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I have covered a cake with dark chocolate ganache ( the ganache split when I made it so I used milk to recover it – this may or may not make a difference to the question!), then covered the cake with fondant. When cutting the cake approx 24 hours later, the underneath of the fondant (where it touches the ganache) had gone all slimy and gooey and wet. It didn’t look very nice and certainly not very professional! I didn’t chill the cake before I covered it with fondant. What did I do wrong? Thanks in advance.

Hi AnnaFrancesca

The slimey, gooey substance is the oils and water which are released when the ganache split. Split ganache is a broken emulsion, all the components like oils in the chocolate and water in the cream separate. Chilling the cake before covering with fondant would have temporarily solidified it but once it came back to room temperature the ganache would have become a gooey mess again. You’ve had a bit of bad luck this time however it’s something to learn from. Split ganache can be fixed, for future reference take a peek here: http://www.cakeflix.com/questions/oily-ganache
It’s happened to me with white ganache, horrible!! so I know how you feel! don’t let it defeat you.

Hope this helps and good luck with your next batch. x

That’s really helpful, thanks so much. I will definitely be trying ganache again, I’m determined to get it right! X

Ganache is one of the most discussed topics on this site. If you type keywords in the search box like ‘ganache flavour’ ‘freezing ganache’ or ‘ganache’ you’ll see most frequently asked questions.
I have a quantities chart and blog which you might find useful here:
http://www.cakeflix.com/blog/how-to-ganache-cakes-without-gnashing-your-teeth
Also a blog on understanding a little about the shelf life of ganache and how to extend it a little more here:
http://www.cakeflix.com/blog/the-shelf-life-of-ganache-by-madeitwithlove

Hope they helps. x