Alex Rast wrote:
snip

I'm interested in how you would make a white chocolate ganache. I
have tried several different approaches, but always find the texture
not what I would wish.

I use the same approach I use for dark ganache. I grate the chocolate
with a box grater, heat the cream, and pour the hot cream over the
grated chocolate. With white chocolate the cream should be really
quite cool, in relative terms. That's what I've found is critical -
if you heat it up to the high temperatures you might use with a dark
chocolate, the ganache immediately becomes grainy.

Do you bring the cream to a boil and let it cool, or not boil it at all? Do
you have any idea what temperature the cream is when you combine it with the
chocolate? And have you experimented with adding other flavorings? I
originally wanted a key lime ganache that would resemble key lime pie
filling in flavor, with the white chocolate standing in for the condensed
milk. (I started with a truffle ganache, then moved to a filling ganache
because the texture wasn't good enough. I've now stopped making that also
because I just wasn't happy with the flavor and texture, although other
people liked it.) I've thought about infusing the cream with lime peel and
adding lime oil instead of using the juice, in order to avoid cutting the
fat content of the liquid.

Are you melting the chocolate before adding the cream? This is the
biggest mistake. If dark chocolate is already sensitive with this
technique, white chocolate just won't work.

I tried it once, having seen it recommended somewhere. I don't recall
precisely what the results were, but obviously I wasn't impressed, since I
didn't do it again! G

Chopping the chocolate also doesn't work very well, because you can't
get a good fine particle size, and with the cream being only
moderately hot, it can't melt through the chocolate.

In the food processor you can get it to almost a powder, but it certainly
wouldn't compare to grating. Unfortunately, I only have discos on hand.
Maybe I'll buy a block and give it a try.

I use very heavy cream - 43%+ milkfat.

I think I'll try either reducing the cream I usually use or adding butter.
RLB does the latter to achieve a heavier cream in The Cake Bible.

I fold the cream into the
chocolate pretty carefully, using the minimum number of strokes and a
very gentle movement. Like you I use El Rey Icoa (really, is there
any other white chocolate to use?)

There's certainly nothing like Icoa. I actually refer to it as "ivory"
rather than white in my descriptions. Many people have a prejudice against
white chocolate. I like it, but I don't think of it as "chocolate"
precisely. It can add a delightfully creamy note to confections if used
judiciously.

There's a certain minimum amount you have to make in order for the
white chocolate ganache to work well. I've found that 1 kg (2/3 kg
chocolate, 1/3 kg cream), is about the minimum. Not that this is that
big of an amount, though. One final "trick" - if you want to make a
white chocolate truffle that's like the classic dark chocolate
truffle - ganache coated with cocoa, no shell, you can use
non-instant powdered milk for the coating. Works great.

One of my favourite uses for white chocolate ganache is as a filling
for Oreo-style cookies. With a good cocoa biscuit recipe, it just
blows away the standard Oreo.

Whoa--that sounds fabulous! I use a much lighter white chocolate
ganache--more like a whipped cream--as a filling for a black and white
chocolate mousse cake. It has the advantage of being very stable, and won't
"water out." It can also make a delicious charlotte, with layers of dark
chocolate ganache and raspberry sauce on the side

Thanks for the information. I really would like to have a white truffle with
a good texture.