Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate Ganache Glaze

Chocolate Ganache!!  How heavenly of a flavor you have!!  If you are a chocolate lover, ganache is for you!!  It is versatile, beautiful on any cake, and the taste is out of this world!  What is Chocolate Ganache?  It is the French word for heated cream and chocolate mixed together. Simple enough?  It is commonly used in truffles, fillings for layered cakes, and used as a glaze on top of almost anything.

How is Ganache made?  Ganache is made by heating heavy cream in a sauce pan until the cream begins to barely simmer.  When the cream has tiny bubbles around the edges of the pan, it is ready.  Overcooking the cream will result in a scorched flavor to the ganache.  As soon as the cream is ready, turn off the heat and add the chocolate.  The chocolate can be bittersweet, semisweet, or white.  The chocolate should be broken into very small pieces for it to melt easier into the cream.  Once the chocolate has been added, do not stir for two minutes.  This allows the cream and chocolate to assimilate.  Once two minutes has passed, gently stir with a whisk in one direction until the chocolate is completely smooth and shiny.  Stirring in one direction keeps the ganache from getting air bubbles.

The chocolate to cream ratios do vary a bit when making different types of Ganache.  If the chocolate is being used for truffles it is customary to use a 2:1 ratio of chocolate to cream.  If it is being used as a glaze or whipped filling for a cake it should be a 1:1 ratio of chocolate to cream.

Once the chocolate ganache is stirred and is shiny it should be placed in a bowl to cool.  If it is being used as a glaze to be poured over a cake or dessert it can be used when the temperature is between 86-91 degrees F or a tepid temperature.  For truffles the ganache will need to be covered and refrigerated until it is firm, whereas, if it is being used for a cake filling it can be chilled slightly and then whipped like cream in a chilled mixing bowl. 

With all the varieties of Chocolate Ganache, it is always a crowd pleaser!!


Penelope's Perfections caters Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, and Orange County areas