• 3.17 oz (90g) white chocolate (from a bar, I use Ghirardelli)*
• 1 1/2 cups (360g) heavy cream
• 1/2 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch salt

1. Chop up the white chocolate into small pieces. Place the chocolate in a large bowl and set aside for now.
2. In a small saucepan, add the heavy cream and vanilla bean seeds. (If you're using vanilla extract, add that after you heat the heavy cream.) Heat on low to medium-low heat until the cream just starts to release a bit of steam. Be careful not to boil the cream as it can curdle.
3. Pour the hot cream over the chopped white chocolate. (Add the vanilla extract here, if using.) Whisk until the chocolate is fully melted.
4. Cover the bowl and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, up to overnight.
5. Once fully chilled, the ganache will still be liquid but very cold, which is necessary for it to whip up. Use a hand mixer on low speed (or even a hand whisk) and whisk until it reaches sour cream texture.
   This is very easy to over whip, so stop here. It will still be a little loose, but now take a hand whisk and gently whisk it until it reaches the texture that you want, which for me is like a frozen yogurt.
   The frosting is now ready to pipe and apply to cakes. It will firm up slightly as it sets on your cake.

*Try to look for real white chocolate, which is in bar form. This type of chocolate just uses cocoa butter as their fat source (look at the ingredients). Chips often use ingredients such as palm oil, which does not make it real chocolate. That's why you'll see the label "White Chips" without the word "chocolate" on chip bags.