small scale baking for home cooks & pastry nerds
A great savory Dutch Baby pancake with fresh herbs, Parmesan and topped with arugula! This is a great savory brunch option, and it’s very easy to adapt! I love Dutch baby pancakes, but I’ve always made sweet ones. Like these apple Dutch baby pancakes, which … Read More
These small batch chocolate chip cookies with tahini are completely delicious! The tahini adds a nice nuttiness to the recipe while the small batch size is perfect for a small household. I absolutely love tahini – it’s like the fancy older sibling of peanut butter. … Read More
Simple chocolate ganache is just a combination of cream and good quality chocolate. It’s an incredibly versatile recipe that can be used in a multitude of ways.
This site contains affiliate links, which means that I may make a small commission if you purchase a product using those links. However, please know that I only provide links to products that I actually use and wholeheartedly recommend!
Chocolate Ganache is a truly beautiful thing. It’s made by pouring warm cream over chocolate, letting it sit for a few moments, and then stirring it together to form a luxurious ganache.
The resulting ganache can be poured over cakes as a topping, piped onto cupcakes, whipped to form a light fluffy chocolate topping or sandwiched between cookies. It’s such a versatile recipe that it’s become a real staple in my kitchen!
Versatile: this super simple chocolate ganache can be used in tons of different ways and is genuinely a building block for other recipes.
Delicious: It’s probably not the healthiest thing to do but I could happily eat spoon fulls of this stuff.
Great Skill to learn: When I was studying in pastry school, this was the type of recipe that we used all the time. It teaches you a lot about chocolate and how to work with it properly, and it’s a great thing to know how to do off the top of your head.
If you understand your chocolate and the base recipe, it’s easy to adjust it if you want to know how to make white chocolate ganache or milk chocolate, etc.
Here are a few things that might be useful!
Pyrex bowls are great for making ganache because they’re heatproof. I also love the versions with lids, as they’re great for storing things! Ghirardelli chocolate is often my go to, and finally I’ve included a link to some cute little molds you could use to make truffles from your ganache!
Once you have your ingredients this simple chocolate ganache recipe is a breeze to make. In order to make the ganache you’ll :
Follow the same process as above, but reduce the amount of cream to 200 ml instead of 300 ml.
This is because white chocolate is naturally softer because it doesn’t contain cocoa solids. If you use the full quantity of cream, the result will be far too soft.
Because chocolate ganache is mostly chocolate, you’ll want to choose a high quality chocolate. I like Ghirardelli semi sweet chocolate chips for ganache (not sponsored, just a genuine fan) but you can also use a bar of good quality chocolate.
I normally use semi-sweet or dark chocolate, but you can also use milk or white chocolate if you prefer. If you choose to use white chocolate, remember to reduce the amount of cream to 2/3 the original amount.
Regardless of the type of chocolate it’s important to make sure you’re choosing a high quality product otherwise you may end up with a ganache that isn’t smooth!
If you’ve gone the bar of chocolate route, you’ll want to take the time to carefully chop your chocolate. Large pieces won’t melt easily and will prevent you from getting the perfect – smooth chocolate ganache you’re looking for!
I prefer to microwave the cream in 15 second intervals, stirring at each interval, until it’s warm but hasn’t boiled. If it boils, it’ll be too hot and could separate or burn your chocolate.
It’s important to let your ganache rest before you stir it. This gives the chocolate time to melt smoothly before you agitate it.
If you want thicker ganache then your best bet is to wait. Freshly made ganache will naturally be quite liquid-y which is great if you want a thin coat or are using it to dip things into, however, if you’d like a thicker coating simply wait 10-15 minutes until the ganache has set slightly more.
You can also adjust the ratio of cream to chocolate, more cream will give a thinner ganache while more chocolate will result in a thicker consistency!
If you’re looking to use your ganache to make something like chocolate truffles, you’ll definitely want to use a higher ratio of chocolate to cream. For truffles, a 5:4 ratio of chocolate to cream tends to work well. See “How to Use this Ganache” for a truffle recipe from Kickass Baker.
I think a little sea salt goes a long way towards improving the flavor of ganache. You can also add small quantities of vanilla extract, strong coffee or alcohol to add flavor to the ganache. This is especially good if you’re using it to make truffles!
If you’d like to pour it over a cake let it set for about 10-15 minutes. For a thicker ganache that you can pipe leave it to cool for a couple hours until thick.
If you’re pouring your ganache over a cake let it sit for 10-15 minutes until it’s just slightly warm.
You can freeze ganache by storing it in an airtight container and freezing for up to 3 months.
To reheat it, let it sit in the fridge overnight and then warm it in a heatproof bowl placed over a pan of simmering water.
It might look greasy and split at this point, but stir it regularly, and it should come back together.
Greasy ganache happens when the ganache splits as is often the case with reheated ganache. There are a couple possible solutions for this issue. I’ve listed them here in order of what I would recommend trying!
When chocolate seizes it turns into a gritty grainy mess. Understanding what has gone wrong can help you trouble shoot. If the chocolate is gritty and rough, then slowly stir in boiling water, 1 tsp at a time, until it smooths out.
If the chocolate has gone dull and thick it’s probably overheated, to fix this try stirring in more finely chopped chocolate to bring down the temperature.
For more help with seized chocolate, take a look at this article from the Spruce Eats, which gives really great advice on working with seized chocolate.
Now that you’ve mastered chocolate ganache consider using it in one of these recipes:
This elegant valentine dessert is such a lovely option if you’re looking for a two-person dessert! It’s two mini almond and pear tarts that I’ve made in heart shaped tart tins to give them a little extra festiveness! It’s the best valentines’ dessert for when … Read More
These air fryer yeast donuts are filled with homemade grapefruit curd and coated in cardamom sugar. The result is a light and fluffy air fryer donut with a crunchy exterior and a soft interior. It’s grapefruit curd season! Or at least it’s citrus season. Which … Read More
In the last part of this series on how to develop recipes, I’ll talk about the final stage – writing your final recipe. I’ll focus on how to write a good food blog post and what goes into a recipe, as well as things to keep in mind when photographing your final recipe.
Now that you’ve come up with a recipe idea (if you haven’t read this) and you’ve tested your recipe (here), it’s time to focus on the final product. For me, that’s normally the recipe itself and the blog post that goes with it.
In this post I’m not going to focus too much on how to write a good blog post, instead I’m going to focus on how to write a good FOOD blog post. It’s important to remember that your post should help your readers learn about the dish you’re making. You want to give them the tools to make your recipe perfectly the first time! In order to do that, it’s critical to start by thinking about how to write a recipe.
The first step in this process is to actually write out your final recipe properly. You want to do this before you cook it for the final time and photograph it so that you can make sure all of your instructions make sense when you’re doing your final run through.
You don’t need to list every piece of equipment but make sure to list the important ones and the ones that might be a bit more specialty. That could include a food processor, a blender, or even the type of cake pan you need.
Include more details than you think are necessary.
And of course don’t forget the small steps like preheating the oven! This is where it’s helpful to have notes to refer to so that you get all the details.
Personally, I like to have fewer steps with more text in each step, but that’s very much a personal preference. That being said, you want to try to stay consistent. Ideally, you shouldn’t have 1 step that takes 2 minutes, but the next step takes 20 minutes.
In general, it’s better to overestimate the time it will take people to make your recipe. People will be happy to realize they’ve cooked your dish faster than expected, but they’d be annoyed if it took them twice as long.
Serving sizes can be difficult to estimate, but it’s helpful to include a number if possible. For cupcakes, you could just list the number of cupcakes. For pasta 100 g of pasta serves one person so a recipe with 400 g of pasta is 4 servings. In the end, base it on what you know of the recipe and make an educated estimate!
Now that you have your recipe written up it’s time to cook your dish one last time and photograph it. At this point, you want to make sure your instructions match what you’re actually doing. To that end, make sure to read what you’ve written as you work.
Is there a particularly tricky step that’s easier to show in visual form? If so, make sure you capture those pictures as you’re cooking!
For my recipes, I try to photograph any assembly stages that might be tricky to picture, such as how to fill a tart. Similarly, I like to photograph the shaping process for sourdough as that can often be hard to describe.
Outside of pictures that are helpful, think of what might look visually interesting. Your readers probably know what pouring milk over chocolate looks like, but that action shot can still be fun!
Once you’ve decided on your photographs, then it’s time to start cooking!
If all goes well you should find that your instructions accurately describe the process, and you have the images you need to write a food blog post.
Obviously, if you aren’t a blogger, then ignore this step. But if you are, then here are a few tips! Or if you’d like to become a food blogger, then keep reading for some tips!
Write about its origins, what you’ve adapted about it, and why it’s interesting. This should come from the research you did earlier on in the process!
This is also a great place to include references to your inspiration! If you based your recipe for eggplant carbonara off of a traditional carbonara recipe you found in a cook book or online, then it’s good to include a reference to that recipe!
What have you added that’s made this version special? Why should people make your version? It’s great to explain your process so that you can point out why what you’ve made is great!
This is where you can include your photos to give both a visual and written overview of the recipe! Make sure to include information about the ingredients you’ll need and any special equipment. If your recipe uses a special ingredient, it is helpful to explain what it is and where to buy it.
I don’t always do this, but if there are questions I know are common, I include the answers in my posts. For example, if I write a sourdough recipe, chances are there will be questions about how to make a starter. Common questions like that are important to answer in your post.
You can also include references to other resources in this section if that’s helpful!
I use a recipe plug in to include my recipe at the bottom of the post. Recipe plug-ins are great because they keep your recipes organized and allow your readers to print them off!
In the end, this process is flexible and what works for me might not work for you. But, hopefully this helps if you’re trying to start a food blog or learn how to develop recipes!
Make sure you’re including keywords in your blog post that will help your readers find your new recipe! It’s also worth linking out to useful resources, related blog posts from other bloggers or products needed for your recipe.
If you are linking to other products, such as the bundt pan you used for the cake recipe you’re sharing, you can always include affiliate links. These are links where you’ll earn a small commission if someone clicks on the link and makes a purchase.
I use Share-a-Sale* for affiliate links, which works pretty well. Amazon also has an affiliate program if that works better for you.
There are tons of great food blogs and posts out there, so take a look around and hopefully something will help! These are some of the posts I turn to when I need a little extra inspiration!
It’s honestly much easier than you’d think to start a food blog! I launched mine with Bluehost* which is cheap and super easy to use.
From there you can choose a theme (I use Kale which is free) and start getting your new blog set up.
I haven’t written any “starting your food blog guides” so instead I’m going to share some of my favorites!
If you still have questions on how to develop recipes, or you have any suggestions, then please let me know! Just drop a note in the comments below.
Questions? Leave them in the comments, and I’ll get back to you!
In Part 2 of this series, I’m focusing on how to actually write your initial recipe and how to test it. We will look at how to test your recipe idea, how to develop your recipe and how to improve your recipe! So you’ve honed … Read More
In part 1 of this series focusing on how to develop recipes, I’ll look at the hardest part of the process – how to come up with a new recipe idea! I’ll walk you through the steps I go through when I’m developing new recipes … Read More
I was recently gifted a massive block of feta. A 4.5 pound block of feta to be precise. Now, I’m a feta fan – I think it’s a lovely addition to so many dishes, but even I was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the slab of cheese sitting in my fridge.
Luckily I’ve never met a cheese-problem I wasn’t willing to take on, so I proceeded to spend the entirety of last week coming up with ways to consume feta.
If you’re ever casually handed 4 pounds of feta, just send me a message, and I’ll share all my feta recipes. I have quite a stash of them now. But for the moment I decided to settle on sharing this feta and tomato and egg breakfast dish.
It needs a better name (any suggestions?).
This is a remarkably simple breakfast dish that is genuinely lovely. I’m normally more of a sweet brunch person (see all the apple pancakes and scones on this blog…) but sometimes I crave something savory for breakfast.
Also, sometimes I have 4 pounds of feta that need to be eaten.
I’ve scaled this recipe for one person. If you’re cooking for more, just scale all the ingredients and bake them in a larger pan. Or, if you’re baking for one, you can use a mini Le Creuset or ramekin*.
Combine feta, tomatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper in a baking dish. Then roast the whole lot for half an hour. The tomatoes will pop and release their juices, creating a lovely fresh tomato sauce, while the feta will soften and melt slightly.
The result is absolutely delicious on toast, and even better when paired with a soft-boiled egg, as I’ve done here!
You could also add some herbs, thyme would work particularly well. You could also add other vegetables such as bell peppers or onions to the mixture. Get creative and let me know your favorite combinations! While you’re at it, if anyone has more feta themed recipes, let me know in the comments. I still have about 2 pounds of cheese left…
Gingerbread biscuits with an intense spicy flavor! These are delicious as is, but also fun to use for gingerbread house construction. It’s gingerbread season! Otherwise, known as winter. I fricking love holiday baking. I never really do “cookie boxes” because I don’t have the patience … Read More