What is Ganache Balancing?
What is Ganache Balancing?
Ganache is a mixture of solids and liquids, which is both a suspension and an emulsion. The key to a good ganache is a balanced combination of ingredients that results in a strong emulsion and the right quantities of liquids and solids. This balance is essential for achieving the desired taste, texture, and sweetness.
In this modern age, we have access to an abundance of information about the products we use in our kitchens. We no longer have to rely solely on the recipes passed down from our ancestors. By applying the latest knowledge and techniques to our cooking, we can create recipes that not only taste great but are also satisfying in every way.
This guide aims to demystify ganache balancing. While the methods discussed will work for any recipe - even ice cream, bread, or mousse - ganache will be our focus since recipe balancing has a significant impact on shelf life, and recipe changes can easily lead to great success or great disaster.
What is Ganache Balancing?
Underneath every ganache recipe is a ratio of ingredients. Each ingredient in our ganache directly interacts with the others. If we look beyond just the weight of each ingredient and instead examine each ingredient as a percentage and how the percentage of each ingredient is related to the other ingredients and the total recipe, we can start to customize our recipes based on flavor, texture, sweetness, and shelf life.
For example, you might want to reduce the sweetness of your ganache. Below you can see how a simple reduction in the amount of glucose syrup in the recipe changes the ratio of every other ingredient.
| Before Glucose Reduction: | Percentage | |
| 500g | Cream (36% fat) | 38.4% |
| 50g | Glucose Syrup DE40 | 3.8% |
| 650g | Dark Chocolate 66% | 50.0% |
| 100g | Fresh Butter |
7.6% |
| 1300g | Total | 100% |
| After Glucose Reduction: | Percentage | |
| 500g | Cream (36% fat) | 39.7% |
| 10g | Glucose syrup DE40 | 0.8% |
| 650g | Dark Chocolate 66% | 51.6% |
| 100g | Fresh Butter | 7.9% |
| 1260g | Total | 100% |
Keep in mind that many ingredients play more than one role in a recipe. For example, if you increase the ratio of chocolate in the recipe because you want more chocolate flavor, you have also increased the amount of fat in the recipe.
To counteract this and keep the ganache from becoming too fatty, you might reduce the amount of butter or cream, which will, in turn, reduce the amount of water in the recipe.
Each decision about what to change is up to you, but understanding what those changes mean to the taste, texture, and shelf life is where balancing can help.
