I just made a ganache recipe that I THOUGHT I had made before with great success. It is really soupy. I have been cooling it for nearly 45 minutes and it just isn't setting up. I just stuck in the fridge & hubby will be here in 30 minutes!! I am having a hectic day. My giant cookie is stuck in my cookie pan and my ganache isnt' being nice!! I finanlly listend to him that he likes my cakes but prefers cookies and now I am just as stress over a silly giant cookie as I was over my daughter's Valentine's cupcake cake, LOL!!

HELP, any ideas on how to thicken it up!!!

Here is it:

Ganache
Makes 1 1/2 cups

6 ounces (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup heavy cream

Place chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Set aside. Place heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer. Pour half of the heavy cream over chocolate chips, let sit for 1 minute. Whisk gently to smooth. Add remaining half of cream; whisk gently until just combined. Leave out at room temperature, stirring frequently until the consistency of toothpaste, about 1 hour.

that seems like a lot of cream for so little chocolate.. i use 1/3 cup to 11 oz of chocolate..

That's what I am thinking; I really don't think this will set up! So far it is the only recipe I can find on my computer. I know I made Ganache in Oct and it was a lot thicker.

I've had the same problem. Resolution - measure 1/4 cup powdered sugar, then sift. I beat in with a mixer on lowest speed. That should do the trick. P.sugar does not change the taste of the ganache!! If you need it thicker, put in fridge, or add more sugar. I wouldn't add more than 1/2 cup powdered sugar, as it will start to get very thick (like frosting) when chilled. Good luck.
pam

THANKS! I think I am going to have to do that. It's certainly no where near tooth paste consistency and I have had it in the fridge for 15 minutes now

you could try to add more chocolate chips... thats what i would try... of course you'd have to melt them...

here's my recipe
1 cup heavy whipping cream - bring to boil,
pour over 11 oz of bitter sweet chips,
add a splash of spiced rum
whip until smooth.. pour over cake.. or let sit in fridge the whip into a froth (sp) and use as a filling or pipe onto cake.

when i make ganache....i use 1 cup chocolate to 1/2 cup whipping cream...and i agree with adding more chocolate.....i think that will thicken it up.......good luck....Donna

Try my 'Chocolate Ganache 1' recipe. It makes 2 cups I think. HollyPJ has a photo of a cake she used it for.

If you use these proportions your semi sweet ganache pipes beautifully and has texture of truffles, but must refrigerate for at least 1 hour before piping

8 oz (240ml) cream
1 tbls butter (optional but makes it stay really shiny even after refrigerating)
1 oz sugar
12 oz (340 g)chocolate

Footnote
White chocolate use nearly double the chocolate to cream
240 ml cream
455 g white chocolate

Break chocolate into 1/2 oz pieces and place in stainless steel bowl
Heat cream, butter and sugar to boiling. Pour over chocolate and let stand 5 minutes. Stir from center out until smooth. After refrigerating 1 hour then fill your piping bag
Or use to ice your cake by pouring or spreading (allow to cool to room temp first)

Cheftaz, I just wanted to tell you that I used your ganache recipe this weekend and LOVE it! I threw all my other ganache recipes away. THANKS!!

I also would add more melted chocoalte to thicken it up. My ganache is 2 C chocolate to 1C cream.

Thanks ChrisJ. It's the one I ALWAYS use now too

You should not have to add sugar to ganache. I would use a different chocolate instead. It's probably caused from either using too dark of a chocolate or one that isn't a good chocolate and is bitter.

I ended up adding powdered sugar to my ganache. It thickened it up but then it was more of a milk chocolate color and tasted more like fudge, LOL!! I wish I would have melted more chocolate to add to my ganache but I was afraid I would run out of time if it needed to cool off before I could pipe it. Oh well, it was just for my hubby and us to eat. I will not use that recipe again. I used semi sweet chocolate chips but it was just Toll House Nestle brand so maybe I need to buy a higher grade of chocolate chips for next time.

Thanks again for all the advice!

I always use chocolate chips in mine. I think it was just the rattio of chocolate to cream. I add butter to mine too after the chocolate has been melted. Makes it nice n shiny and the butter will help it to set up also.
Well at least you can make truffles out of it (the powder sugar stuff) or use it as a glaze for your cake (the runny stuff)

My hubby had no problem eating the ganache with sugar added by the spoonful. It really was just like fudge to me when I got done with it, LOL!!

What brand chocolate chips do you use? This is the only recipe I had on my computer. I know I made ganache in OCT and it worked. I do remember thinking this time that when I added half the heavy whipping cream and let it sit that it was thin enough before I added the remaining heavy whipping cream. The only thing I can think of is I used different brand chocolate chips last time.

EDITED to delete double posting of picture.

It looks like it came out great! When I make ganache I use chocolate chips and it comes out fine. I buy the trader joes brand, but I don't think the brand would effect the consistency. I think your only problem was the ratio of chocolate to cream.

Thanks, it wasn't what I wanted to do with it but I had to work with the way the ganache came out, LOL!! So next time I will just use half the cream and see what I get. If it is still too runny, I know to add more chocolate if I don't want more of a fudge consistancy.

Actually, to tell the truth, I for the most part use the "shurfine" real semi-sweet chocolate chips in the big bag. (ouch, ouch, all the chocolate purists are hitting me on the head with rolled up newspapers) or I use the nestle's toll house choco chips. The only time that I had it turn out runny is when I used too much cream.

I used your recipe to make 4 Valentine's cakes for family Chefatz & my SIL who is a SERIOUS chocoholic said it was the best cake she's ever tasted & absolutely LOVED the ganache!!
So thanks VERY much for that recipe - it was a hit with all my family & so easy to make & work with. And I loved the taste of it using only baker's squares - maybe next time I'll splurge & go for a better quality chocolate & really knock their socks off!!

You're welcome. I have made a heck of a lot of ganache and after much experimenting this is the best 1 I came up with. Glad your SIL enjoyed it and Thank her for the compliment. I hope more people will try it because I am almost certain most will LOVE it