Ganache

A smooth, silky mixture of semisweet chocolate, and cream, milk, butter (or a combination of the three), and made by slowly heating up the ingredients and stirring the mixture to a glossy sheen. The proportions of chocolate to cream vary, depending on the use of the ganache and can be flavoured with fruits spices and different liquors. Using more chocolate than cream yields a firmer ganache, whereas more cream than chocolate yields a softer more velvety mixture.

 When cooled slightly, ganache can be poured over cakes and pastries as a glaze. When chilled, it can be beaten with butter until fluffy to fill and frost cakes (ganache beurre or ganache soufflé) or on its own to make truffle centres.