My love of chocolate springs all the way back to infancy, I think. In fact, I’m pretty sure my first words were, “dada”, “mama”, and “chocolate.” Chocolate and I have a very special relationship. I eat it when I’m happy. I eat it when I’m sad. I eat it when I’m busy. I eat it when I’m bored. I even eat all of the leftover chocolate ganache out of the bowl when I’m done frosting a cake… with my fingers.
When I was younger and growing out of my puberty fat, which for me was a lot (I grew a foot and lost 50 lbs in a year,) I did most of my eating in secret, mostly because I still had (have) body image issues from those years. This way, during family meals, I would appear to not eat as much and hopefully outgrow my nickname, Corky Porky. I know, healthy, huh? Rushing into the kitchen after school to hoard a couple handfuls of cookies before anyone else saw me, and run into the bathroom to consume my bounty I had plundered in a private place nobody would catch me. And somehow, during my high school years and most of my twenties, I remained relatively thin. Of course, my late twenties saw the return of the belly, and I have just learned to live with it, although, I’m once again thinking of another 3 week plan on the L.A. Weightloss diet to lose the 15-20 lbs I’ve gained over the course of my unemployment. And yes, for some reason, this diet actually worked for me, even though I was on it because my partner was on it, but had to quit after 3 weeks because I didn’t feel someone my size should be losing 6 lbs a week. That, and I’d already met my goal weight, frighteningly. But one thing I had to give up was chocolate, and I don’t know if I’m willing to go without my best friend again for that long.
So when I started making cakes, I needed a recipe for chocolate frosting, and one that was easy and tasted good. My critique of most store-bought chocolate frostings is that they taste more like shortening, and less like the food of the gods. So I hopped onto my trusty little friend, the internet, and searched for chocolate frosting recipes when I landed on the one; the holy grail of all chocolate frosting recipes; the life-altering epiphany from heaven: Chocolate Ganache.
Anybody who has every made homemade frosting knows that sometimes the consistency is the hardest part to conquer. Sometimes it’s too thin and runny, too thick and unspreadable to the point it tears your cake apart and you scream out, “FTS!” and make a trifle instead, and sometimes it is too airy and your cake looks like it has pock marks from a bad case of acne as a teenager. This isn’t to say that chocolate ganache doesn’t have problems, it’s just easier to fix them than other frostings if they occur. But the same recipe yields different results depending on which stage of the cooling process you use it, which makes it my most versatile recipe. While still warm, it can be used as a glaze. When it has cooled, it can be used as any other frosting, though it will be much richer than your average frosting, and much thicker too. Or, you can whip it until it resembles chocolate whipping cream, and frost your cake or fill a piping bag and pipe swirlies on the tops of cupcakes. Sometimes, I just use a large round tip and pipe the swirls which makes them look like cute edible pooh-piles. Whipped ganache keeps its shape, as it sets quickly, but melts in your mouth upon biting into it, filling you with peace, love and hope for a better tomorrow.
Again, I love chocolate. Chocolate chip cookies, brownies, cake, truffles, candy bars, cocoa, etc. No matter what, I refuse to give up chocolate again. Now, this isn’t to say that I’ll go all suicidal and split my wrists in the bath tub while singing loudly through my tears the words to Mariah Carey’s “I Can’t Live (If Living is Without You)” if the doctor tells me I can’t have it anymore, it just means I will probably go back to being a secret eater.
2 cups heavy cream
In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the cream to almost boiling (steam but no bubbles.) Add the chocolate chips, cover and remove from heat. Let stand for 10 minutes then stir until smooth. Allow to cool to desired consistency.
Or, when the cream is hot but not boiling, add chocolate chips and stir until smooth, making sure the cream never gets to boiling or the chocolate will separate and/or burn.
Or, using the double boiler method, place a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water and add the cream and chocolate, stirring constantly until smooth.
Or, and this is the method I use, put the chocolate chips in the bowl of a stand mixer, and heat the cream in the microwave until almost boiling. To make sure it is hot enough, I usually take it to boiling and then allow it to cool slightly before adding the chocolate. This is easily accomplished by testing the temperature with a metal spoon. If when you insert the spoon, nothing happens, keep heating it in 30 second intervals. If, however, you insert the spoon and it begins to bubble rapidly, it is boiling hot. Once it is at this point, I retest with the spoon every 15 seconds until it no longer bubbles, then add it to the chocolate in the stand mixer’s bowl and, using the whisk attachment, set the speed to STIR or LOW until it is smooth. At this point, if I plan on using any as a glaze, I take a small amount out and put it into a separate microwavable bowl. Then, every 30 minutes, I stir it for a few seconds until it has cooled to the point I can whip it. On MEDIUM speed, whip the ganache until it resembles whipping cream at the soft peak stage, which can take anywhere from a minute to five. I know some of you might be worried how this will frost, being so runny, but trust me, any further than this and you will have to reheat and start the process all over again and your 2 – 3 hours you just spent waiting to frost your cake will be for naught. Frost cake as usual, and/or fill piping bag to pipe decorations. This is also the perfect cake filling, even if using another frosting, because it holds its shape beautifully and does not settle like other fillings tend to.
Here are a few tips and pointers:
- If you don’t want to come back to the ganache every 30 minutes to stir or whisk it, don’t. It usually takes about two to three hours to cool in a moderately heated home, but on warm humid days, it may take longer, alternately less time on cooler, dry days. Once it has cooled to the correct consistency, aka frosting consistency, whip it or use it.
- If it has separated due to overheated cream, remove from heat and taste. If it tastes burnt, it probably is useless, but if it tastes fine, continue whisking it off the heat, maybe adding a tablespoon or two of cold heavy cream or butter to help cool it down, until it is smooth again.
- If your cream was not hot enough and there are still bits of unmelted chocolate, you can either reheat and stir again until smooth, or just filter them out through a mesh sieve while it is still warm and glazey.
- You can also make this recipe using regular whipping cream, which has a much lower fat content, however, the ratio drops from equal parts, to 2 parts chocolate to 1 part whipping cream, and thusly, reduces the amount of ganache.
- If making milk or white chocolate ganache, the ratio is different because these chocolates do not contain the same properties as semisweet or bittersweet chocolates. Milk and white chocolate ganache is 2 parts chocolate to one part heavy cream, or a ½ part whipping cream. Any more cream than that, and you will end up with a lovely dessert sauce, but it will not work for frosting.
- Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks, or frozen for 3 months. Just remember to bring to room temperature and stir thoroughly before frosting.
- If you want to make truffles, omit ¼ cup heavy cream, add two tablespoons butter, stir until smooth, then pour into a shallow baking pan (7x11 or 9x13), allow to cool, then spoon out and form 1” balls, coating them with either unsweetened cocoa or powdered sugar or melted chocolate for a hard shell. These will keep for a week at room temperature, 3 weeks in the fridge and a year in the freezer.
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