There is an abundance of recipes out there for chocolate ganache. This is by far the easiest I have used as there is no need to pre-melt the chocolate or any other fiddly bits to mess with.

Ganache is the rich shiny chocolate topping used on cakes as a glaze, an icing or frosting or even can be used to make chocolate truffles.

Generally for a normal coating or filling I use:
1 part chocolate (white, plain* or milk)
1 part heavy cream
Small knob of butter (for shine can be omitted)

Chop 200g of your choice of chocolate and place in a bowl.
Place 200ml of cream into a pan and slowly bring to the boil.

pour boiling cream over chocolate

When boiling pour over the chocolate and leave alone for 5 mins.

Add a small knob of melted butter or ½ teaspoon of oil.

After the 5 minutes are up whisk/stir everything in the bowl until fully mixed together.

Chocolate ganache - mix well

Leave to stand a short while until almost cool and it starts to thicken then use as a topping or filling or both.
If allowed to cool completely the texture will be more of a frosting consistency

Simple!

*If you choose to use a chocolate that is more than 60% cocoa mass it will be necessary to use more cream. Between 60-70% cocoa mass around ½ the amount of cream again and over 70% up to ¾ of the amount again.

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Chocolate Buttercream

This is a great chocolate buttercream frosting for people who love a rich and buttery frosting that is shortening free.

It’s soft, creamy and makes gentle peaks. This chocolate buttercream recipe spreads easily and has a warm chocolate glow.

Added bonus? It’s super easy to make!

Ingredients

• 14 oz (3.5 “sticks”) room temperature butter
• 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 – 1 cup cocoa powder
• 6 – 7 cups powdered sugar (approximately 1.5 pounds)
• 7 tbsp milk

Directions

1. Thoroughly cream butter, vanilla, and one cup of powdered sugar.
2. Add one cup of powdered sugar and one tablespoon of milk. Beat thoroughly at medium speed.
3. Add 1/4 cup cocoa powder.
4. Repeat step #2 until you have added all of the milk and powdered sugar, repeat step #3 to taste (up to 1 cup of cocoa).
5. Beat for an additional 5-7 minutes at medium speed.

Yield: Approximately five cups of frosting.

Because this is a shortening-free frosting, it is softer than many people expect. For a stiffer frosting, try decreasing the milk or adding more powdered sugar (whichever suits your tastebuds better).

Oh, and be forewarned — cocoa powder puts up more dust than powdered sugar, so until it’s blended in, keep those mixers on low speed.

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Crumbs and tears while frosting cake.

Everyone who has ever frosted a cake with buttercream icing has faced the dreaded Crumb Problem. Wicked evil crumbs stirring up in your beautifully white frosting, showing themselves as discolorations and unattractive lumps.

And nobody wants unattractive lumps on their cake.

So it’s Crumb Coat to the rescue. A “crumb coat” is made of thinned frosting that is then spread over the cake and allowed to “crust” (or dry). The crumb coat acts as a “sealant” and does a pretty good job keeping crumbs attached to the cake and not your pretty frosting.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup frosting
• 1 to 3 tsp of thinner (milk, water, or corn syrup)

Consistency of crumb coat mixture

Directions

• Place 1/2 cup of frosting in a small bowl.
• Add 1 tsp of your chosen thinner. Use a fork to mix well. For either the
  Butteriest Buttercream or the
  Bright White Buttercream, I use milk or water as a thinner.
• The perfect consistency for a crumb coat mixture is something between pudding and syrup (see picture to right). Add thinner, one teaspoon at a time, until you achieve the desired consistency.
• Spread the crumb coat mixture over the cake.
• Allow the crumb coat to crust (dry) and then frost cake with regular frosting.

Chocolate cake with applied crumb coat

The crumb coat may be applied when the cake is nearly cooled or completely cooled. It won’t be pretty. Just keep in mind that the crumb coat is functional, not decorative and while it won’t win a beauty pageant, it has work to do — keeping the crumbs out of your frosting.

Besides, you’re going to cover up every last bit of that crumb coat with your full-strength buttercream frosting.

Final buttercream frosting applied over crumb coat.

The Final Product

Once the crumb coat has crusted, frost the cake. A crumb coat doesn’t mean you can manhandle your cake without repercussion, but it does mean that frosting a cake (particularly one with cut edges) will be a lot less frustrating.

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A fresh batch of the Butteriest Buttercream Frosting.

This is the best buttercream frosting for people who love a rich and buttery tasting frosting (and for those who prefer a shortening-free frosting).

It’s a soft and creamy frosting that makes gentle peaks, spreads easily, and has a warm glow.

Added bonus? It’s super easy to make!

Ingredients

• 14 oz (3.5 “sticks”) room temperature butter
• 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 7 cups powdered sugar (approximately 2 pounds)*
• 6 tbsp milk

Directions

1. Thoroughly cream butter, vanilla, and one cup of powdered sugar.
2. Add one cup of powdered sugar and one tablespoon of milk. Beat thoroughly at medium speed.
3. Repeat step #2 until you have added all of the milk and powdered sugar.
4. Beat for an additional 5-7 minutes at medium speed.

Yield: Approximately five cups of frosting.

For flavor, this frosting recipe is my absolute favorite and always my first choice for dressing up a cake.

However, if your cake will be attending the company’s summer picnic and expected to stand up to a sunny day, you might prefer the Bright White Buttercream Frosting which substitutes shortening for part of the butter. The shortening makes for a stiffer and sturdier frosting, less prone to wilting in the summer heat.

*For a stiffer frosting add up to one and one-half cups additional powdered sugar (one half cup at a time) until you reach the desired consistency and flavor.

1/2 Batch

To make half a batch, follow the instructions above, but use the following list of ingredients

• 8 oz (2 “sticks”) room temperature butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar (approximately 1 pound)
• 3-4 tbsp milk

Yield: Approximately three cups of frosting.

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A fresh batch of Bright White Buttercream Frosting.

Bright White Buttercream is a great decorating frosting with a heavenly taste.

This frosting has a lighter taste than the shortening free Butteriest Buttercream, spreads easily, and is stiff enough to form lovely peaks. An easy decorator frosting that’s great for novelty cakes.

Ingredients

• 8 oz (2 “sticks”) room temperature butter
• 1 cup shortening
• 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp clear vanilla extract
• 7 cups powdered sugar (approximately 2 pounds)
• 6 tbsp milk
• <1 drop blue liquid food coloring (optional)

Directions

(See below for addition of food coloring directions.)

1. In one bowl, thoroughly cream butter, shortening, and vanilla.
2. Add one cup of powdered sugar and one tablespoon of milk. Beat thoroughly at medium speed.
3. Repeat step #2 until you have added all of the milk and powdered sugar.
4. Beat for an additional 3-5 minutes at medium speed.

Yield: Approximately five cups of frosting.

The blue food coloring used for whitening icing.

First, the easy way to get “white white” frosting is to replace the eight ounces of butter in this recipe with one cup of shortening (and be sure to use clear vanilla extract). But if you want to keep the butter and the buttery taste, you’ll want to “neutralize” the yellow color of the butter.

Rather than starting a lengthy discussion on Color Theory, I’m just going to tell you that the secret to a bright white buttercream frosting is the tiniest bit of blue food coloring. If you want more information on the science behind why blue “neutralizes” the yellow of the butter, read this Wikipedia article, but if you just want white frosting without all the theory stay here and read on.

CAUTION! The first time you experiment with adding blue food coloring to white icing should not be at the same time you’re making an important last minute dessert that must be perfect — if you’re not careful, it’s easy to cross from “bright white” right into “pastel blue”.

For “whitening” an icing, my preferred food coloring is the liquid blue coloring (McCormick) available at most U.S. grocery stores. With more concentrated food colorings (like Wilton’s), it’s difficult to get a small enough amount to keep the icing white and not blue.

Whitening Buttercream Frosting During Preparation

1. Place one drop of blue food coloring in a measuring spoon (this makes it easier to control how much food coloring goes in the frosting).
2. At the point you add the third cup of powdered sugar to the mix, carefully tip the spoon with blue coloring and add the tiniest amount possible to your frosting. Do not worry if the icing turns blue.
3. Each time you stop to add another cup of powdered sugar, evaluate the color of the frosting. If the frosting appears yellow, again add the tiniest amount of blue you can manage. If the frosting doesn’t appear yellow, skip the coloring.
4. Once you’ve added all the powdered sugar, evaluate the color. If the frosting is still yellow, again tip the spoon, dispensing the smallest amount of blue possible. You should never need more than the initial drop of blue food coloring to whiten the amount of frosting in the above recipe. In fact, the odds are strong that you will not use the full drop.

And there you have it — a wonderful decorating frosting that is bright white and tastes great. Now get spreading!

If you prefer a shortening-free frosting, check out the Butteriest Buttercream Frosting Recipe.

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