This chocolate ganache is easy, chocolate loveliness that can be used as frosting or glaze. Made with just bittersweet chocolate, heavy cream, butter, and vanilla—it’s a cinch to whip up and lick off a spoon.
Simply melting chopped chocolate in hot cream produces something wonderful. The ganache can be used warm as a fudge sauce poured over a cake as in the Pound of Chocolate Cake or used as a glaze or filling.–Elinor Klivans
HOW DO I USE GANACHE?
The loveliest thing about ganache isn’t its satiny smoothness or its obscene richness. Or that it’s quick and easy. And it’s not that it comes together from a mere four ingredients. It’s not even that it has a fancy sounding yet easy-to-pronounce French name. To us, the loveliest thing is just how gosh darn versatile it is. When spread over tortes, ganache is a glaze. When slathered over cakes or cupcakes, it’s frosting. And when beaten until it loses its gloss and takes on a billowy lusciousness, it’s a filling for cakes, cookie sandwiches, and truffles. If you’ve any notes to add to the syllabus for Ganache Uses 101, we welcome them. Let us know in a comment below.
☞ Contents
Ganache
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon (1/2 oz) unsalted butter
- 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped, or 1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
- In a medium saucepan, heat the cream and butter over low heat until the cream is hot and the butter melts. The hot cream mixture should form tiny bubbles and measure about 175°F (80°C) on an instant-read thermometer; do not let the mixture boil as a skin might form on the top. (If this happens, use a spoon to lift off the skin and discard it.)
- Remove the pan from the heat, add the chocolate, and let it stand for about 30 seconds until the hot cream mixture softens the chocolate. Whisk the ganache just until all of the chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth. Stir in the vanilla.
- If the ganache will be poured or spread, let it cool and thicken slightly, about 30 minutes. It can be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 week; if it becomes too firm, it can be warmed over low heat, stirring to soften it evenly.
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If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We’d love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Originally published June 2, 2010
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
Oh my! We made a double batch of this chocolate ganache and turned it into truffles and our imaginations went crazy. I followed the directions and placed it in the refrigerator. The next day we rolled the mixture into truffles. We made some plain and rolled them in cocoa.
Then we divided the ganache into several different bowls and changed the flavor: A little orange zest and Grand Marnier and rolled in cocoa, rum and rolled in finely chopped pecans, macadamia nuts and rolled in coconut, brandy and rolled in walnuts, Frangelico and rolled in hazelnuts and Chambord and rolled in powdered sugar. Now we can’t decide which one we like best. This recipe is a keeper.
HUNGRY FOR MORE?
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We'd love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Yum, make sure you use a thick cream,otherwise it will be too runny. Great on cake 🎂
Thanks, Dr Vic. So glad you enjoyed it!
Wow!
Right, Al?