Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

I am very new to ganache.. 1) Can anyone advise me on how to attach gum paste flowers on to the sides of ganache- covered cakes? My worry is that the flowers might fall off the cake, as we know chocolate melts in a warm room. 2) I also want to fill the cake with ganache. Will the ganache filling gets hard ? Could someone advice me on alternative yummy, chocolate fillings. Thank you

Hi roseawan

Ganache can be used as glue for sticking the flowers to the cake. Chocolate will only become runny in intense heat and not that of normal room temperature. To stick the flowers, pipe a generous amount of ganache on the cake where each flower is to be placed. Place the flower on, hold it for a few seconds until secure. Remove any excess ganache with a warm palette knife. The ganache will set and hold the flowers securely.
For an alternative ganache filling use 1:1 ratio chocolate to cream and add 40 or 50g of soft butter along with the hot cream and combine until smooth. At this stage a table spoon of your favouite liqueur can also be added and combined. At first the ganache will appear split but it isn’t, just keep stiring gently and it will come together. Once smooth place cling film on the surface of the ganache expelling any trapped air and let it thicken. There is no need to refrigerate unless you are in a location of intense heat. When required, remove the cling film, give the ganache a gentle mix and use as filling for cake.
If you need help with ganache quantities you’ll find the ganache chart here:
http://www.cakeflix.com/blog/how-to-ganache-cakes-without-gnashing-your-teeth
Reduce the amounts by 25% if using for crumb coat only and use the remainder to make 1:1 ratio amount for the filling.
To learn a little more about the shelf life of ganache take a peek here:
http://www.cakeflix.com/blog/the-shelf-life-of-ganache-by-madeitwithlove
To rescue split ganache, find a fix here http://www.cakeflix.com/questions/oily-ganache
Finally, there are hundreds of related Q & A’s about ganache, to see them type ‘ganache’ in the search box.
All the comments will become relevant at some point and be helpful particularly if you are just starting out with ganache.

Madeitwithlove,

Thank you so much for your detailed explanation. I’ll be making my first ganache covered cake for Valentine’s day with confidence.

If you don’t have any experience making ganache I would suggest making a small amount of both as practice before the big day. Ganache can be made with any type of chocolate so you don’t have to spend a fortune for a practice batch. Are you making just the one cake or is it a tier? I ask only because there is also a pour on ganache which sets with a high gloss and looks absolutely fabulous.

Just the one cake for now. But I love fairly tall cakes say 6 or 7 inches in height. I guess it would look very dramatic with pour on ganache. Have you got a recipe for pour on ganache? Again, thank you for your help.

Sorry, too many questions from me re ganache.

Regards to pour on ganache, once poured, will all the nooks and crannies on the cake show? Or do i have to perfect the cake first before pouring? And do I use the same technique of sticking the gum paste flowers, as on normal ganache. Thanks again.

Hi roseawan

Yes, you would need to perfect the cake first before using pour on ganache. In my cake here
http://www.cakeflix.com/blog/how-to-ganache-cakes-without-gnashing-your-teeth
I covered the cake with a thin layer of marzipan. Some people cover with a thin layer or sugarpaste but the best method is to ganache the cake. This maintains a smooth, flawless surface, particularly if the cake is not being covered up with panel decoration. Chill the cake, place it on a cooling rack over a shallow tray which will capture excess ganache. Pour liquid ganache over cake encouraging it to down the sides for an even coverage. Don’t touch the ganache too much if spreading because it will lose the high gloss. There is a technique to it, you have to work fairly fast with the pouring to prevent the ganache setting too quickly over the chilled cake. I have a heat gun which I use on the cake to help keep the ganache moving. However it has to be used with care at a distance so as not to burn the ganache. A hair drier on low setting will work just as well!
I can give you the recipe I used at my chocolate workshop. It only covers an 8″ x 3″ cake so you’d need to make more for your 6 – 7″ tall cake.
Here’s the recipe:
125g whipping cream 35% fat
30g liquid glucose
175g dark chocolate preferably 50 -55%
This will give you 330g of ganache

Milk or white chocolate quantites would need to be increased because these do not set as quickly as dark.
Pour the glucose in with the cream and bring to the boil. Wait a second to allow bubbles to settle then pour over the chocolate. Allow the warmth of the cream to penetrate the chocolate then stir together to make a runny smooth emulsion. Pour this runny mixture over prepared cake, help it along by agitating the rack.
Some recipes use a table spoon of soft butter which leaves the set ganache quite soft. I use it quite a lot for our own desserts. There are hundreds of other recipes online. See them by googling ‘pouring ganache with glucose’. I strongly recommend a trial pouring session!
Sticking the flowers depends on how big they are. Fairly small to medium flowers can be stuck as described above. If the flowers are heavy use a posy pick and insert into the cake.
I use a cooling spray, it sets decorations immediately but again it needs a little practice, not something to use first time on a special cake. Here’s the spray for future reference, lots of other makes on the market:
http://www.souschef.co.uk/deco-gl-cooling-spray.html

Hope the information helps, but please only make a trial first, I wouldn’t want you to waste ingredients on THE cake if things go wrong!