Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

I just can t understand why the ratios for chocolate to double cream you have used in the tutorial is different from the ratios in the chart in the blog. So if you are using 1.818 Kg milk choc to 1.127 milk chocolate as it approx. says in the tutorial, it is really not at all close to 3:1 ratio. Can you please explain a bit?
Thank you so much

Hi mahvash_emami

There is no right or wrong way to make ganache.
Paul’s amounts are guides and so are the amounts in my chart. Standard amounts for dark chocolate is usually 2:1 ratio as this has been found to set very well for the purposes of cake decorating. White and milk chocolate contain less cocoa solids and better setting results are obtained by increasing the amount of chocolate to cream. The chart is there as a reference point only. You can make your own adjustments by playing around with the ratios for something which works best for you. It is possible that Paul uses different ratios at different times to compensate for environmental conditions. If the weather is hot and humid it would be necessary to increase the chocolate amount slightly or reduce it if the weather is particularly cold. I do the same all the time.
For personal preference I make a 1:1 ratio for filling. It makes a soft ganache which doesn’t set hard but I use 2:1 ratio for covering with dark chocolate and 3.1 for white and milk. You can do this if you would like and add more chocolate to any left over to make it stronger for covering. The best way to find what works for you is to experiment with ratios and quantities. Let us know how you get on, as one recipe does not necessarily please all of the people.

Great. Thanks so much for this. I ll do the same then, a softer one for the filling and a 2:1 for the covering it. I have to make a tier egg free cake this weekend. I am a bit worried about how change of temperatures would effect the fondant. So I plan to do the fondant half hour after the final ganache is finished. Then I would decorate straight away and pit it in a box outside (haven t got much room in the house to store all the cake). It is nearly freezing temp outside though! Would it be OK if I keep it in the box outside? Also, with the cake being egg free and has got quite a lot of rising agent in it, do you think it s necessary to just layer it and keep it overnight in the fridge so it settles before ganaching the top and icing with fondant?
I am just a bit worried about melting fondants as I read the comments, so I thought of fondanting it straight away! Please help.
Thanks so much. I feel a lot more confident having this help here…

Placing the cake in the fridge will help to firm it up before layering. You will get less crumbs. However, please cover it first in cling wrap to keep the cake moisture from drying out. Once the cake is layered and filled, it can be ganached. Place the cake in the cake box and let the ganache set. As your temperature is very cold, you can keep the cake outside to set the ganache ( will it be safe, no one will take it?). Once the ganache is set, the cake can be enrobed with the fondant. I don’t know how the decorated cake will be outside in the cold. There will be moisture just like there is in the fridge and I expect the box will also get wet. The best place for it will be in a room not too hot or too cold in your home. If you want to place it outside, wrap the box up in many layers of cling wrap, place it inside another box and seal all the seams with tape to reduce the amount of moisture getting on the cake. I don’t know what your weather conditions are so it is very difficult to advise you without reservation. To be very safe, it will definitely be best to keep your cake in the house. Let me know if you are ok with this. I would not like your cake to be spoiled that is why I have to be very careful with my answer. x

Thank you so much for this reply. I will get back to you if I get stock. So from what I get from reading your reply, if I seal the cake to avoid moisture, the cold temperature will probably be ok. I will try not to risk it and will try to make space inside, just to be sure… Thank you so so much