Ganache

Chocolate and cream emulsified from the middle outwards, where stirring the whole bowl at once is what splits it.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (double cream), dairy (butter).

Ingredients

• 300 g dark chocolate, 60 to 70 per cent, chopped small
• 300 ml double cream
• 40 g butter, softened, optional
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup, optional

Method

1. IT IS STIRRED FROM THE MIDDLE OUTWARDS IN SMALL CIRCLES, not beaten round the whole bowl. A ganache is an emulsion of fat and water and it forms at the centre first: small circles in the middle bring a thick glossy core together, and the rest is drawn in gradually. Whisked all at once, the fat and liquid never marry and it splits into grainy chocolate in oily cream.
2. THE CHOCOLATE IS CHOPPED SMALL AND THE CREAM IS NOT BOILING. Just under the boil, poured over, and left to STAND two minutes before anything is stirred. Boiling cream on chocolate seizes it; stirring immediately moves it before it has melted and leaves lumps that will not go.
3. IF IT SPLITS, A TABLESPOON OF WARM MILK BEATEN IN FROM THE CENTRE brings it back about four times in five. It is worth knowing before it happens.
4. Chocolate chopped to pieces no larger than a pea and put in a bowl. Uneven pieces melt unevenly.
5. Cream heated to just below boiling -- the edges trembling, no rolling boil.
6. Poured over the chocolate so it is covered. LEFT TO STAND 2 MINUTES, untouched.
7. A small whisk or spatula into the CENTRE, and stirred in small tight circles. A dark glossy core forms within a few seconds.
8. The circles widened gradually, drawing in the unmelted edges, until the whole bowl is smooth and shining.
9. The butter beaten in now if using, for gloss and a softer set. The syrup if it is to be poured as a glaze, which keeps it shiny when cold.
10. FOR A GLAZE: used at about 35C, when it coats a spoon and runs off slowly.
11. FOR A FILLING OR TRUFFLES: left at room temperature 2 hours until firm. Not in the fridge, which makes it set hard and dull.
12. FOR WHIPPED GANACHE: chilled 4 hours, then whipped briefly -- and briefly is the word. Over-whipped it turns grainy within seconds and cannot be brought back.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under France · All recipes