2015-10-15

Attention chocolate lovers! Looking for a new way to enjoy your chocolate desserts? Swap out frosting, icings or fillings for this amazing chocolate ganache from The Artisan Cake Company’s Visual Guide to Cake Decorating by Elizabeth Marek.

Ganache



Ganache is a mixture of chocolate, heavy cream, and a bit of butter. This versatile confection can be melted and poured over cakes or left to firm up to a buttercream-like consistency and used as an icing or filling. When used as an outer coating of frosting on a cake and left to cool in the fridge, it is a great replacement for traditional icing on sculpted cakes because it adds strength to structural elements. A little goes a long way, and it tastes divine with fresh fruits. The ratio I use for ganache is two parts chocolate chips to one part cream. I always use high-quality chocolate for my ganache.

Ingredients:

16 oz/454 g bittersweet or milk chocolate

2 tbsp unsalted butter

8 oz/227 g heavy cream

Dash of salt

Splash of rum (optional)

Baker’s secret

Experiment with infusing your ganache with flavors. When you are heating your cream, add in sprigs of mint, tea bags, lavender, or even spices. Strain the cream and make ganache as usual. Ganache works  wonderfully with all kinds of  flavor profiles, so be creative.



1. Measure out chocolate and butter. Set aside in a large bowl.



2. Heat cream, whisking constantly to prevent scorching. As soon as it begins to bubble, remove from the heat  and pour over chocolate and butter.

3. Whisk ganache starting from the center in small circles until it all comes together and is smooth and creamy. Stir in salt and rum. Ganache will be soft and liquidy at first. This is the stage when it is great for pouring over iced cakes as a shiny glaze or for dipping cupcakes. Allow the ganache to firm up naturally overnight. Before using, mix with a rubber spatula or in a mixer with a paddle attachment on low speed until creamy. At this stage it will be ready for frosting cakes or piping onto cupcakes.

Pro tip

Paul Joachim – www.thechocolategenius.com

When I make my ganache, I add a whole new dimension of flavor, depth, and excitement to it by adding more salt—but not just any salt. For me, Himalayan salt is the way to go. It’s got a strong, beautiful salt flavor, and at the same time, it is wonderfully smooth. I find it’s hard to oversalt ganache. I add the salt to the finished ganache and taste it as I add more and more. Once I get a noticeable bump in flavor I stop, and it’s always perfect.

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In Artisan Cake Company’s Visual Guide to Cake Decorating, Elizabeth Marek shows beginner-cake-decorators how to get started with stylish cake decorating techniques. Learn to add ruffles, stripes, and geometric patterns to your cakes. Figure out how to create the effect of cascading petals or metallic finishes. An easy, visual step-by-step format with hundreds of stunning photos, Marek will guide you through the tools, recipes and basics of decorating. Artisan Cake Company’s Visual Guide to Cake Decorating also features principles of simple cake design using buttercream frosting, fondant, gumpaste, and more. From party cakes and wedding cakes to more advanced 3D cakes, this book explores a full range of cake decorating for beginners to professional-level. Let Elizabeth Marek’s Artisan Cake Company’s Visual Guide to Cake Decorating help you get your cake from boring and bland to amazing and spectacular.

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