Ganache is the super smooth, super chocolaty glaze that is sometimes used to cover cakes, ice brownies, or even as the filling for chocolate truffles. Chocolate eclairs are also generally topped with ganache. A staple of the pastry world, ganache is actually really easy to make.
Ganache is made by boiling heavy cream and adding it to semisweet chocolate. The cream melts the chocolate into creamy chocolaty goodness. It will be warm when you first make it, because the cream was boiling hot. It will also be pourable and spreadable. As the ganache cools, it also thickens up, so that you can't pour it or spread it on a cake (but you can, however, form it into truffles when it's cool). Simple warm it up again like in a double boiler or even the microwave briefly, it will regain it's pourable quality.
GANACHE
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips (1 bag)
12 oz. heavy cream (1 and 1/2 cups)
honey - optional
Put the chocolate chips in a bowl. Boil the heavy cream and add it to the chocolate chips. Slowly stir the cream and chocolate together until the chocolate melts and the mixture becomes very smooth. That's basically it. You can probably make a thicker ganache by using a little less of the cream, like 1 or 1 and 1/4 cup, but this recipe will make it very pourable. You can add a little bit of honey to make it shiny, that is optional.
TO FROST A CAKE:
Get the cake ready for the frosting. Make sure the top layer is smooth and flat. Pour the ganache over the cake, then use an offset spatula to spread the ganache towards the edges of the cake. It will drip over the sides, and that's how the sides get frosted. Don't overwork the ganache. If it is still warm when you stop spreading it, it will smooth itself out.
TO MAKE CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES:
Wait until the ganache is fully cooled. If you know you want to make truffles, maybe you can use the lesser of the heavy cream to make it thicker. Use a little scoop or a small spoon to scoop the ganache, and form round balls of ganache about 3/4 inch in size. Make sure they stay cool after they are formed. (We made truffles last summer in Miami, and it was so warm that day, the truffles started to lose their round shape... they were still delicious). Now melt some chocolate in a double boiler, either milk chocolate or semi-sweet. When the chocolate is melted, dip the round balls of ganache into the chocolate to coat them, and set them on a parchment or wax paper to cool. You can decorate the truffles with cocoa powder, melted white chocolate that you drip across to form white lines, or you can decorate the dark chocolate with milk chocolate stripes, and the milk chocolate with dark chocolate stripes. Use your imagination!
To make the chocolate lines, put the melted white or brown chocolate in a plastic baggie, then make a tiny hole in the corner of the bag. Squeeze the melted chocolate out through that little hole, and you can either use the tip of the baggie like a pen to draw chocolaty designs, or you can hold the baggie up higher, and squeeze lines of chocolate across the truffles. Enjoy!!!!!
