only this maybe later if I have more time Ill look for more , but if you reserche the forum I am sure you will find many.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ates+shelf+life

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That was a good thread, thank you very much. So I would say that you don't use invert sugar. It's probable that chocolatiers like Recchiuti, Christopher Elbow, Donnelly Chocolates, etc. don't use them either, would you say?

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Recchiuti does uses inver sugar, not sure about donnelly or christopher elbow. christopher is a member here, you could ask him.

[Desiderio]

I personally played with the inverted sugar in the ganaches for a bit ,then I tryed the invertase, wich is the enzyme they use to make inverted sugar ,and does the same thing without adding sweetness.But I didnt notice much difference when I was using the inverted sugar , I do think, as Choux said, that in some ganaches it might give a better flavor.Now I am not using anything , I will make a rather big production next week and since they have to travel with me oversees I will probabily use some invertase.

[ChristopherMichael]

When using invert sugar do you substitute part of the cream with it or do you use the same amount of cream as you usually do and then add the invert sugar to taste?

[escry]

A good rule of thumb is to add 8% invert sugar to your recipe. This will help bind the free water and reduce the Aw of your ganache.

As to whether you reduce cream or not, the answer is more difficult. It is likely that you may wish to reduce the amount of cream, but a good place to start is with the same amount. If you do reduce cream it is likely to be by just a couple of percent.

[tammylc]

I switched from using Michel Cluizel pastilles to E. Guittard discs. Because the discs seem to big for the method of pouring cream over the chocolate to work, I've been melting my chocolate and then combining it with the hot cream. Ever since I've made this change, my ganache has been grainy. Any guesses on whether it's the method or the chocolate that's causing the problem? I'm thinking of trying the pour over method, but using a food processor to do the emulsification, since it seems like that might work even with the nickel size E. Guittard discs. Or maybe I just need to start buying bars and chopping chocolate.

Does using invert sugar or corn syrup or butter in a ganache help make it less grainy? (I usually do a very simply ganache of just chocolate and cream.)

Thanks for any advice!

[David J.]

I switched from using Michel Cluizel pastilles to E. Guittard discs.  Because the discs seem to big for the method of pouring cream over the chocolate to work, I've been melting my chocolate and then combining it with the hot cream.  Ever since I've made this change, my ganache has been grainy.  Any guesses on whether it's the method or the chocolate that's causing the problem?  I'm thinking of trying the pour over method, but using a food processor to do the emulsification, since it seems like that might work even with the nickel size E. Guittard discs.  Or maybe I just need to start buying bars and chopping chocolate.

Does using invert sugar or corn syrup or butter in a ganache help make it less grainy?  (I usually do a very simply ganache of just chocolate and cream.) 

Thanks for any advice!

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Hmmm, this seems to be going around...

I had a batch of butter/white chocolate/kaluha go grainy on me a couple days ago.

I'll just repeat what JPW said in my class:

Some ganaches are more susceptable to separation than others due to the ratio of fat/liquid/chocolate. Unfortunately I forget if he mentioned the levels that made for trouble.

Overheating will cause the ganache to break. This can be done just by working it too much with a blender or food processor. The latter is how he broke a ganache in class.

The first method of rescue he uses is to take a portion of the broken ganache and pour in a little cold cream and whisk. If that works he will continue by adding a little of the broken ganache in at a time and incorporating it. Again, you have to be carefull not to overwork it and heat it up or it will repeat the break.

If that doesn't work he will place the ganache in the fridge until it starts to set around the edges. Then he will fold that back in and whisk it in.

The batch he rescued in class required both methods before he was successful.

In class he also was clear to add your butter only at room temperature.

He frequently used melted tempered chocolate right out of the melter to make his ganache, but then I recall him letting the boiled cream cool a bit first before mixing.