Ganache grande

Fudge is fussy, ganache simple. Fudge is uncooperative, ganache versatile. So, switch to preparing chocolate the elegant and simplistic French ganache style, urges Julia Moskin

Chocolate fudge and hot fudge sauce are American classics, but let’s face it: Fudge is fussy. Fudge seizes if its sugar crystals get too large, stiffening up like a toddler in tantrum mode.

It’s uncooperative in humid weather. Fudge has to be stirred constantly while it boils, then immediately pulled off the heat at softball stage, which requires simultaneous access to a candy thermometer, a cup of cold water and a YouTube video.

It’s time to embrace something lower maintenance, easy-going, but elegant. In short, something French: ganache. Chocolate ganache is a fixture on dessert menus and sounds daunting, but in truth is just a melted-together mixture of chocolate and cream.

It takes about five minutes to put together, can be adjusted to taste like a classic fudge topping or a sophisticated dark chocolate drizzle and is easily the most impressive thing you can serve over homemade ice cream, or use to transform store-bought ice-cream or present on arrival as a house guest. 

There are plenty of recipes to prepare a fake “fudge sauce” with cocoa powder and corn syrup and butter, but the pure, straight-ahead chocolate flavour and the ease of ganache make it unbeatable. And the sauce is just the beginning.

“Ganache looks like a million things you want to make,” said the cookbook author Dorie Greenspan, who describes making ganache as “mesmerising.” 

There is something miraculous in how the lumpy mixture you start out with quickly comes together into a smooth, glossy, mahogany-brown emulsion. After that, it’s just a question of how to use it:

* Thin it with hot water to make a pourable sauce that becomes chewy and mouth-filling when it hits cold ice cream.

* Pour or pipe it warm over a cake, cupcakes or cookies; it will set as it cools to a soft, rich glaze. (If the icing loses its gloss as it sets, Greenspan advised, “Hit it with some heat from a blow dryer.”)

* Scrape it into a tart shell or pie crust, then let set at room temperature before refrigerating: It will firm up into a dense, velvety filling.

* Pour into a parchment-paper-lined baking pan, sprinkle with chopped nuts or coarse salt and let set at room temperature. Refrigerate, then cut into diamonds or squares to make bite-size bonbons. Serve cold.

* Let it come to room temperature, then whip it in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to make a fluffy cake frosting, or a filling for homemade sandwich cookies.

* Chill it, then use a melon baller to scoop, roll into balls and dust with cocoa powder to make truffles.

Ganache seems to have been invented at around the same time as fudge, in the late 19th century, when chocolate was just coming on the mass market.

French and Swiss chocolatiers experimented with blends of chocolate and dairy until they had a thick, plush, moldable cream that could be tweaked in innumerable ways.

At the time, even the best chocolate was inconsistent, so making ganache was a touchy business, best left to professionals. Greenspan said she learnt to make it from French pastry chef Pierre Hermé, who instructed her that it was necessary to stir the mixture in an outward spiral, starting from the centre.

Robert Linxe of Maison du Chocolate, a modern ganache master, insisted on bringing the cream to a boil three times before adding it to the chocolate.

Today, because top-quality chocolate is consistent and widely available, and because commercial cream is pasteurised and homogenised, ganache is nearly foolproof. It is equally good, whether made in a $300 copper saucepan, or in a measuring jar in the microwave.

As long as you don’t burn it, ganache can endure rough handling and even neglect (It lasts nearly forever in the refrigerator). A chilled jar of it can be reheated several times in a saucepan of simmering water or in the microwave.

If the sauce becomes grainy, a little hot water or cream and a whisk will restore its texture. For any chocolate sauce or ganache, always use top-quality chocolate with plenty of real cocoa butter, like Scharffen Berger or Valrhona. Don’t go more than a few ticks above 70 percent chocolate solids; the cocoa butter that makes up most of the rest of the bar is needed to keep the mixture smooth.

When buying cream, look for a pasteurised one from a local dairy; most national brands are ultra-pasteurised, which changes the cream’s fat structure and flavour. 

[Note: Read the label to make sure the cream is just that: cream. The Food and Drug Administration allows manufacturers to add emulsifiers, sweeteners and stabilisers to products labeled “heavy cream.”]

In France, ganache is usually made with crème fraîche instead of sweet cream, giving it a tangy brightness. The cream can be infused with spices like cinnamon, ginger or black pepper; with herbs like mint or lavender; with extracts like vanilla, coffee, almond or orange. Rum, brandy and most other liqueurs are ganache-friendly.

If instant gratification is the goal, Alice Medrich, a California chocolatier, has a quick formula for making hot chocolate sauce to taste. Over very low heat, melt any amount of bitter or semi-sweet chocolate, along with a half-cup of any liquid - milk, cream, rice milk, coffee, or even water.

Almond milk and coconut milk work especially well, because they are high in fat (and, a bonus for some: The finished sauce will be vegan). Keep whisking in liquid until the sauce has the consistency you like. If the taste is too intense (for example, if you have used bittersweet chocolate and coffee), mix in chunks of butter to tone it down. 

Add vanilla to round out the flavour and salt with caution. Not everyone is a fan of the salted-chocolate trend, especially children. This sauce may or may not be a ganache in the end, but you will hear no complaints. Pour with abandon.