Best Coffee Liqueur Ganache Icing Recipes

ESPRESSO-INFUSED WHIPPED CHOCOLATE GANACHE

Steps:

• Place your chopped chocolate into the bowl of your stand mixer.
• Place the espresso beans in a sealable gallon-size bag (or between two pieces of parchment) and crush them with a rolling pin. Combine the heavy cream and espresso beans in a small pot and heat over medium-low heat until simmering. Remove from the heat, cover the pot and allow the cream to infuse for 10 minutes. Strain the cream through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a clean pot. Return the cream to medium-low heat and bring back to a simmer.
• Pour the warm cream into the bowl of chocolate. Add the coffee liqueur if using and the salt. Gently stir the mixture with a spatula until smooth. Allow your ganache to cool until the outer edge of the ganache is a spreadable consistency; the center of the ganache may still be a bit loose.
• Fit your stand mixer with the whip attachment and whip the ganache on medium-high speed until the ganache lightens in color, 2 to 3 minutes. Don't over whip or you run the risk of breaking your ganache. Use immediately as a filling or frosting.
• Once the whipped ganache sets up it can be rewarmed in the microwave in 20 second bursts. Rewarmed ganache can be re-whipped or poured.

COFFEE GANACHE

Steps:

• Stir together the instant espresso and boiling water until smooth. Set aside.
• Combine the cream and the corn syrup in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the espresso. Pour the mixture over the chocolate and let sit, covered, for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted and the sauce is very smooth.
• Keep warm until ready to use, or let cool to room temperature and store in a container with a tight-fitting lid in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Reheat chilled sauce over very low heat on the stovetop or in the microwave until warm enough to pour easily.

CHOCOLATE CAKE; MOCHA CHOCOLATE CREAM; CHOCOLATE LIQUEUR ICING

Steps:

• Cake:.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Coat 3 (8 inch) round cakepans with cooking spray.
• Line bottoms of pan with wax paper; butter wax paper with butter, and set aside.
• Melt chocolate in small saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth; set aside.
• Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.
• Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.
• Add eggs one at a time, beating until just yellow disappears after each addition.
• Stir in melted chocolate and vanilla.
• Sift together flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating at low speed until just blended, begining and ending with flour mixture.
• Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.
• Bake for 28-30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
• Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.
• Mocha Chocolate Cream Filling:.
• Whisk together first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan.
• Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, 5 minutes or until thickened.
• Spoon mixture into a small bowl; cover surface of mixture with plastic wrap, pressin wrap onto surface, and let stand 30 minutes or until cool.
• Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
• Gradually add cooled cocoa mixture, 1 Tablespoon at a time, beating until blended after each addition.
• Add vanilla, beating until mixture is consistency of whipped cream.
• Makes 1-1/2 cups.
• Coffee Liqueur Ganache Icing:.
• Heat cream in a small saucepan over medium heat just until cream begins to boil.
• Pour over chocolate in bowl, stirring until smooth.
• Stir in butter and liqueur.
• Let stand 45 minutes or until spreading consistency.
• Makes 2 cups.
• Prepare Icing, then Mocha-Chocolate Filling and then cake, in this order due to the different cooling times.
• Assemble the cake:.
• Place 1 cake layer on serving plate; spread top with 4 Tablespoons Coffee liqueur Ganache Icing.
• Spread half of Mocha-Chocolate Cream Filling evenly over ganache on cake layer.
• Top with second cake layer; spread top with 4 Tablespoons of Ganache Icing and remaining Cream Ganache Filling.
• Top with remaining cake layer.
• Spread remanining Coffee Liqueur Ganache Icing on top of cake and sides of cake.
• Garnish with chocolate curls, if desired.