Thursday, November 20, 2008

ganaches, may-november

i remember the first time i was asked to make a ganache flavor for the handmolds we do at work. i perseverated over it. should i just make some basic ganache, a 1:1 part cream and chocolate emulsion? should i add some butter to enrich it and how much? what sorts of fillings did we do in culinary school? i dutifully looked through my notebooks, copied out a recipe for some earl grey ganache (we're not allowed to use in-house tea) and substituted chicory for a honey-chicory ganache. i keep track of what we do at work and developed the following list of ganaches for handmolds or for truffles that i have made over the last six months. of course i don't make all the ganache so this is merely a sample of what's been offered. i have always enjoyed the process--i usually like anything where i have an ounce of choice--but lately i've been getting tired of the process as i don't like to repeat something, though i do and have. we're pretty low on liquor options and don't necessarily get a lot of new spices, and certainly are not special ordering something only for this purpose. i was originally going to post this and ask for suggestions of new flavors. recently i found out we're cutting back on our chocolate migniardise selection (is it the economy? is it too time consuming? ). so i guess this is in remembrance of its frequency. unless otherwise noted, ganache was made with 62, 6 or 70% valrhona. jivara lactee or ivoire otherwise.

molasses-pecan
white chocolate nepotella
white chocolate lavender
espresso
salted almond
white chocolate cardamom rose
candied pistachio
milk chocolate rosemary
white chocolate pink peppercorn
rum
orange-lavender
hazelnut
malted milk chocolate
honey
honey-chicory
white chocolate vanilla-verbena
star anise
cinnamon
milk chocolate peanut butter
rum-ginger
cardamom
vanilla-coffee
vanilla-rum
amaretto
milk chocolate lavender
grapefruit lavender
chili orange
vanilla fleur de sel

1 comment:

plinio said...

try white chocolate bbq. its very simple and you'd be surprised how delicious brown sugar, white chocolate and ketchup are combined.

the resulting product looks like caramel, a nice bluff to the unsuspecting.

i have not written a recipe for it yet, i do it by taste and sight. but here is the procedure.

heat brown sugar with a litte butter, like making butterscotch. when at butterscotch point, add ketchup to taste. once incorporated, add white chocolate.

oh, and i have had really positive feedback on my peas and carrots dessert.

years ago i made a dessert i called mirepoix. celery root cake, carrot ice cream and onion caramel. recently i have made caramelized onion cupcakes with blue cheese ice cream and bacon streusel.

so theres some ideas for onion in desserts.