Homemade chocolate frosting

[axeldbljumps]

Butter, crisco, p. sugar and an eggwhite gives you a "simple or American butter cream vs. a french or Italian buttercream. Also, Ayerton, I am confused. If a ganache is more a "chocolate sauce, how can it be piped. Unless, you are piping the ganache when it is cold and a solid. Is that what you are doing? Very interesting! I never thought of doing that. I just found my next project, trying to pipe cold ganache! Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[XeniA]

Butter, crisco, p. sugar and an eggwhite gives you a "simple or American butter cream vs. a french or Italian buttercream. Also, Ayerton, I am confused. If a ganache is more a "chocolate sauce, how can it be piped. Unless, you are piping the ganache when it is cold and a solid. Is that what you are doing? Very interesting! I never thought of doing that. I just found my next project, trying to pipe cold ganache! Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ganache is a wonderful versatile thing that can be sauce-like and thus pourable (to glaze a cake, for instance), or can be much thicker and thus pipeable. One of the differences between those two consistencies is temperature, but the other is the ratio of cream to chocolate.

Meaning: let's say you want a spreadable, pipeable ganache. To make it you have hot cream and shaved (or chipped, or broken) chocolate (ratios for which you get from a ganache recipe specifically intended for spreading/piping). The two are stirred together to combine them, completely melt the chocolate, and cool the mixture a bit. Then, if memory serves (forgive but I'm doing this off the top of my head right now -- can get back to you wish specifics if you wish) you chill the mixture until it's the appropriate thickness to spread or pipe.

I've made it in the more traditional way by hand-stirring, and I've made it the food-processor way (instructions from "The Cake Bible" -- a book I have some gripes about, but none regarding ganache). Both produced 100% satisfactory results, and both were easy.

From there on in, it behaves very much like a soft, pure chocolate would, i.e. if you refrigerate it it will get very hard / if you leave it out in a coolish room it will be somewhat softer / and if you leave it out in a hot area, it will melt.

It has a fancy name, but it's NOT difficult and it is truly light years away from the stuff we all grew up with!

 

[axeldbljumps]

Thank-you Ayerton!

 

[marmalady]

Also, the proportions of cream to chocolate are different between a 'saucy' ganache and a frosting ganache.

 

[vagriller]

Also, the proportions of cream to chocolate are different between a 'saucy' ganache and a frosting ganache.

Can someone post a tried and true "frosting ganache" recipe?

 

[XeniA]

Can someone post a tried and true "frosting ganache" recipe?

Okay, here you go:

Since you initially were looking for a dark, rich frosting, I'm posting the "dark chocolate" ganache from The Cake Bible. I have made this recipe with great success, so it's very much tried and true.

* * * *
4 3-oz bars bittersweet chocolate (12 oz / 340 grams)
1-2/3 cups of heavy cream (13.5 oz / 385 grams)

Optional:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (2 oz / 57 grams)
2 tablespoons cognac (1 oz / 28 grams)

Break the chocolate into pieces and process in a food processor until very fine. Heat the cream to the boiling point and, with the motor running, pour it through the feed tube in a steady stream. Process a few seconds until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and cool completely. Gently stir in the optional butter and/or cognac. Allow to cool for several hours until of frosting consistency. If using butter, whisk for a few seconds to aerate. The color will lighten.
* * * *

The butter should be added if you intend to whip the ganache once cool. Whipping the ganache makes it lighter and airier which you may prefer.

 

[Swann]

Ganache is only cream and chocolate (although small amounts of certain other ingredients can be added in to add flavor, sheen, etc.). It's VERY straightforward to make, pipes BEAUTIFULLY and is unbeatable in taste.

And it's very, very smooth!

When I make ganache for truffles I always add some butter with the flavoring and use a good bar chocolate of 60% to 70% chocolate liq. never used chocolate chips. When making it for cakes, I omit the butter but not the flavoring. It is a wonderful frosting and very easy.