Whipped White Chocolate Ganache

     Three of my sisters have birthdays in October, so it is a month of celebrating. We have "The Week of Nell," and the next, "The Week of Jane." Our sister Anne has her Halloween birthday with her non-sibling sisters in their Boston convent, not a week-long event, but recognized none the less. 

     This year during Jane's week, another sister drove in from Austin, followed closely by a hurricane. I had planned to bake a cake, so I started a new recipe for a delicious filling and had it resting in the fridge. We also made plans for dinner at a local restaurant. Everything was cancelled, though, when Zeta roared through, disrupting the power grid, flooding streets, and downing trees. 

     Other areas have normal seasons: Summer, Winter, Spring, and Fall (or Autumn, depending on how formal you want to sound). We have the additional Hurricane Season, which runs June through November. During a full six months of the year, the potential exists for these damaging storms, named when they achieve a certain level of destructive power. Twenty-six names are chosen, A-Z, at the beginning of the year. We had run through all 26 by mid-October and had turned to the Greek alphabet. 

     I had shrimp in the fridge that had to be cooked or thrown out, so, having a gas stove, I was able to prepare Shrimp and Grits while wearing a headlight. There was no telling when power would be restored, and I have had the unfortunate experience of having shrimp go bad. I promise you, the smell does not go away. 

     At any rate, Jane eventually baked her own cake once we had power, and I finished the ganache. I always thought a ganache was a chocolate cream poured over a confection and allowed to set to a glossy finish. This recipe called for the addition of unflavored gelatin as a stabilizer, which allowed this ganache to be whipped into a light, fluffy consistency suitable for filling or icing. I found the recipe in Milk Street, a magazine put out by Christopher Kimball who formerly headed America's Test Kitchen. The recipe called for Mascarpone, a light Italian cream cheese, but I didn't have any and stores were still closed. I did have regular cream cheese, though, and gave it a try. 

    It was fabulous, like a mild cream cheese icing with a hint of white chocolate and just enough heft to allow for piped rosettes. This whipped ganache would be great on a cake or a toasted bagel!

                  Whipped White Chocolate Ganache

2 cups cream

2 tbsp honey

1 packet unflavored gelatin

2 tbsp Water

6 oz white chocolate pieces

8 oz marscapone (or cream cheese)

In a medium pot on medium heat,  combine cream and honey. Meanwhile, combine gelatin and water in a small bowl and set aside. Have white chocolate in a separate bowl.

     When the cream is warm and just starting to bubble at the sides, stir in marscapone until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk in gelatin, and pour this mixture over the white chocolate. Allow to stand 2 minutes, and then stir until the white chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Cool, cover the surface with plastic wrap, and refrigerate. The original recipe says at least 4 hours but I found I had better results when chilled overnight. Remove from the fridge and beat until fluffy, scraping once. Do not over beat. Fill and/or ice your cake, and refrigerate uncovered until 30 minutes prior to serving. Store any leftover ganache in the refrigerator in a covered container and save it for that bagel!