Heeellllp !

I made ganache with milk instead of dark chocolate for a kid's birthday cake. I heated the cream until it was steaming (not boiling) and poured over chocolate... it looked fine when I mixed it. Left it and it separated and became grainy and oily. So I added tiny drops of cream and mixed again and it came back together. Left it and when I came back...separated again.

So I put half in a bowl and set it on ice, half on heat, mixed them together slowly. It came back together.

Fingers crossed it will stay together this time, but if not, what did I do wrong, and can I fix it so it stays put? When it's cooling, should it be in the fridge? Actually when it was room temp the first time I put it in the fridge for a few mins. I wonder if that's why it separated? Is this just something that happens with milk choc? Because I never had a problem with dark before...

Thanks!

AAdd more chocolate.

I've done milk chocolate ganache before.   I used on bag of milk chocolate chips to 1 c. heavy whipping cream with no problems.

It split again.... should I add more melted chocolate?

It's already a 3:1 ratio of choc to cream...

AAre you sure no water droplets fell into the ganache?

wouldn't that make the chocolate seize? because I don't think that happened, if I know what seizing is... what would seized chocolate look like? Oh god, this is a disaster... I have to ganache the cake in an hour....

I just added some defrosted good ganche to it and mixed and am hoping that might work?

ANo the same thing can happen, it would either be the water or the cream being too hot when you poured it over the chocolate. I really hope you can sort it out good luck!!

I think I have to start over. It's entirely possible that water got into it when I was doing the cold/hot thing... I saw a splash but I wasn't sure if it went into the pot. Oh no.... how long am I gonna have to wait after I make it before I can put it on the cake?

AWait until it sets up but its best to wait 24 hrs i think :-)

Thanks everybody, really appreciate the help. I was having a meltdown here :)

I made a new batch with a 2.5:1 ratio this time. I used chocolate from the fridge, which is what I usually do with dark choc ganache (this afternoon I used room temp choc). Am waiting to see what happens. I guess I can cover the cake in the morning, but it means I have to ganache AND decorate it tomorrow, and I was hoping to avoid that.

On the plus side, I have a massive bowl of ganache that didn't rescue well enough to use on the cake, but tasted delicious and isn't separated any more (though it's not the right consistency to cover the cake). I fed some to my children with ice-cream, delicious. Think I'll freeze it and use for ice-cream :)

xxx

AWell thats the good thing about broken ganache- you get to eat it!!!