Ganache: Secret to Perfect Hot Chocolate, even at Work

Anyone that's taken one of my baking classes knows the one of my favorite things to teach and make is Ganache.

 

 

The simple chocolate and cream sauce is oh so much more than the sauce.  You can pour it on a cake like chocolate glaze, you can let it cool and set to the consistency of Nutella so that you can spread onto a cake like frosting or inside like a wonderful filling. 

When it's warm, you could roll marshmallows in it, and then roll that into crushed graham crackers for a take on a Smore.

Ganache can even whipped it to be like a dense mouse that you can pipe into a cupcake or inside of a Bundt Hole. Yes, I said Bundt Hole.

 

But one of the best things to do is make your very own hot chocolate, or drinking chocolate.

First, here's the base recipe for ganache, taken from my cookbook, Kiss My Bundt. 

Recipe: Equal Parts Chocolate and Heavy Cream.  It's really that easy. 

• 8oz heavy cream (not skim milk, not whole milk, seriously.  heavy cream.)
• 8oz your favorite dark or semi-sweet chocolate.

 

Directions: 
1. In a saucepan, whisk cream over medium high heat. 

BE SURE TO WHISK--whisking distributes the heat throughout the cream and keeps the cream from being on the bottom of the pan too long which causes the cream to burn.  You want the cream to be hot, not boiling.

 

2.  Bring cream to a near boil--it should be hot enough to melt chocolate.  So, about 180-190 degrees.  Or, think of it as about as hot as a latte from your favorite coffeeshop.

Remember, keep whisking until you reach your idea temperature.

 

3.  Remove cream from heat and add the chocolate.

4. Whisk the chocolate into the cream until it has completely melted into a glossy sauce.

That's ganache.  how easy, right?

Let your ganache cool and put in a jar or tupperware.  You can let this sit out at room temperature, away from a heat source, for a week or so.

 

Incredible Hot Chocolate (even at work using a microwave)

1.  Pour about 8 ounces of milk into your coffee mug.  Microwave said milk until warm.  So it on a low setting, say 70%, so that the milk doesn't bubble out and make a mess in your microwave.

2.  Add 2-3 tbsp of your ganache into your warm milk.  Stir it up.

3.  Voila!  Gourmet Hot Chocolate to soothe you on a cold day.  (or whenever you crave intense chocolate).

So easy, and so tasty.