How to Make I Live Alone Ganache
One of the benefits of living alone is the freedom to interpret the phrase “right food” however you like. Even if your partner’s dietary preferences match yours, their presence can overwhelm your wilder tendencies, such as making a bowl of ganache in the microwave and spooning it (as an example).
I call this dish I Live Alone ganache and it is a very liberating dessert. It’s easy to make, and due to its aggressive lack of dimensions, it never comes out exactly the same – and it’s fun. All you have to do is place a few semi-sweet chocolate chips in a bowl, barely topped with heavy cream and microwave short bursts until the chocolate is completely melted. You can dip something (like fruit) in it, or pour it over something (like ice cream or cake), or you can let it cool until it’s firm enough to fit directly into your mouth. I keep chilled ganache in the microwave and grab a spoon whenever I feel like it.
Of course, you don’t have to live alone to enjoy this chocolate treat, you just need to set boundaries around your bowl of ganache or make a commitment to share. Fortunately, it is very easy to prepare, so you can always prepare a second bowl if other members of your family decide they want to take this action.
Since there are only two ingredients, the ratio of those two ingredients is the only thing you need to worry about in order to “control”. I always look at it. You don’t want to completely immerse the chocolate chips in the cream – you want many to peek out from under the white sea. The ratio you see in the photo above is perfect if you want a soft ganache that can be dipped at room temperature and pressure, but I ended up adding a small handful to solidify it. Luckily, you can’t spoil anything – it’s chocolate and cream mixed together. You got it!
How to make I live alone ganache
Ingredients:
- semi-sweet chocolate chips
- heavy whipped cream
Pour a healthy amount of chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl. What is a “healthy amount”? That’s all you need at this moment, my friend. Pour heavy cream over the chips as if it were vitamin D milk or cereal. Add just enough to cover the chocolate – the more cream you add, the softer your ganache will be. Place the bowl in the microwave and fire the nukes at full power for 30 seconds. Remove the bowl, stir the chocolate (it will get lumpy and tough) and return the bowl to the microwave. Whisk it for 15 seconds, then stir again. Repeat one or two more times, decreasing the number of seconds as you approach the “complete melt” stage. If your ganache looks like milk chocolate, it will be quite crumbly, so add a small handful of chocolate chips to give it a little more consistency until it darkens. (You want it to look like the ganache in the top photo.)
You are now ready to dip or pour something into it. You can also just let it sit for a bit and solidify, which I love to do. You can add salt to the chocolate creation if you like. If you want it to completely harden, you can let it harden completely for a few hours, then roll it into small balls and sprinkle with cocoa powder to make truffles. This is your ganache – do what you like, but I highly recommend sticking to the wild spirit of the dish and keeping it in the microwave so you can take spoons whenever the mood strikes. This is how it should be fun.