Ganache

Ganache seemed really complicated to me, until I found out the ingredients were chocolate and heavy cream.  Simple enough.  Suspiciously simple.

When I tell you I spent hours researching ganache, I am not lying.  I eagerly searched recipes, watched videos, learned about the types of ganache (whipped, glaze, dipping, piped), it’s origins – basically I did more work looking into ganache than I did for most of my research papers.

While I make a lot of these fun recipes, I honestly make them once a month, and only eat one to try it to make sure it is edible before I pass it off to others.  I definitely love to eat sweets, but know moderation is key.  With that in mind, I began to look up alternatives to using heavy cream in a ganache without taking away from it’s deliciousness.  Alternatives I’ve found contain milk + butter, sour cream, and some others I can’t think of at the moment.

This recipe below is adapted from the knowledge gathered in the links at the end of this post.

Ganache

Yields: ~24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

-1/2 cup sour cream

-1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:

-Combine sour cream and chocolate chips in a bowl on a double boiler.

-Heat and stir until smooth.

-Optional step: after well-blended and smooth, you can add a 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or any flavor you desire.

-Let cool for about 10 minutes to thicken to use as a glaze.

Before the melting and stirring

As described in the big BAKE theory‘s blog, the sour cream alternative is more for a glaze versus being able to whip it.  I like the tangy-ness of the sour cream, and it is half the calories versus using heavy cream.  I will play around with the milk+butter alternative and report back!

These links below are pages I came across during my research process that I found useful:

JoyofBaking.com – http://www.joyofbaking.com/ganache.html

Cakes and More! – http://sumarowjee.blogspot.com/2010/10/low-fat-ganache-cheat-to-indulge.html

the big BAKE theory – http://bigbaketheory.com/2012/02/24/ganache-101/

SAVORY SWEET LIFE – http://savorysweetlife.com/2009/08/simply-glorious-chocolate-ganache-recipe-3-ways/

Cooking with Sugar TV – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reem1MnMduU