Ganache is perhaps the tastiest filling you could ever use in whatever cakes you're making. Besides as a suitable filling, it can also serve as the foundation of smaller sweets, such as chocolate truffles for example, or to decorate various cakes.
Its taste is rich, with a wonderful aroma and there's hardly any kid out there that doesn't love to lick the bowl his mother used to prepare ganache. Besides, the recipe for it is not at all difficult, it takes no longer than 15 min. to complete.
It's made from cream, chocolate and a little butter, with whether it's sweeter or more bitter depending on whether you use natural dark chocolate or milk chocolate with added sugar.
What's important to remember is that the ratio between cream and chocolate needs to be 1:3. Before we familiarize you with the method of preparation of ganache, let's learn a little history about its origins.
Ever since they began making ganache, around the 1850s, there's been debate about whether it was the creation of Swiss or French confectioners.
According to some, it originated in an old Parisian patisserie, while others say the Swiss came up with the idea of ganache since it was used to make chocolate truffles as well. And chocolate truffles are indeed a Swiss creation.
No matter what the truth is, the genuine, natural taste of ganache quickly became a favorite among confectioners, chefs and the more experienced of hosts. Here is the most common recipe on how to make it and some ideas on how to use it:
Ingredients: 9 oz chocolate (not too sweet), 2 tbsp butter, 3/4 cup whipped cream.
Preparation: Break the chocolate into pieces and put them in a suitable container. Separately, mix the butter and cream and leave them to heat on a moderate stove. Everything needs to happen gradually.
Once the cream mixture begins to boil, pour it into the chocolate and while stirring carefully, wait for it to melt. Once you get a homogeneous mixture, the ganache is ready.
If you like, you can add ground nuts, alcohol essence of rum, brandy, cognac or vanilla to the aforementioned classic recipe.
Besides for chocolate truffles, ganache can be served on its own as a cooled cream, as a filling for layer cakes or rolls, for bonbons and all kinds of other desserts.
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