Jan 26, 2007
Ganache recipes can vary greatly in chocolate to cream ratios - this version falls somewhere in the middle and is great! I like to simplify the process by chopping the chips in my food processor until they resemble fine crumbs. Then I heat the cream in a heavy bottomed saucepan until it just starts to bubble around the edges, pour the hot cream down the feed tube of the food processor, add the vanilla and give it a whirl... in seconds you have wonderful ganache. I should mention that chocolate chips contain stabilizers that allow them to keep their shape while they are warm, and those stabilizers don't melt down smoothly like chocolate does, so for a smoother finished product, I strain the warm ganache through a fine mesh strainer (this is not a necessary step, but will give more professional results). Use this ganache warm as a pourable glaze, let it cool to room temp (over night) and use like a standard frosting, or chill until firm and whip with a heavy stand mixer until it's lighter in color and spreadable. You can even use this ganache to make authentic chocolate truffles - just roll the chilled ganache (unwhipped) into balls and coat with cocoa powder, chopped nuts, or whatever. By the way, I used this recipe to cover a chocolate wedding cake and it turned out wonderfully! One more hint: if you use this ganache to "frost" a cake, but be sure to bring the cake to room temperature before cutting (using a hot knife). You'll love this extremely versatile and tasty recipe!
—PATRINCIA
