after making many cakes with ganache and having no problems, can someone tell me why my ganache went mouldy after my cake had been cut for two days, made it exactly the same way I always do by bringing cream just up to the boil then pouring it over the chocolate.

moldy? like green/blue fuzzy creepy stuff or did it grey or get cloudy and do what's called 'bloom' ?

bloom is just the cocoa butter clamming up and getting weird--no harm no foul--something to do with a bad temper on the choco--never knew ganache could do that but i guess so--and it's fine to eat--

moldy --the fuzzy kind-- that's something organic not to do with the ganache itself--had to be some other substance got on there --

which kind?

AGanache made properly doesn't "bloom". So it's mold. Mold requires mold spores from a source...check your place for potential sources first (fridge, counters, obvious stuff)...if nothing on your side, it could be them. Personally, I guarantee my product perfect the day of the event....leftovers, I have no care or concern for, as I can't control how a client stores an item. If they left a ganache filled cake on the counter at room temp, yes it will stale and mold quick. It should be refrigerated for storage. Not your issue, but I know it's an ego blow. I once had a client complain that the leftover cake tasted stale after 2 weeks....Seriously?!!

Take care, don't get bullied!

hi thanks for your reply, I haven't made it since  I have used other fillings. I will try again now, I think the cake was left out of the fridge and covered with plastic wrap. I have made ganache loads of times and have not had a problem, probably was not stored correctly. like to hear if others have had any problems.

AGrowing mold after two days of serving is scary, I mean I wonder if it started growing underneath before it was visible isn't that how mold works...

I have never had this issue, thankfully. How early did you make the cake? I'm not saying its your fault just curious about the facts. You certainly don't want that to happen again.

You can brush your ganache covered cake lightly with alcohol, after it's hardened, before you cover in fondant.

thanks for your response. I keep going over and over why this happened, I am meticulous with hygiene etc and wonder was it the cream? I spread the ganache between the layers of the chocolate cake and the mould was present in all layers. I really need to find out what the problem was as I make chocolates as well as cakes, so all responses will be welcomed.

ADid this happen in your home, or was it a cake you made for someone else? I am asking because I am wondering if you saw it yourself or if it was a customer complaint, and if it's possible that it is someone looking for a refund.

If the ganache was made within the week it shouldn't go mouldy right? So my question is, when did you make it? I recently came home from a trip overseas only to find that the ganache I had made and refrigerated before I left had gone mouldy (I was gone for 10 days). 

I am curious if you would both post your recipes/ratios.  Were you both using heavy cream, and what type of chocolate were you each using.

High sugar content is what keeps things from molding initially - wondering if you were both using dark chocolate with a lower sugar content, or using something with more water content than heavy cream.

LorAnn's does sell potassium sorbate to inhibit mold - you both may look into that, if you think it could happen again.

Looking forward to figuring out why this happened to you both.

Liz

Thanks Liz,

I use 1000gm of chocolate to 1kg of Cream, truth be told it's the first time it's happened, the ganache is usually used straight away. I also add some flavouring to it. 

Oh and forgot to add, it's 50% cocoa dark chocolate. I find anything higher than 50 to be too heavy although I make it for my husband in a pie shell and he loves it.

AAre you sure it as the ganache, and not the cake? Proper ganache simply shouldn't mold, maybe after weeks in an inappropriate storing place, but never after 2 days. I have kept it out for as long as 6 weeks at room temp for an experiment, no mold. (That was with a dark chocolate, which is what I always use) Either your method is wrong, (or you simply made a mistake this time), it was kept in a warm place with too much moisture, or it came in contact with mold spores. Even if your cream was on the brink of going bad, the scalding and sugar content should be enough to stop it from progressing.

I've only once had a ganache mold, and that was after y cat licked the top layer off. (that was at home, NOT in my kitchen, haha). I was in a huge hurry, and just set it on a shelf he couldn't reach as I ran out the door. When I came home after a few days, it had all molded. I've never seen it mold without a contaminate though.

thank you for this post.  I have been trying to find an answer as to why the exact same thing has happened to me.  I have been making chocolate mud cake for years.  I use it for carved cake.  I make the ganache with butter and chocolate and syrup and cover the cake with it and let it set hard before I then cover the cake with fondant.  to my knowledge, this has never ever caused mould but at the beginning of the year I was told that the joins had gone mouldy and so had the air pockets in the cake.  We put this down to the fact that they kept the cake for 4 weeks (!) in a warm environmnet and so that was a simple explanation.  However I have just received a phone call of another cake (boo hoo!!) where this happened.  The cake was only kept for a week which should not have created this problem.  I am absolutely stumped as to what has caused this.  She is not after a refund as the cake was won in a raffle.  I did an experiment after the first mouldy cake and left the cake in the hallway in a plastic bag (about 18 deg in our hall) for a few weeks.  No mould.  So it's something to do with the icing and the process.

I am freaked out about this and must, must get to the bottom of it.  I am going to run an experiment with chocolate and ganache and fondant covering to see what happens and report back.

I have been making the chocolate ganache with butter instead of cream for years, using a Mary Berry recipe and this has never gone wrong before.  Now it has happened twice .... I don't get it.

Fiona

Well I think I have found my answer to the mouldy ganache problem, after all this time. I used to whip my ganache to fill my cake layers, i have found out that by adding air to the mixture you are also adding mould spores and bacteria from the air,  (nothing to do with kitchen hygiene.) Bacteria that enters via this method can in some cases cause mould to grow. Also if the cream I used had a slightly higher water content this could of contributed. I have read all the scientific evidence regarding the whipping of ganache and I think this could have been the cause. I am satisified it was not a hygiene issue on my part, just an unfortunate incident. I will be checking my cream for a high fat content, only using couverture ( it has less water and additives than compound chocolate) and no longer whipping ganache unless its for eating within 2 days and its on the top of cakes. I will use ganavh inbetween layers but it will not be whipped. I have used ganache many times and only ever had one problem, but it was one problem to many. Thank you everyone for your help.