INGREDIENTS
Dark Chocolate Ganache
2 parts chocolate : 1 part cream
Milk Chocolate Ganache
3 parts chocolate : 1 part cream
White Chocolate Ganache
3 parts chocolate : 1 part cream
INSTRUCTIONS
Chop the chocolate into smallish (roughly half an inch or less) pieces.
Find yourself a saucepan big enough to hold all of your cream and chocolate, and weigh the cream straight into it. Place the pan over a medium-high heat and bring it just to a boil. The bubbles should cover most of the cream’s surface.
Make sure you watch it carefully, once it comes to the boil it can quickly boil over. Remove from the heat and leave it until the bubbles stop.
Add the chopped chocolate to the pan, and gently shake the pan until the chocolate is mostly covered by the cream. Don’t stir it yet, just leave it to sit and melt for a few minutes.
Gently stir with a silicone spatula (or use a wire whisk for dark chocolate ganache, as it is softer). Keep stirring until the chocolate and cream fully combine and become smooth.
If there are still unmelted pieces of chocolate in the ganache, place the pan back over a very low heat, and stir constantly until no lumps remain and the ganache is glossy and smooth.
If you happen to own a stick mixer/hand blender, then you can use that to give the ganache a quick blitz to ensure all the chocolate is melted and that the emulsion is smooth.
If you want to colour the ganache, you can do that now.
Pour the ganache into a microwave-safe bowl, leave to cool then cover with plastic wrap on the surface of the ganache and leave overnight at room temperature to set.
If you don’t have time to let the ganache set at room temperature then you can speed it up by putting it in the fridge – just make sure you stir it often so that it cools and sets evenly.
You can store the ganache at room temperature for a couple of days, or refrigerate it for a month or so, or freeze it for a little longer. These time frames are an indication only and could vary depending on the ingredients used and storage temperatures, so you will need to use your discretion when storing.
