Chocolate VS couverture

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Permalink Reply by Mark Heim on October 20, 2009 at 9:29am

Couverture is chocolate but with more cocoa butter, to make it more fluid when tempered, making it easier to enrobe pieces with a thinner coating. You can compensate with adding cocoa powder but you will lose some of the smoothness. Another trick you can try is to temper the ganache, by mixing or tabling it down to room or cooler temperatures to the consistency you want before using. This is common for gianduja.

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Permalink Reply by Despina Antypa on October 20, 2009 at 9:37am

Hi Mark, thanks for the reply. I will try tempering it. You thing it would be better to temper after adding the cream or if I bring the cream in 40 C and then add it to the tempered chocolate?

Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Despina Antypa on October 20, 2009 at 4:28pm

Thanks Anthony. I will try it.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Shea on October 21, 2009 at 3:39am

Tempering after cream has been added... not a good idea. What is the curve? Who knows? Depends on the cream, how you cooked it, how much you added, etc.

Add warm cream (39-40C) to tempered, liquid chocolate (32-33C) chocolate... depending on the quantities you'll adjust the temperature. The mixture should raise to around 34-34.5C, be sure to agitate! Once emulsified, pour it, cover it, and leave it overnight for the crystals to fully develop.

My numbers are for a 72/100 cream to chocolate ratio, using a 35% single cream, uncooked, and a 42% cocoa butter dark chocolate.

It takes a bit of practice, but you'll end up with a superior ganache. In my experience the only better requires a vacuum and and ultrasonic bath, but that is a little crazy. ;)

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Permalink Reply by Renata Fantini on October 20, 2009 at 6:21pm

Hi Despina,
In my opinion it doesn't matter that you have a couverture, that is chocolate. I would add less "cream". Try to do the following: Take the amount of chocolate and break it into a small pieces. Do not melt it.
Heat the cream. When it is hot, pour the cream into the chocolate. Wait for a few seconds and than mix all together. If the ganache become too liquid try to add less cream. Pay attention that the right texture will come after you have it on the refrigerator for a period of time. Try this and let me know how it works.

Good luck.

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Permalink Reply by Despina Antypa on October 21, 2009 at 1:20am

Hi Renata, according to the recipe I shouldn't refrigerate the ganache but I will try less cream as you suggest.
Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Robert Shea on October 21, 2009 at 3:50am

What is your recipe? Milk fat in the cream, cocoa butter content of the chocolate (or which chocolate if you don't know), are you using butter? If so what amount of milk fat? Glucose? Just answer as much as you know, I'm trying to see if you are doing something seriously wrong. ;)

Depending on the fats and ambient temperature, a ganache can take several days to set up. Ganache is more like methamphtamine than ice cream, the more slowly and evenly the crystals form, the better the results.

Personally I love very soft ganache.

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Permalink Reply by Despina Antypa on October 21, 2009 at 5:46am

Hi Robert,
Thanks for the reply.
Garrison recipe is simple. 200gr 64% chocolate, 224 gr heavy cream, 28 gr light corn syrup, 28 gr salted butter. The only alterations I have made are: 52% couverure, not salted butter and glucose instead of corn syrup which I think it doesn't make any different because as far as I know is the same thing. Procedure is simple as well. Chopped not melted chocolate, boil syrup with cream pour into the chocolate, stir and when the chocolate reaches 35 C add the butter. The method you are suggesting in your previous post (40 C cream into melted chocolate) as far as I know it is used in making the butter ganache (without cream).
So, what do I do wrong? According to the recipe, the ganache should be firm to pipe after one hour.
Are there difference between the ganache we are using for truffles and the one we use for dipping confectionery?

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Permalink Reply by Robert Shea on October 21, 2009 at 6:33pm

To me, that looks like a ganache you might pour over a cake and not one you'd attempt to enrobe. The fact that you are using a lower percentage chocolate may or may not impact (depends on what the cocoa butter contents are.

Personally, that recipe just looks bad to me, I'd never blindly suggest salted butter and boiling the cream imparts, wel... a boiled cream flavor.

The method I stated works just fine with cream as well as ganache made with unsaturated fats (liquid at room temp) in place of milk fat.

There are countless ganaches with many, many uses. Most common dipping ganaches are 2:1 chocolate:cream.

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Permalink Reply by Despina Antypa on October 22, 2009 at 7:50am

Thanks Robert. I will try the method you suggest

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