We made buttercream; we made mousse; this week we make *drumroll* chocolate ganache! To say this is what I’ve been looking forward to the most since conceptualising this 100-days project is not an exaggeration.
I’ve made ganache a couple of times before; but in ~32C heat and about 90% humidity. It was not a pleasant experience. I’ve been looking forward to making ganache in better weather conditions where my chocolate melts without any heated cream on it.
The “complicated” recipe
The best thing about ganache – apart from its glorious taste – is the simplicity. Ganache uses only two ingredients: chocolate and heavy cream. (This was a problem in staging my cover image for the blog post because two ingredients do not look good. Proof below.)
The basic ganache – if you’re using dark chocolate – is one part chocolate to one part cream, by weight. If you’re using milk or white chocolate, you’ll need to increase the amount of chocolate to get the same consistency.
As not making it too sweet is one of my key criteria, I went with 40% dark chocolate, and a ratio of 1:1.
You can also play with the ratios to make your ganache thinner – ideal for dipping fruit – or thicker – for truffle, for example. Basics are called basics for a reason, and I went with the basic ratio for the purpose of this CBP experiment.
I made two types of ganache: the normal ganache and a whipped ganache.
The process is pretty simple. Heat the cream until it simmers and steams: not until it boils. Then add the cream to your finely chopped chocolate. Let it sit for a few minutes, stir, and viola!
This is when you add the boozy goodness to the ganache. I went with 1/2 teaspoon, as I made only about 1/3 cup of ganache.
Patience is overrated
Another good thing about ganache is unlike mousse, you don’t need to wait forever to try it. Once the ganache cools down to room temperature, it thickens and you can proceed to use it.
For whipped ganache, I popped the bowl in the fridge for about 5 minutes – until I cleared the counter. Cleaning as you go, etc. Look at me now, mother! Then I whipped it using a hand mixer. It comes together pretty quick. You can use it right away thereafter.
I assembled the CBP with layers of the OG Malibal Gold Marie soaked in warm milk, and off in the fridge they went.
I admit that J and I then proceeded to do a taste testing in the form of licking the spoon and wrestling over the mixer’s whisks.
After about 3 hours, they were ready to go. In our tummies.
The Results
The CBPs had set beautifully – so much better than my harried (“Can we eat it yet?”) and hurried photos can convey.
I have newfound appreciation for food photographers because how do you do it?! Teach me your ways!
Anyway –
The (original) ganache
Look how glorious and perfect! It was rich, gooey, boozy, and a lovely velvet-y texture that contrasted beautifully with the soaked biscuit.
We both took our first bites and declared this the best one yet!
Score: 5/5
The whipped ganache
While it was a little annoying to assemble, it had set beautifully. The taste was perfect, and it wasn’t as rich as the original ganache.
The lightness of the whipped ganache didn’t work too well with the texture of the soaked biscuits, we thought. It was still delicious though.
Score: 4.5/5
The winner is…
~*~ Chocolate ganache ~*~
J and I both agreed that this was the best filling for the CBP. It wasn’t sickly sweet (I’m looking at you chocolate buttercream), and the richness of the chocolate was beautifully present in the filling.
More best things about chocolate ganache…
… to the point I am knowingly ignoring grammar:
- Two ingredients. Two bowls to wash. Win.
- The cream can be infused, making my signature CBP experiments much easier to do. I can brew tea, steep spices, add fruit extracts, and play around as much as I want with flavour because the heating of cream allows strong flavour infusion.
- Depending on the type of chocolate I use, I can make it taste richer or not. I’ve had my eye on a couple of chocolate brands for a while now. It would have been a waste to use them on mousse or – the horror of horrors – buttercream.
- Two bowls to wash. Only two.
- This type of chocolate richness makes it easier to pair it with other flavours. A burst of citrus, chilli, ginger. The list is endless.
- I have to wash only two bowls and one of them don’t even have chocolate in it!
The thing is, as I set out to figure out the best filling for CBP, I had an inkling that a chocolate ganache would be the best option. If only I had such foresight and intuition in life outside the kitchen.
I’m not sure what I’ll tackle next week.
I have several writing deadlines looming.
Therefore, I’m excited to spend this week figuring out if I should test ganache pairings or play around with baking biscuits to use in place of Maliban Gold Marie. As much as it kills me to do so, travelling ~40km for a packet of biscuits seems a tad excessive.
Onwards!
Minoli Wijetunga 
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