Ganache Panache
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How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
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You know what? Nobody, not even Elizabeth Barrett Browning has really said it until they've said it in chocolate!
After all, this magical substance is considered a universal language, isn't it? If you're going to "speak the language of the heart," what better way to say you care than to give a heart-shaped yummy topped with chocolate? Chocolate is truly a soulful gift. Chocolate is also a benefit to the body. If you've ever been curious about this wonder food, check out the University of Michigan's good news on dark chocolate, then you can feel absolutely virtuous savoring your 7 ounces a week!
Chocolate Ga-Ga Ganache
Here's the recipe for that unbelievable, melt in your mouth, patent leather, shiny, truffle tasting icing that makes you go weak at the knees.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
Pour chocolate chips into a large mixing bowl.
Pour cream into a saucepan and bring to a boil. When cream boils up to the top of the pan, remove it immediately from the flame and pour it over the chocolate chips. Let it stand for a minute or two then stir or whisk mixture until it's smooth. Don't forget to scrape the bottom of the bowl occasionally so that you get all the goodie evenly mixed.
Now stir in the vanilla and make sure it's well blended.
Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the Ganache in the bowl. Allow Ganache to cool at room temperature. Don't refrigerate in order to cool the Ganache. If you do, it tends to crack. You want the Ganache to slide onto your cakes or cupcakes and be smooth as silk, so ice your yummies before you refrigerate them!
If you use blocks of chocolate, you can make a Ganache Glaze quickly in your food processor! Run the blocks through until they're chopped into fine crumbs. Then heat the cream in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan until it starts bubbling around the edges. Immediately pour the hot cream down your food processor, add vanilla, then hit the "mix" setting and blend your ingredients.
Mixing Tip: chocolate chips have stabilizers in them that baker's chocolate blocks don't. The chips don't melt down and don't blend as easily, so if you use chips for your glaze you'll want to strain it through a fine mesh strainer. It isn't a requirement but the pros say straining gives a more professional result.
Ganache is versatile. You can use it warm as a pourable glaze onto cakes and cupcakes or let it cool to room temperature on the kitchen counter overnight and use it like frosting. You can use this glaze to make truffles too! In this case, chill the Ganache. When you take it out of the fridge, form it into balls and roll it in chipped nuts or almonds and coat it with cocoa powder.
Cake Tip: if you use Ganache as a cake glaze, make sure to bring the cake to room temperature before slicing it for guests. That way the glaze won't crack and scatter into those pesky little crumbs!
For a real insider's track on the history of ganache and tips on how to make it even better, visit Stephanie Jaworski at The Joy of Baking. She offers tips and tricks on how to make your Ganache even better. What's so fantastic is that it's all so easy and the results are heavenly!
"A general guideline for making ganache.
To make a glaze or coating: 1 part cream to 3 parts chocolate.
To make a truffle filling: 1 part cream to 2 parts chocolate.
To make a light filling: 1 part cream to 1 part chocolate.
Ganache is widely used in the pastry kitchen.
When barely warm and liquid, ganache can be poured over a cake or torte for a smooth and shiny glaze.
If cooled to room temperature, it becomes a spreadable filling and frosting.
Refrigerated ganache can be whipped for fillings and frostings or formed into truffles."
The Shower Diva's Valentine's Day and Ganache Recipes Resource Guide:
- Watch "The Minimalist" Mark Bittman make ganache and ganache truffles! This video proves that creating this sophisticated, versatile dessert is a no-brainer!
- For heart shaped cookie cutters cake pans and red and pink squeezable cookie icing, check out the shopbakersnook.com.
- Valentine themed cake pans, Cookie Cutters and cupcake stands at Sugarcraft are tops!
- Recipe and instructions on how to make a cute Kissing Frog Valentine Cake
- Gorgeous Chocolate Heart Cake
- Instructions on how to make a romantic Heart-Shaped Cake
- This one gets the Diva prize for trendy and Fun -- Super Valentine's Cupcakes
- Easy Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes
HAPPY TASTING!
Susan, "The Shower Diva" ... Where Fun Reigns™
