Ganache

Ganache (UK: /ɡəˈnæʃ/, US: /ɡəˈnɑːʃ/;^[1] French: [ɡanaʃ]) is a glaze, icing, sauce, or filling for pastries, made from chocolate and cream.^[2]

Ganache

Chocolate ganache being poured into a bowl
Type	Chocolate
Place of origin	France
Main ingredients	Dark semi-sweet chocolate, cream
Media: Ganache

In the broad sense of the term, ganache is an emulsion between (melted) solid chocolate (which is made with cocoa butter, the fat phase) and a water-based ingredient, which can be cream, milk or fruit pulp.^[3] It has a smooth and shiny appearance.^[4] Depending on the ratio of cocoa butter and water in the finished product, ganache can be either semi-solid or liquid at room temperature, which allows its usage in a wide diversity of desserts and confectionery items.^[5]

Preparation

Ganache is a chocolate preparation containing cream. The ratio between these ingredients varies across preparations depending on the final purpose of the ganache. A 1:1 ratio will produce a relatively hard ganache appropriate for icing or filling foods. More chocolate makes a "heavy" ganache, appropriate for making truffles; more liquid makes a thinner, "pourable" ganache that can then be whipped.^[4][6]

In preparing a ganache, cream and sometimes butter are heated. If the ganache is being infused with flavorings such as herbs or a tea, they are added to the boiling cream and left to steep for several minutes. After this, liquid is added to bring the ganache to its pre-boiling volume. The heated cream is added to chocolate, left to stand for a few minutes, and then stirred to combine. Finally, liqueurs or flavored pastes are sometimes added.^[4]

History

Ganache was said to have been created accidentally in the 1850s in Paris at a confectionary shop owned by Paul Siraudin, after an apprentice spilled cream on chocolate, prompting his master to call him "ganache" (meaning "idiot").^[7][8] Ganache or crème ganache was originally sold as a kind of chocolate truffle.^[9] Siraudin named the sweet after a popular Vaudeville comedy debuted in that year by his contemporary Victorien Sardou called Les Ganaches ("The Chumps").^[10][11]

Other ganache-like sweets were probably made earlier. Jordan & Timaeus sold chocolate combining cocoa paste, sugar and fresh milk in 1839 in Dresden.^[12]

Gallery

• 
  Ganache being poured atop a cake
• 
  Peanut butter fudge covered in ganache
• 
  A chocolate cake with ganache frosting
• A video of making ganache

See also

• Food portal

• Enrobing — a chocolate coating process
• Chocolate tempering