Help! Why did my ganache turn out watery/oily?

[momnivore]

I'm making ganache and I used 70% chocolate melted in a double boiler. Added it to hot heavy cream flavored with espresso and a pinch of salt. I have followed this recipe several times before and this has never happened. I mixed it well but in the end the chocolate separated from a watery/oily mix. It's different from when I once accidentally scalded my chocolate. I've put it in the fridge to see if it will set but I have a feeling it's a loss. What did I do wrong? The chocolate was smooth and silky when I poured it into the cream so it must have happened after that. So annoyed.

[luciaannek]

Could have been too hot, or you could have accidentally added some water (wet whisk or spoon can do this). In future, if a ganache breaks you can add some kind of liquor to it and that can help it come back together. You might be able to do this now if you take it out of the fridge and heat i back up, but maybe not. This works better with water broke ganache than heat broken ganache.

[chowser]

It sounds like your ganache broke. This is a better description than I was going to post and tells you how to fix it:

http://www.kayahara.ca/2011/01/emulsi...

[momnivore]

Thanks. I made a second batch and kept the temps on the cream lower and let itsit a bit after I poured it together before mixing. Worked much better.

[Liz K]

All the recipes I've seen call for heating cream, then pouring it over chopped (not melted) chocolate. Recipes often say to set aside and not stir for 10 minutes. That procedure has always worked perfectly for me.

[jeanmarieok]

My guess is that the mixture got too hot, after adding the cream, while you were combining it over the double boiler. It's possible the cream was too hot, too, initially. Remember that chocolate melts at about 90 degrees, so the cream doesn't need to be real hot. Probably not any higher than at 120 would work.