ganache too loose for truffles

[bluereef]

Hello,

I made a ganache with approx equal parts cream to bittersweet chocolate. Then I let it cool in the fridge, but when I try to make truffles, they are too soft and after letting them sit at room temp for an hour, they are already melting.

Is there any way to fix this? I used expensive chocolate (Valrhona), and I'd hate to get rid of it and start over. I need these truffles for a party.

Thanks!

Wendy

(p.s. If you want more details on the actual process I used to make the ganache, let me know.)

[piper]

Equal amounts by weight of chocolate and cream should yield a workable ganache for rolling truffles. Fat content of the chocolate and the cream will have an effect. To fix...very gently melt the ganache to 140 F add 20% of the original weight of chocolate chopped fine and stir slowly to avoid air bubbles.

[kuan]

Just remelt it and add more chocolate.

Either that or warm it up, whip the same amount again of heavy cream, fold fold fold, and get chocolate mousse.

[scott123]

Was it heavy cream?

If you heat it just until melted and then rechill it, you might get a solid end product. I'm not sure why it varies- it might be a result of a different cocoa butter crystal forming.

[bluereef]

Actually, I had problems from the get go:

1. The heavy cream bubbled/boiled over and so some volume was lost to the stove top. I added it anyway to the chopped chocolate. The chilled result was a rather stiff product that was too difficult to work, so I decided to add in some more cream to replace what was initially lost.

2. I chopped up the chilled chocolate. Then warmed up some more cream on the stove--but didn't bring it to boil. After adding it to the chocolate, the thoroughly combined and chilled mixture resulted in the too soft ganache I first mentioned.

3. So, I added in more chocolate as recommended by Kuan and piper, but didn't test for temperature. I'm fairly sure that I didn't heat it to 140. Perhaps that's where the problem is, because even with the added chocolate, it's still to soft.

I'm considering using it for fondue at this point....unless I can get a practical fix.

Wendy

[lyneotto]

I just, 15 minutes ago, returned from a "Chocolate Class". We tasted many chocolates, then were given a Chocolate Ganache, proscuitto, open face sandwich. It was awful.
Totally bitter, and obscene. Not good !
Reality check,
L

[momoreg]

Different chocolates have different viscosities, which is why the 1:1 rule doesn't always work. Depending on how loose your ganache is, you need to add a certain % of melted choc back into your melted ganache. Blend in VERY well and strain. Chill well before using.

[AprilB]

It only takes THE second that you have your back turned.

When this happened I personally would still add the required chocolate for the recipe.

In ganache or truffles the more chocolate you add (also in mousse) the more firm the result. You can always add more or less depending on what result you intend.

The recipe you stated is what I've used for ganache, not truffles. With truffles I'd add another 3 pounds (1 cream + 1 chocolate + 1/2 butter) of butter plus whatever essence I intend to add. (for the amounts of ingredients you mentioned).

The process of boiling is mostly air bubbles in the liquid so you can easily add too much additional liquid because you can't determine how much 'left the building'.

I would suggest that you melt down more chocolate and add to your softened chocolate mix. I'd probably start with a pound and see what result I get. Don't beat it unless you want a whipped ganache and want to make a bunch of chocolate cakes. (LOL) Nice thing about ganache too is you can re-work it several times and it doesn't care.

April
-A watched pot never boils - and an unwatched pot always boils over.

[ChefTorrie]

This had nothing inparticular to do with this project... But a good idea is to use a very little bit of oil when melting your chocolate... Not much, just a touch.