Chocolate ganache may sound grand and complicated but it only consists of two ingredients – chocolate and cream. The process of making a ganache involves heating cream and mixing it with finely chopped chocolate to create a glossy mixture, perfect for topping rich chocolate cakes or turning into decadent hand-rolled truffles. The only real variant is the amount of cream required; a general rule of thumb is a ratio of two parts chocolate to one part cream for a firm ganache, usually used for truffles, even quantities for icing and two parts cream to one part chocolate for a luxurious, shiny chocolate sauce.
As there are so few ingredients needed to make a ganache it is really important to use the best quality chocolate you can find. Use dark chocolate with cocoa solids over 70% and stay away from ‘cooking’ chocolate as the flavour is inferior. Ganache can also be made with milk chocolate, but be sure to lower the amount of cream you use as the higher fat and milk content will give a softer set.