Muscovado Chocolate Ganache Recipe

Ganache is cream and chocolate that is melted together, forming a thick, shiny, and utterly delicious sweet treat. It is a staple in any baker's kitchen. Uniquely versatile, ganache can be used to make truffles, frosting, or a delicious patisserie filling.

The key difference between this recipe and other ganache recipes is the addition of muscovado sugar. Considered to be an artisanal sugar, this small, but luxurious addition offers an extra dimension of flavor to the ganache, providing a rich, caramel-toffee taste alongside the dark chocolate. If it's proving hard to locate muscovado sugar, brown sugar works well as a replacement. 

Recipe developer Jennine Rye assures us that this recipe is extra simple, as well as super decadent. The trick when making any form of ganache is to heat the cream first, and then pour it over the chocolate to melt it. This ensures that the chocolate doesn't burn, but instead, it creates a smooth, glossy finish. 

To make this muscovado chocolate ganache recipe, first you will need to gather the ingredients. You will need muscovado sugar, double cream or heavy cream, 70% dark cooking chocolate, and a pinch of sea salt.

For this recipe, you will want to use the best cooking chocolate that you can find. Don't be tempted to swap out cooking chocolate for chocolate chips, as these are made with a special non-melt coating, and will not result in a silky smooth ganache. The best rule to follow when cooking any dish where chocolate is the star, is to make sure you use chocolate that is high quality. That way, you can guarantee that the final product will be delicious.

To most effectively melt the chocolate for the ganache, you will want to break, or chop it up into small pieces before placing it into a medium-sized, heatproof bowl.

Then, place the muscovado sugar, cream, and sea salt into a small saucepan, and heat it up slowly over low. Keep stirring to allow the sugar to combine with the cream as it melts; the mixture will soon begin to take on a beautiful, golden caramel color. Make sure that the mixture doesn't boil; the cream should be hot enough to melt the sugar, but not too hot when poured onto the chocolate.

Once the muscovado sugar has completely melted into the cream mixture, take it off the heat, and pour it into the bowl over the broken-up chocolate. Then, using a fork or a spoon, begin to stir the contents of the bowl to combine the chocolate and cream mixture. Soon, it will become glossy, though it may take a while for all of the chocolate pieces to melt, so keep stirring until the ganache is fully smooth.

The stirring of the ganache will help decrease its temperature, but it is best to wait for it to reach room temperature before using it to frost cakes. If you would like to use this ganache recipe to make truffles, it should be placed in the fridge for 4 to 6 hours to harden completely before being rolled.