Many people labour under the misapprehension that chocolate and water don’t mix, but in actual fact, nothing brings out the pure taste of chocolate better than water.  Although cream is traditionally used in ganache, it tends to alter the flavour of the chocolate.  It also adds A LOT of calories to the ganache.

So, if you love ganache – who doesn’t? – you simply HAVE to try this recipe.  I can guarantee that you won’t be disappointed!

There are many variations and methods.  Some people tell you to boil the water first and then add the chocolate, some tell you to melt the chocolate first and then add the water a tablespoon full at a time (I don’t like this one at all!)…

With this recipe, you just chuck it all together and melt.

Note:  the quality of the ganache will depend solely on the quality of the chocolate.  If you aren’t fussed, use stale chocolate bars.  If you want the best of the best of ganaches, use the best chocolate you can find.

Christina’s Chocolate Water Ganache

This is my Godmother’s Chocolate Water Ganache Recipe and it is both simple and divine!

Ingredients

• 250g Chocolate
• 100 ml water
• Optional:
  • Coffee:  half a teaspoon of coffee dissolved in a teaspoon of boiling water – this will enhance the taste of the chocolate!
  • Chilli:  you can always add a pinch of dried chillies or chilli powder to your ganache.  This is a particular favourite of my Christina’s and makes the chocolate taste “warm”.  People often mistake the taste, if subtle enough, for added alcohol.

Method

1. Place the water and the chocolate into the top of a double-boiler (or a bowl placed over a pot of boiling water) and melt, stirring to mix the two ingredients.
2. Once the chocolate is all melted, keep heating and stirring the ganache to let some of the water evaporate.

If you are going to drizzle the ganache over a cake, wait about half an hour for the ganache to cool down and then pour it over the cake.  If you are going to spread it onto a cake, wait until the ganache is the consistency of peanut butter and then spread/pipe it onto your cake.  Don’t put it in the fridge to cool down, though, as this will make the ganache set!  Not necessarily the end of the world as you can make truffles instead :)

Storing the Ganache

If you are intending to keep the ganache, place it in a clean mason jar and keep it in the fridge.  It will last for ages and ages (if you don’t eat it all first).  The ganache will become very stiff once refrigerated so if you want to use it as an ice-cream sauce later on, just spoon out a little bit and blast it in the microwave for a few seconds to make it nice and runny again.

Cream Ganache

If you have your heart set on cream ganache, Savoury Sweet Life has a lovely recipe and tutorial for making Chocolate Ganache 3 Ways (glazed, whipped and piped).  Her photos are beautiful!

Adding Alcohol to the Ganache

You might want to add some alcohol to your ganache.  You COULD add the alcohol to the water and the chocolate before heating, but that would cause some of the alcohol to evaporate.  Instead, you could make the ganache as stipulated above, heat some alcohol in the microwave for 10 seconds, and then mix the two.  Alternatively, have a look at this Very Informative Post.

Chocolate Macarons

If you are more interested in the Macarons than in the ganache, that’s ok too.  I made the macarons using THIS TUTORIAL for Almost Foolproof Macarons by My Food Geek.  The recipe uses the Italian meringue method, which makes the macarons a lot more stable and a lot less prone to failure.  I have made 3 batches now and all three of them came out lovely!

If you’re after a fancy tutorial with a lovely recipe for Italian Meringue Macarons with Lemon Verbena Ganache, head over to Dessertfirstgirl.  Like my Pieter says:  “it makes me want to eat my face off!”

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