Ganache is just a harmless little French word for a 2-ingredient concoction. Really. Ganache is just a rich fudgy concoction made of cream and chocolate, melted together. It's a glaze, an icing, a sauce........ Pretty simple, and certainly not frightening. You are braver than any ganache.
Depending on how you let it thicken - or not -- ganache is the smooth sheet of thick fudge icing on a cupcake....a rich hot fudge sauce for your ice cream, a lovely filling for sandwich cookies, a warm fondue sauce for dipping fruit or cake cubes, a brownie or cake glaze or doughnut icing...... Or fold cooled ganache into whipped cream for an instant chocolate mousse. And if that's not quite enough chocolate, accompany any of those with a cup of hot chocolate made by stirring ganache into warm milk for the ultimate jolt of cacao heaven. Yowza.
Here are two simple ways to make ganache: ( Actually, all ways to make ganache are simple) In a microwave: Place 8 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate ( finely chopped, or chips are fine) in a medium bowl. In a glass measuring cup, nuke 3/4 c. heavy whipping cream on high 1-2 minutes or until it comes to a boil. Immediately pour it over the chocolate and stir til smooth. Cool just a bit- til slightly warm - and stir in 2 TB softened butter, unsalted is best, stir til melted. Now , based on what you intend to do with it, use it now, or let it cool a bit to thicken, or of you want it really thick, put in the fridge until it's the thickness you want. Stir now and then to check on the consistency.
or, use a saucepan - put the cream and chocolate in together and slowly warm, stirring, over low heat, til its completely melted and smooth. Let cool a couple minutes off the heat and stir in the butter. Butter adds the shine. Because I feel that the hot pan keeps the ganache warm and spoonable longer, I tend to use this method when doing large batches of cupcakes or brownies that take a little longer to get them all iced.
3/4 cup of cream to 12 oz chocolate will make enough to glaze an 8 or 9 inch 2-layer cake or a 13x9 cake.
To make a to-die-for ice cream sauce, use the saucepan method using 8 oz finely chopped chocolate and 1 cup whipping cream. It can be covered and stored in the fridge for about a month.
And if you want to see the similarity between making a ganache and a super-duperly-easy 2 minute 'chocolat pot de creme', enter it into the search bar on this blog and laugh merrily as you picture yourself saying modestly "oh gosh, it's really just a ganache"!
You're very welcome.
