Zoe Clark’s luxuriously rich, silky smooth ganache gives your cake a firm surface to ice and embellish.
Excerpted from Elegant Lace Cakes: 30 Delicate Cake Decorating Designs for Contemporary Lace Cakes by Zoe Clark. Copyright © David & Charles, an imprint of F+W. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved. Photos courtesy of Mark Scott.
GANACHE
This luxuriously rich, silky smooth filling is made from chocolate and cream. Ganache sets firmer than buttercream at room temperature, so it gives the cake a firm surface to ice on, resulting in sharper, cleaner edges and angles. Always use good quality chocolate with at least a 53 per cent cocoa solids content.
Makes about 500g (1lb 2oz); enough for an 18–20cm (7–8in) round or square layered cake, or 20–24 cupcakes.
MATERIALS
300g (10½oz) plain (semisweet or bittersweet) chocolate, chopped, or callets
200g (7oz) double (heavy) cream
EQUIPMENT
Saucepan
Mixing bowl
Spatula
- Place the chocolate in a bowl.
- Bring the cream to the boil in a saucepan, then pour it over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has completely melted and is perfectly combined with the cream.
- Leave to cool and then cover and store in the fridge. It will keep refrigerated for up to one week.
Tip
Ensure that your ganache or buttercream is at room temperature before you use it – you may even need to warm it slightly before spreading.
White Chocolate Ganache
White chocolate ganache is a sumptuous filling for heavy sponge cakes (those that have been made with extra fl our) and makes an ideal alternative to buttercream. Simply follow the ganache recipe (see Ganache) but use 150g (5½oz) cream to 350g (12oz) white chocolate. If you are making a small batch, melt the white chocolate before mixing it with the hot cream.
