Chocolate Ganache

The first recipe on this blog was a Chocolate-Coffee-Banana Cake. Back then in February my friend Uday commented on my Facebook link that he wants me to bake it for him. Well he had to wait a while but when I was invited for a common friends birthday party last Saturday I decided to bake the cake. Matching to the occasion I dressed the cake up a bit. I gave it a generous coating with a dark chocolate ganache.

I must say it goes well with the cake. I first thought it might be too much of chocolate which is something that I don't really like. And considering the feedback I got I was not the only one who liked it.

Chocolate Ganache is a very versatile cake topping or filling. It is basically only a mixture of whip cream and chocolate. But by changing the ratio of the 2 ingredients or the type of chocolate you use you can completely change it's texture and flavour. I used for the ganache used in the picture above a mixture of 200ml whip cream and 200g dark chocolate (with 70% cocoa) broken into small pieces.

To get a smooth mixture it it is important that the cream and the chocolate are heated together. I pour the cream into a stainless steal bowl that is slightly bigger than the pot I use and add the chocolate to it. Now I fill the pot about halfway with water and put it on the stove. On top of it I put the bowl with the cream and chocolate.

Heat up the water but avoid that it comes to a boiling point as any water that might spill into the cream mixture will ruin it. I constantly stir the mixture with a spatula. This way I avoid that the chocolate gets stuck to the side of the bowl. Once the chocolate is completely melted I take the bowl off the pot and stir the mixture until I have a smooth mass.

I let is cool down a bit and than spread it generously over the cake. The advantage of a ganache to a chocolate coating or icing is that it stays soft and shiny. And it doesn't have the extreme sweetness of a frosting or icing.

As much as I like sweets I am not a fan of extremely sweet things. Neither am I very fond of pastry that is filled with sugary butter cream that covers all other flavours. Even if I like very dark chocolate I don’t like 'death by chocolate' cakes. A chocolate cake filled with chocolate cream, coated in chocolate ganache and served with chocolate sauce is just too much of chocolate for me. For me a cake needs to have a balance of flavours.

This is why I change the ratio to 400ml whip cream and 200g chocolate if I want to use the ganache as a cake filling. After the chocolate is melted and well combined with the cream I let the mixture cool down completely and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours. Than I whisk it into a fluffy chocolate cream. This adds a nice volume to the ganache and make it a bit less heavy. It has now a texture similar to a Mousse au Chocolat and a milder chocolate flavour.

If you don't whip it up you can serve it as a chocolate sauce for example with waffles, pancakes or ice cream.

You can also add up flavours to it. I for example like to add a bit of Cointreau, Amaretto or mint oil to the cold cream before I add the chocolate to it. This way I avoid that the melted chocolate reacts to the liquid.

Nice is also to melt some nougat along with the chocolate. This gives a nice hazelnut flavour. It goes especially well with milk chocolate.

For those among you who don't like the very dark chocolate so much you can use also milk chocolate for it. This is especially nice if you fill an almond sponge cake with it.

Now let your creativity go wild with you. I would love to hear where it took you.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola