chocolate ganache - what have I done wrong?

[carlajean]

I'm making Mary Berry's Tunis Cake. The cake's ok, but the chocolate ganache (almost boil cream, add chocolate) went all grainy and tastes bitter. Was the cream too hot? I've put it on the cake anyway, as I can't face going out and spending ££££s on cream and chocolate, but feel very disappointed.

Was the cream still on the heat when you added the chocolate? Dh did that once, and it was a very strange texture indeed.

It did taste OK, though, so yours should taste good, even if it doesn't look Mary-Berry-perfect.

The cream doesn't need to be anywhere near boiled at all. It just needs to be warm enough to melt the choc. So a bit warmer than hand heat, ie you put your finger in and it feels warm, bordering on hot.

Then add the cream on top of the choc in a bowl. Don't add the choc to the cream in the saucepan. Loads of recipes say to do this, but if you have got the cream too hot it is more likely to seize the choc, whereas pouring it into a bowl will cool it quicker.

As Mary Berry said on the Christmas Bake Off special, chocolate melts in a child's pocket, so you don't need the cream that hot at all.

I've done this - too hot and you split the chocolate into something gloopy, granular and oily all at once.

It is not retrievable

You've caught the chocolate unfortunately. It can't be fixed. If you can tolerate the bitter taste, it can be eaten

How high was the percentage of cocoa solids, in the chocolate?

Higher than 40% and it'll split. You really want something like Bourneville (yuck) in ganache.