Ganache (, ; ) is a glaze, icing, sauce, or filling for pastries, made from chocolate and cream.
In the broad sense of the term, ganache is an emulsion between (melted) solid chocolate (which is made with cocoa butter, the fat phase) and a water-based ingredient, which can be cream, milk or fruit pulp. It has a smooth and shiny appearance. Depending on the ratio of cocoa butter and water in the finished product, ganache can be either semi-solid or liquid at room temperature, which allows its usage in a wide diversity of desserts and confectionery items.
Ganache is a chocolate preparation containing cream. The ratio between these ingredients varies across preparations depending on the final purpose of the ganache. A 1:1 ratio will produce a relatively hard ganache appropriate for icing or filling foods. More chocolate makes a "heavy" ganache, appropriate for making truffles; more liquid makes a thinner, "pourable" ganache that can then be whipped.
In preparing a ganache, cream and sometimes butter are heated. If the ganache is being infused with flavorings such as herbs or a tea, they are added to the boiling cream and left to steep for several minutes. After this, liquid is added to bring the ganache to its pre-boiling volume. The heated cream is added to chocolate, left to stand for a few minutes, and then stirred to combine. Finally, liqueurs or flavored pastes are sometimes added.
Ganache was said to have been created accidentally in the 1850s in Paris at a confectionary shop owned by Paul Siraudin, after an apprentice spilled cream on chocolate, prompting his master to call him "ganache" (meaning "idiot"). Ganache or crème ganache was originally sold as a kind of chocolate truffle. Siraudin named the sweet after a popular Vaudeville comedy debuted in that year by his contemporary Victorien Sardou called Les Ganaches ("The Chumps").
Other ganache-like sweets were probably made earlier. Jordan & Timaeus sold chocolate combining cocoa paste, sugar and fresh milk in 1839 in Dresden.