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asked July 25th 2014

GIVING STRUCTURE TO MILK OR DARK CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM

Hi there,
Can I add milk or dark chocolate ganache to give chocolate buttercream more structure, in the same way that Paul added white chocolate ganache to plain buttercream in his tutorial?

Could I then use this to both fill and cover the cake before covering with chocolate sugarpaste?

Many thanks,

Deane-Mae

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Hi there,
Can I add milk or dark chocolate ganache to give chocolate buttercream more structure, in the same way that Paul added white chocolate ganache to plain buttercream in his tutorial?

Could I then use this to both fill and cover the cake before covering with chocolate sugarpaste?

Many thanks,

Deane-Mae

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Hello Deane-Mae

Yes you can do it in the same way. Dark chocolate is better because it has higher cocoa content than milk, however you can use milk too. The butter cream can be used in both applications, just let it crust over before applying the sugarpaste then store the cake in a cool environment. Meringue powder can also be used to give structure and stabilize butter cream. There’s a mountain of information online if you google
‘how to stabilize butter cream with meringue powder’. Hope it helps x

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Hello madeitwithlove,

Thank you, that’s a great help. I will be mixing it up tomorrow!
I didn’t know that meringue powder could also be used to give structure to buttercream
, so thank you for that gem of information too.
Kind regards,

Deane-Mae

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Could you help me out with this one, too, please?!

The other day I made some buttercream and white chocolate ganache. I added the ganache to the buttercream and instead of making it firmer, it actually turned out much softer.

I used it to both fill and cover a cake before covering with sugarpaste. The ganache buttercream (possibly not helped by this extreme heat) became even softer, verging on squelchy! It just oozed out when we tried to cut the cake!
I’m wondering if I used enough white chocolate in the ganache in the first place and probably I should have used a higher quality chocolate.

It was, thankfully just an experiment and I only made a small quantity I used.100g double cream and 225g white chocolate. Does that proportion sound correct?

I would really appreciate your comments on all this.

Many thanks, as always, for your help.

Deane-Mae

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White and milk ganache use 3:1 choco to cream ratio however when it’s very hot use 4:1 ratio.
When I make chocolate butter cream I add melted chocolate not ganache into the BC.
White and milk ganache doesn’t firm up like dark ganache. The ratio you used caused your buttercream to be so soft. The ganache was too soft and didn’t firm up enough to give the buttercream structure.
Try and aim for approximately 26% cocoa solids for white chocolate, 40% for milk. It’s fine to use bars of chocs for ganache although the better quality chocolate has a less cloying mouth feel. I use Callebut brand, equally I use the cheapest Lidle brand which costs 29 pence for 100g. I do flavour the cheaper one with a few drops of oil based flavouring or choice.
Have a look at the ganache chart here http://www.cakeflix.com/blog/how-to-ganache-cakes-without-gnashing-your-teeth
I’m making the horse head cake for an 18th birthday with milk ganache which I’m dreading. The cake has to be transported to Wales so I guess the AC will be on full blast all the way there! x

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Hi madeitwithlove,

Thank you so much for your speedy answer. Off I go to make the milk chocolate ganache. Wish me luck!

Good luck, with the horse head cake.
Would love to know how it goes/gallops!! It’s bound to be amazing.

Deane-Mae x

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Thanks for that! I can’t gallop off anywhere at the moment. I had a really bad fall and have broken tendons. Stuck in a wheel chair in this heat makes me sooo miserable, and it’s my b/day today too, boo hoo hoo!! no cake for me!! G’d luck ganaching. xx

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Oh no how awful, but I am going to wish you a Happy Birthday anyway and hope you’re on the mend very soon.

Oh no my ganache is a disaster! I used 400g Green & Blacks organic milk chocolate (37% cocoa solids) plus 200g Bournville chocolate (36% cocoa solids) and 200g Morrisons double cream.

It is not glossy and smooth; it has congealed and the fats from the cream or chocolate have separated leaving me with a gloopy mass. 🙁
I heated the cream on the hob until it boiled ( in Paul’s tutorial it looked like he’s heated the cream in the microwave until it was really boiling.)

Is it because I mixed milk and dark chocolate or is it because I boiled the cream too much.

Help! x

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Sounds like the mixture has split. I hope you haven’t thrown it away, there’s a fix here

Oily ganache!!!


I always wait a minute before adding the boiled cream to the chocolate. Let the hot cream gently melt the chocolate before mixing. Ganache needs gentle mixting, if the process is too vigorous the emulsion separates.
Try and mend the broken ganache with the tips in the link. If it’s set now gently warm it in the micro wave on low setting at 10 second intervals enough to loosen it and follow the advice given. Gently does it or else it might burn.
Thank you for your b’d wishes. I did have a lovely early present a couple of weeks ago at the Callebaut chocolate Academy on the science of chocolate.
Hope the ganache works out. x

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Thank you so much madeitwithlove.
I think I could do with learning more about the science of chocolate; it’s a temperamental substance!
Kind regards,
Deane-Mae x

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Hi madeitwithlove,

My customer wants milk chocolate ganache under chocolate sugarpaste. I experimented and it was ok, but because the ganache is softer, the sugarpaste covering seemed to become softer too.

If I make the ganache with mostly milk chocolate and some very dark chocolate, would this help to make it firmer and give a stronger finish under the sugarpaste, and so prevent that too from becoming too soft?
Help! Any advice will be much appreciated.

I hope your tendons have healed and you are up and about.

Would love to know how the horse head cake turned out. You said you’d be using milk chocolate ganache, so perhaps you have some tips an advice on how the ganache worked for that.

Many thanks, as always for your help.

Kind regards,

Deane-Mae

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Hello Deane-Mae

Yes adding dark chocolate will help the ganache set up better or perhaps use dark chocolate with less cocoa content. Let the ganache set hard in the fridge but when you bring it out for icing let the condensation on the chocolate disperse first. I think the icing is softening from the dew rather than the chocolate. Once iced keep the cake ventilated and the icing will dry. It’s always a bit on the soft side to begin with.
My friend deferred on the horse head cake until the end of September, some complications at their end. Lucky me! I’m in the middle of making hoards and hoards of blossoms, sequines, rhinestones and pearls for the wedding next weekend. Fortunately my tendons have healed sufficiently enough to be able to walk around shops etc. We’re having a nice long break afterwards. Hope you’re well. x

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Thank you madeitwithlove.

Oh something else I did and I wonder if that contributed to the sugarpaste going soft….when I took the cake out of the fridge to cover, the ganache was firm, so I dampened it to help the sugarpaste to adhere, but I thought that’s what I’d seen Paul do??

If I just let the condensation disperse and then covered it, would the sugarpaste stick as the ganache softened or would I risk it not sticking and detaching when the cake is cut? Dilemma!!

Wow, good luck with all those decorations; sounds fab. Look forward to hearing about the horse head cake in due course!

I’m, well thank you and can’t wait to attend Paul’s course..excited!!

Kind regards,

Deane-Mae

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Depends how much you’ve dampened the ganache, water does eat away at the icing making it soft and sticky until it finally dissolves. What I do is brush a little vodka over the cake, you only need a little to make the surface tacky. Vodka has the advantage of evaporating quickly and the icing dries off pretty quickly too. I’ve also gone over the ganache with a hot scraper to make the chocolate tacky.
Gosh Deane-May, I’m soooo jealous you’re doing a course with Paul!! I have to dream about that —- No chance for me! ENJOY xx

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HI madeitwithlove,

Vodka it is… I shall try to use it only to moisten the cake… not my throat..ha ha!!

Kind regards and many thanks for all that help.

Deane-Mae

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