Recipe: 00040 Title : Chocolate Ganache Author: Mary Malmros Date : April 1995 _________________________________________________________________________ Here's one I use for truffles. If you don't like coffee/mocha, omit the beans and substitute Cognac for the Kahlua. 2/3 cup heavy cream 1 vanilla bean 1 Tbsp. very coarsely ground Mocha Java few grains salt 8 oz. good quality bittersweet chocolate 2 tsp Cognac 1 oz. good quality milk chocolate 2 tsp Kahlua 1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and add it to the cream, together with the salt and ground coffee. Bring to a gentle boil, then continue boiing for one minute. Remove from heat and let sit a couple minutes, then strain through a fine sieve into a mixing bowl. Melt the chocolate (carefully). I use a double boiler, which is dicey enough. DO NOT use direct heat. Add the melted chocolate to the hot cream and whisk to blend. Add the liqueurs and blend, then add the butter and blend. If this is to be used for truffles, you need to freeze it overnight. For any other purpose, like a cake filling, I'd still refrigerate it a good bit to let it firm up. -=-=-=-=-=-=- _________________________________________________________________________