I have a large 12 x 18” double layer cake to do in March and for the filling I wanted to use the white chocolate ganache so I made a double batch tonight.

It was an absolute complete failure!!!    I don’t know if I can save this curdled disaster.  And oh, all that wasted green and blacks white chocolate.  The tears are going to come very soon.

For a double batch I weighed out 16oz of heavy whipping cream ( not ultra pasturized ) I refridgerated the bowl and whisk for at least 30 minutes.  I melted 6 oz of white chocolate with 1/2 cup of the cream over very low heat.  It melted fine and and I let it cool to room temperature.  I beat the rest of the whipping cream just until traces of the whisk marks began to show and then I added the melted white chocolate.  As I brought up the speed it just curdled and curdled.  I didn’t beat it any longer than that.  It is in the fridge right now waiting to see if it can be saved.  I don’t know what I did wrong.  Could the white chocolate have been too warm?  It didn’t feel warm to the touch when I added it.

Liza, I’m so, so sorry that happened to you!  We’ve all been there, when projects didn’t turn out right.

I’m not sure if this will work, Rose recommends re-melting light whipped ganache, perhaps it will work with white ganache, too?  You could try melting all of it until smooth, then chilling until thickened- for light whipped ganache this is 65F, not sure about white ganache but I would guess it would be a lower temp since there is less chocolate in the mix.  You want the texture to be something like a soft custard.  Don’t stir too much while cooling.  Then re-whip by hand, being very careful to only go to soft peaks or a little past, so as not to overbeat.  If it were me, I would be willing to forego some volume for a reduced risk of curdling. 

I find pasteurized, 40% cream doesn’t like to be whipped at anything other than a very cold temp, and that even when cold it overbeats very, very quickly once at the soft peak stage.  I suspect your problem first time around was that the mixture got too warm and/or it was just overbeating. 

Good luck!  And let us know how it turns out.

Well, I remelted it and it is cooling in the fridge right now.  We’ll see how it turns out.  In the meantime I made a double batch of white chocolate mousseline buttercream.  I was so distraught over the ganache I used the whole amount of sugar to make the syrup and forgot to leave out 1/2 cup for the egg whites.  So on top of what I used for the syrup ( 2 cups ) I had to add another 1/2 cup to the egg whites.  But when all was said and done it turned out beautiful.  Although alittle too sweet with the extra sugar and the white chocolate.  So tomorrow night…..I guess I will make a single batch of plain mousseline buttercream and add it to the double batch I made tonight to kind of lessen the sweetness of it.  Or maybe add lemon curd to the new mousseline and then add that to my double batch to cut the sweetness and to add a hint of lemon.  I don’t know, I’m too tired to think logically at 11:00pm at night.  That’s it…no more baking tonight.  I have had enough and I am going to bed!    Tomorrow will be a better day. ( Hopefully ).

Liza, you’ve got great persistance!  Brava!

I’m sure you would think of this, but I’ll put in a reminder just in case- if you decide to go with the lemon curd (yum!), you can reduce the sugar in the curd to balance the sweet bc (see instructions for lemon illusion).

Update…White chocolate ganache…in garbage can…Curdled again…hopeless….don’t think I will make that again.  Chalk it up as a learning experience.  I am going to do what you suggested and make the lemon curd with less sugar.  Can I add it to the double recipe of white chocolate buttercream I already made? I just don’t want to compromise the consistency.  Or would it be better to make another single batch of mousseline with the lemon curd and then add that to the double batch.  (confused yet?).

any time I’ve made white chocolate ganache, I’ve used half as much cream as chocolate.  I don’t have any of the books here at home to see what RHC or TCB says, but if I were using a pound of white chocolate, I’d be using 8 oz of cream…..

If you were making whipped cream and wanted to stabilize it, you could add a small amount of melted white chocolate and the method you used is perfect for that….

I was following Rose’s recipe for white ganache.  Her recipe calls for 3oz of white chocolate and 8oz of heavy cream.  I used pasturized (not ultra pasturized) 35% fat cream.  Which I found quite sweet.

Liza - 22 February 2010 05:34 PM

Update…White chocolate ganache…in garbage can…Curdled again…hopeless….don’t think I will make that again.  Chalk it up as a learning experience. 

I’m so, so sorry that didn’t work.  I feel your pain.

I am going to do what you suggested and make the lemon curd with less sugar.  Can I add it to the double recipe of white chocolate buttercream I already made? I just don’t want to compromise the consistency.  Or would it be better to make another single batch of mousseline with the lemon curd and then add that to the double batch.  (confused yet?).

Liza, I don’t know the answer, but I can think of several things you could try.  With both of these suggestions, perhaps try a small amount before doing the whole batch.  You could just add lemon juice and lemon zest or oil to the white chocolate mousseline to balance the sweetness.  Or, you could make the curd, cool it, then try adding a little to a little bit of your white choc mousseline and check the consistency/texture/flavor. 

Once I made mousseline with lemon juice and zest instead of lemon curd, but it wasn’t nearly as good as the curd version, nor was it as good as lemon neo-classic.  So based on that, I would probably try the curd, though the white chocolate may add enough richness to make the juice/zest work.  Again, test a small amount to see how you like it.

Good luck and keep us posted!

I just made some white chocolate whipped cream (or ganache?) and I know it’s a finnicky recipe as even slight overbeating will cause graininess.  I took it to the edge (was fine when whipped) but when I applied it to the cake, it started to curdle slightly.  Now I noted in my book—leave it a bit loose before application.  Anyway, I had a little bit left and decided to experiment since I’ve had issues with the recipe before.  I pulled out the immersion blender and blended in some extra cream—it didn’t really get rid of the graininess.  So I took it all the way to the butter stage—full blown curdling and buttermilk.  I microwaved on low power for 2 mins and then added a little extra cream and immersion blended it.  It turned into a silk - butter.  It’s lacking a little sweetness due to the reduced white chocolate ratio, but I think it could be useful for something.  Perhaps more white chocolate? A little sugar?  Add to a buttercream?  A sweet butter for a muffin?  Kind of reminds me of the white chocolate custard frosting from RHC .. in terms of it’s silkiness…

My point is that if it curdles, it may be salvageable for something.  I know Liza’s feeling all too well when something doesn’t go right and the horrible sense of wasting ingredients (let alone the time and mess!!).  So…if this happens, you may find another alternate use and it won’t be so painful to have a ruined recipe.  BTW…when it works out…this is fabulous on the chocolate angel cake.  One of my favourite combos!!

Great to know!

Also, for simple overbeating of whipped ganaches, Rose recommends re-melting, re-chilling, and re-whipping.