Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi
I suspect this question has been asked before but I’m fairly new to cake decorating and have only just found this amazing website – Thank You!!!
I’ve not used ganache before and plan on trying it this weekend, as the finish looks beautiful on your tutorials.
I’ve noticed that Paul doesn’t cut the outer sides off the cake off before crumb coating as I’ve been previously taught – is there any benefit if the bake is good?
Thank you.

Hi Jacqui

Welcome to this wonderful site, as you’ve said, it’s amazing! It’s a fantastic place of learning, there is so much to enjoy.
Surprisingly your question has never been asked before so this is a first!!
You’ll notice that Paul mainly works with chocolate cake which is very moist so he doesn’t trim off the outter crust.
Not all cakes need trimming. Some light coloured cakes can produce a very dark, dry crust which can be trimmed off to make the layers look more attractive when they are cut through. It isn’t always necessary to trim the sides and not everyone does it. Chocolate cakes sometimes produce a sugary crust which is best trimmed off to allow ganache or buttercream to go on smoothly.
Have fun ganaching. There’s a quantities chart for different sized cakes here:
http://www.cakeflix.com/blog/how-to-ganache-cakes-without-gnashing-your-teeth
and some information on extending ganche shelf life here:
http://www.cakeflix.com/blog/the-shelf-life-of-ganache-by-madeitwithlove
If you have problems with ganache splitting you’ll find a fix here:

Oily ganache!!!

For more problem solving for ganache, type in the search box ‘split ganache’, this will bring up all different related questions and solutions.

Hope some of this information comes in handy when you begin using ganache. Enjoy the tutorials.

Thank you so much for your speedy reply and useful links.
I’m looking forward to trying white chocolate ganache.
Feeling nervous! Fingers crossed!

Hi again.
A question about the ganache. I see that In the videos Paul uses Belcolade chocolate for milk and dark, but as he explains, a quality chocolate for white. Is Belcolade’s white chocolate not good enough quality?
Thanks.

Becolade chocolate is an excellent professional brand used by chocolatiers. Paul is just saying any good white chocolate will work just as well. You can use any chocolate which you enjoy eating, something like Linzt which can be bought in supermarkets, it’s not cheap! If you’re just practicing making ganache, you won’t go far wrong using Lidle supermarket 39p a bar chocolate. White chocolate really isn’t chocolate at all, it mainly comprises of sugar, milk solids, dried cream, lactose, emulsifers, cocoa butter, other fats waxes and preservatives. As a legal requirement, it should contain a minimum of 20% cocoa solids. To check the content look at the ingredients on the packaging. Lidle brand contains 28% cocoa solids.
This Wiki article explains better:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_chocolate
This applies to makers of chocolate and not really to bakers making ganache! However, a good chocolate which contain more cocoa butter rather than fats oils and waxes gives a more pleasurable mouth feel.

White chocolate is temperamental and can burn very easily, take care when heating it. White ganache takes longer to set up, make it up the day before you need it, seal the surface with cling film to prevent a crust forming and also to protect it from dust and other air born things. It doesn’t need refrigerating but you can, it all helps with extending the shelf life. Bring it to working consistency by heating in the microwave on med heat at 15- 20 seconds intervals stirring each time to distribute the heat and prevent burning. Use Paul’s tutorial for making in the microwave.
You have the ‘fix it link’ in case you do end up with an oily mess. To prevent ganache becoming oily, at the very start, allow the hot cream to naturally melt the chocolate through for a minute and then gently stir from the centre out, take your time. If you a have a few lumps left, very gently heat the ganache on low heat, about 5 second intervals, stir gently, always gently until all the chocolate has melted and combined with the cream into a glossy ganache. Don’t be nervous, have a go with a less expensive chocolate until you get your confidence. Good luck, feed back would be great.