do I NEED plain choc for ganache choc topping on cake or will milk choc do?

[linspins]

I've got milk choc and double cream - will that make a ganache or will it go grainy and curdle? Can't remember what I used before, but do remember that once it went horribly wrong with the wrong type of choc.
HELP!!

No direct experience, but I don't think it will go grainy & curdle. Quite likely to be disgustingly sweet, though.

Thanks. Sweet will be ok for class of 6 yr olds I think. Anyone else? Gotta make it soon...

Cadbury's think it will be OK: see here. As does this website

Or, if it doesn't have to be ganache, you could use whipped cream and grate the chocolate over it.

I did it once with milk chocolate, it was revoltingly sweet. 6 year olds will love it though!

I did it once with milk chocolate, it was revoltingly sweet. 6 year olds will love it though!

More details here. Essentially: (1) yes you can; but (2) it is more prone to going grainy; and (3) you need to use less cream (unhelpfully doesn't say how much less ).

Good luck...

Well, everytime I have tried to make it with milk choc it has curdled i'm afraid.

Thats with a butter, choc, icing sugar, milk recipe, not done it with cream though.

Think the trick is to make sure the chocolate is melted but very cool when you mix it together, maybe room temp cream??

if it is half decent chocolate and not cadburys shite you should be fine

I buy tesco value choc, pennies for 100g and have made ganaches with white, milk and plain

i would not eat a square of cadbury's if it was the last thing on earth! It is made from earwax, dust and muddy puddles you know.

Ahh ignore my ramblings and listen to aminearly and her links!!

Bit scared, but here goes...

and my method is to smash the chocolate into smithereens by whacking off the work top Jamie Oliver stylee, and tip it into the cream, leave it either on the top of the range or over a very low low gas or in a double boiler.

Did it work?

Ganache is made from either dark, milk or white chocolate and cream. You chop up the chocolate and then bring the cream to boiling point, chuck the chocolate in and stir until all the chocolate has melted. If the cream is too hot it will curdle/seperate. I usually use 600 ml of cream to 1kg of chocolate.

With milk chocolate you dont get that dark colour it goes very incipid pale brown, ok for children but would make my tonge curl.

Ha, it didn't work. It solidified in to a solid mass of grainy stuff. Then DH went out late night to find some plain choc, weirdly that didn't work either. Not my night. But that didn't go quite so solid, so I smeared it on top of the fairy cakes anyway, and copiously sprinkled white choc stars on top. All the children ate them!

Must now get this right for next time.

Oh, I am sorry :( But glad you found a solution in the end.