Ganache Filling For Cake Food

CHOCOLATE GANACHE CAKE

Steps:

• Make cake layers:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 3 (7- or 8-inch, 2-inch-deep) round cake pans and line bottoms with rounds of wax or parchment paper. Butter paper and dust pans with flour, knocking out excess.
• Whisk together water, cocoa, and espresso powder until smooth, then whisk in milk and vanilla.
• Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.
• Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until fluffy, then add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and cocoa mixture in batches, beginning and ending with flour and mixing at low speed until just combined.
• Divide batter among pans (about 2 1/3 cups per pan), smoothing tops. Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes for 7-inch pans or 20 to 25 minutes for 8-inch. Cool in pans on a rack 30 minutes, then invert onto racks, remove paper, and cool completely.
• Make ganache while cakes bake:
• Bring cream to a simmer in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan and remove from heat. Whisk in chocolate until smooth. Transfer ganache to a bowl and chill, covered, stirring occasionally, until thickened but spreadable, about 4 hours. (If ganache becomes too thick, let stand at room temperature until slightly softened.)
• Assemble cake:
• Arrange 1 layer on a cake stand or plate and spread 2/3 cup ganache evenly over it. Top with another cake layer and 2/3 cup ganache, spreading evenly, then third cake layer. (Chill ganache if necessary to keep at a spreadable consistency.) Chill cake until ganache filling is firm, about 1 hour. Keep remaining ganache at a spreadable consistency, chilling when necessary.
• Spread a thin layer of ganache over top and sides of cake to seal in crumbs, then chill 30 minutes. Spread remaining ganache evenly over top and sides of cake.

GANACHE FILLING (FOR CAKE)

Steps:

• Heat the heavy cream in a 2-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan until bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan. Make sure you chopped the chocolate as finely as possible to allow it to melt quickly and easily. Place the chopped chocolate in a medium-size mixing bowl. Make a ganache by pouring about half of the hot cream over the chocolate and letting it sit for 30 seconds to melt the chocolate. Then, slowly whisk until smooth and homogenous. Do not add all of the hot cream to the cold chocolate at once. The shock of the temperature extremes will cause the fat in the chocolate to separate. As the chocolate melts, you will see some elasticity if there is no fat separation. This means the chocolate still has an emulsion; the fat molecules are still holding together. If the ganache separates, it loses its elasticity, collapses, and becomes very liquid. I use a hand-held immersion blender to ensure a smooth ganache and to keep the emulsion of the chocolate. Add the remaining cream gradually and mix until all of the hot cream is incorporated and the ganache is smooth and homogenous.
• If the ganache separates, it is very easy to fix. Simply add a small amount of cold cream and whisk well. This will bring the ganache back together. The ganache should be thick, shiny, and smooth. Add the desired flavoring and mix until fully incorporated. Pour the ganache onto a plastic wrap-covered baking sheet and spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Cover the ganache with plastic wrap and allow it to cool for at least 4 hours at room temperature. I usually make the ganache at the end of the day and let it cool overnight. As it cools, it will thicken and set.
• When the ganache has cooled to the consistency of toothpaste, use an offset spatula to cover the cake layer with the ganache.

GANACHE, SOFT FILLING FOR CHOCOLATES ETC...

Steps:

• To make chocolate cases: melt 200g ( 7 oz) chocolate over a pan of warm water, do not overheat, when three quarters of it is melted, remove from heat and stir vigorously, this should distribute the heat and melt the remaining chocolate without it getting too hot and going "grainy".
• Take a small teaspoon of melted chocolate and " paint" the inside of your mini muffin paper or the insides of your silicone ice block forms. If coverage is a bit skimpy don't panic. these set in the fridge in minutes and a second coat is easier and works better than trying to get one very thick coat. Put them in the fridge to harden. Reserve enough of your chocolate to cover the bottom of your forms once they have been filled with the ganache filling.
• Put butter and cream in a saucepan and bring to boil, stirring all the time.
• Remove from heat and add chocolate and liqueur.
• Stir well until smooth (heat of mixture will melt chocolate) leave to cool a little, then let cool.
• Use as soft filling for chocolates and tartes.
• This does thicken up over time, and good chocolate is never refrigerated, just kept in a cool dry place. If these are refrigerated the filling gets very firm over time.
• By now your ganache filling mixture should be cool enough to put into the chocolate cases, using a piping bag or a teaspoon, fill them with the ganache, (but not quite to the very top of the chocolate case) Then put them back into the fridge for a while, and once set a little solid, put a "top" of melted chocolate on them to seal them closed and refrigerate until the top too is solid. I like to keep these in the fridge for a least a few hours or somewhere nice and cool overnight before I try and get them out of the forms.
• If using mini muffin papers, peel away the papers from the chocolates (this can be fiddly, don't press too hard as you peel them or your chocolate will break), If using the silicone ice cube forms, GENTLY easy the chocolates out of the forms, they will just pop out -- plate up and amaze your guests with these divine triumphs !

CHOCOLATE GANACHE FOR TRUFFLES AND CAKE ICING

Steps:

• Place the chocolate in a large bowl.
• Put cream and cinnamon stick (if using) in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to the boiling point. Add the butter and stir. Pour the cream mixture through a fine mesh sieve over the chocolate. Rotate the bowl a bit so all the chocolate is covered in cream. Let stand for two minutes. With a rubber or silicone spatula gently stir the mixture working all the cream into the chocolate until all the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth and creamy. If using chocolate chips break up any little lumps with the back of the spatula. Add vanilla, coffee and grey salt if using and stir.
• If using as cake filling and icing: Cool the ganache to room temperature. If desired, you can take out about one cup of ganache and refrigerate it to decorate the cake with a pastry bag after it's been filled and frosted. Use about half the mixture to fill your cake. To frost the cake use a lazy susan if you have one. Put four strips of parchment or wax paper under the cake all around. This is so that any extra ganache will fall on the paper and you can gently pull them out. Use the rest of the ganache to frost the cake. Use a flat metal spatula to smooth the ganache around the top and sides of the cake.
• If using for truffles: Chill ganache for at least two hours. To make this as mess free as possible use food grade vinyl or silicone gloves and a cookie scoop. Scoop out the ganache, roll in your choice of toppings to coat evenly and set aside. Truffles can be stored in the refrigerator but should be served at room temperature.
• Suggested toppings for truffles: Cocoa powder (preferably Dutch process), finely chopped nuts, finely crushed toffee bits, finely crushed peppermint candy, cookie crumbs.
• Truffles can also be coated in dark, milk or white chocolate but that's another recipe.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

Steps:

• Place the chocolate into a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, watching very carefully because if it boils for a few seconds, it will boil out of the pot. When the cream has come to a boil, pour over the chopped chocolate, and whisk until smooth. Stir in the rum if desired.
• Allow the ganache to cool slightly before pouring over a cake. Start at the center of the cake and work outward. For a fluffy frosting or chocolate filling, allow it to cool until thick, then whip with a whisk until light and fluffy.

WHIPPED CHOCOLATE GANACHE FILLING (OR FROSTING)

Steps:

• Place chopped chocolate in a medium-sized bowl.
• Heat heavy cream and sugar (if using) in a large heavy saucepan over med-hi heat until it simmers gently.
• Immediately pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir gently until the chocolate is mostly melted.
• Let stand for 15mins to be sure all chocolate is melted.
• Stir ganache gently until perfectly smooth, let cool.
• Cover and chill for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight (it must be very cold or it will curdle when it's whipped; ganache can be made up to 4 days ahead).
• When you're ready to assemble the cake (and NOT before), whip ganache until it's stiff enough to hold a nice shape and seems spreadable (Don't overwhip; overwhipped ganache looks granular, so watch carefully).
• Spread whipped ganache immediately, as it will firm as it sits.
• NOTE: if using 50-60% bittersweet chocolate, use 8 oz of chocolate and omit the sugar; if using 60-64% chocolate, use 7 oz of chocolate and omit sugar; if using 66-72% chocolate, use 6 oz and add the optional sugar to give the ganache a bit of'lift'.
• If you're just using this as a filling, halve the recipe.
• If you're glazing the cake with a chocolate glaze, chill the filled cake for at least 1 hour (up to 2 days) before glazing.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

Steps:

• Put the chocolate in a large mixing bowl. Pour the cream into a saucepan with the sugar and bring to a simmer, stirring continuously until the sugar is melted. Bring to the boil, then quickly remove from the heat, pour over the chocolate and whisk until smooth and glossy. Use straight away or leave to cool down a little until thick enough to spread on a cake. Alternatively, leave to cool completely, then beat with an electric whisk until light and fluffy and spread on a cake.