Freezing Chocolate Ganache

Asked by Philli7. Answered on 2nd November 2011

Full question

Hi Nigella team. Firstly I love how Nigella's more recent books give freezing/making in advance advice. I would like to know if you can successfully freeze Chocolate Ganache as in the cake recipe from How to Eat p28? I seem to have made far too much ganache and rather than make truffles I would like to freeze for a cake at another time. Many thanks

Our answer

Chocolate ganache is made with an equal quantities of dark (bittersweet) chocolate to cream (in metric terms this is also equal weight of chocolate to volume of double cream). Ganache will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge and it is perfectly possible to freeze this ganache as it is a fairly stable mixture. Transfer the unused ganache to a resealable container and freeze it for up to 3 months.

When you want to use the ganache thaw it overnight in the fridge. It will still be quite hard so you either need to leave it in a warm place for a couple of hours until it is spreadable, or you can warm it gently either in a microwave (use 10 second blasts and stir after each blast) or in a bowl set over a pan of warm water, stirring regularly (making sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water).

Don't re-freeze any ganache that has already been frozen and thawed and if the ganache has been frozen it is best eaten within a week. Unfortunately the chocolate frosting on Nigella's Devil's Food Cake in Kitchen (p253) is not a typical ganache as it is made with water and does not freeze well.