The Case for Creamless Ganaches: Chocolatiers Break with Tradition in Pursuit of Intensified Flavors.

By Zachary R. Townsend

Originally published in Dessert Professional magazine, 2014

It was the spring of 2004. I was on a brisk walk through the streets of Paris en route to the Richart chocolate shop at 258 Boulevard Saint-Germain. When I visit Paris, I usually sweep through the city to discover the latest trends in flavors in pastry and chocolate shops. Upon entering Richart, I was greeted by an immaculately coiffured attendant who offered me a sample from their newest spring collection. She pointed to one of the trademark tiny ganache-filled squares and explained how the filling was made using fruity olive oils instead of cream along with an infusion of aromatic plants. I eagerly devoured the sample, as this was my first experience with this approach to ganache. A delicate flavor of olive oil and herb followed the chocolate flavor, and the ganache offered a silky mouthfeel you would expect from a well-made ganache of a master chocolatier. Without hesitation, I bought a half-dozen flavors and exited the shop bound for the nearest metro stop leading back to my apartment. It was a warm day, so I knew the delicate squares were in jeopardy. I boarded the metro with several stops in front of me, and as the train slowly filled to capacity after each stop, hope was fading quickly. At Place de la Nation, I politely pushed my way off the train, ran up the escalator and out onto the street with only two blocks to go. Once in the apartment, I nervously pried the bag open and confirmed my worst fear: they didn’t make it. My precious chocolate cargo had melted into a single pool of colorful swirls. I sat in front of the apartment fan and enjoyed them as best I could, but I regret not getting the chance to savor each combination as Monsieur Richart had intended. However, the memory of that first sample stayed with me and has inspired my creative work with ganache since that time.

Ganache is the center of the universe for a chocolatier. It is a combination of a few simple ingredients, but one that demands careful attention to detail to achieve perfection. Your selection of chocolate, the delicate balance of creative flavors, and your ability to create a silky mouthfeel through a perfect emulsion will set your ganaches apart from those of other chocolatiers. Through correct proportioning and proper handling via agitation and temperature, the classic cream-based ganache (along with its typical partner ingredients of butter, liquid flavorings, and sometimes glucose) delivers a harmonious fat-in-water suspension that has been perfected in the industry. Cream’s role in this formula is to provide water that aids in this suspension while also carrying flavor and offering fat for mouthfeel. But cream itself offers little flavor and, in fact, dairy products are known to have a flavor-muting impact on chocolate. So what happens if you remove the cream? Chocolatiers are developing creamless ganaches with the goals of intensifying flavors while offering alternatives for sensitive diets. What’s more, these new formulas can often better spotlight the unique flavor profiles of origin-specific cacao.

Michel Richart, Richart Chocolates.

Michael Richart of RICHART Chocolates (www.richart-chocolates. com) is a pioneer in the area of creamless ganache. In 1987, he started developing ganache recipes using the juice of wild Alsatian raspberries instead of cream while relying on the cocoa butter in the chocolate to be the only source of fat. His goal was to research the best way to reinforce a fruit-based ganache's aroma and flavors. He continued to develop in this area using the juice of pears, strawberries, and red and black fruits. The unique approach he developed allowed him to add more fruit to the ganache and as a result upped its flavor without sacrificing texture.

In 2004, he launched his Le Nez dans les Herbes collection (the one that melted in my bag), which was an infusion of aromatic plants from Provence (such as basil, thyme, rosemary, anise, and fennel) into high-quality olive oils. His intention in using the olive oil as a replacement for the cream was twofold: first, to create a softer texture than can be achieved with a cream-based ganache that contains butter, and second to create a ganache that was easier on the digestion because, as he states, “the virtues of olive oil are well known and numerous.” Also, as monsieur Richart explains, olive oil as a pure fat absorbs flavors better than the fat available in cream or butter. “The challenges of a creamless ganache are the same as a traditional ganache regarding the fact that it’s all about balance, but you must pay attention to the tannin level in the chocolate and to the PH of the juice from the fruits,” he advises. Due to its success, RICHART still uses the recipe developed in 1987 in its collections, and he continues to innovate in this area.

Damian Allsop, Damion Allsop Chocolates.

In Britain, Chocolatier Damian Allsop has forged a unique path and made himself one of the most well-known chocolatiers in the area of creamless ganache. Chef Allsop uses local spring water, fruit purees, vegetable purees, unrefined sugars, oils, and nut purees in place of cream, but he is most recognized for his water ganaches whose development came about in 2002. These have proven particularly successful with his use of high-end, plain dark chocolate. Chef Allsop’s goal with his water ganache is to simply deliver flavor in the best possible way, enabling the consumer to taste the true character of the chocolate to respect what he states is “the amazing chocolates with complex flavors” being produced by the small, artisan chocolate makers who have come onto the scene in recent years. But he warns that simplifying the components of a ganache in this way can also highlight a chocolate’s defects. He notes that his process for his creamless ganache makes a better, more stable emulsion because of a well-balanced recipe and because he tempers the ganache to control the formation of the correct fat crystals. As a result, his water ganaches typically have a shelf life of eight weeks. He emphasizes that each time you change an ingredient you must rebalance your formula, and Chef Allsop confided that more of his approaches will be revealed in an upcoming book.

In Florida, Bill Brown of William Dean Chocolates (www. williamdeanchocolates.com) has been developing creamless ganaches since 2008. His most popular one is the port with fig, made by puréeing dried figs, cherries, and plums that have been reconstituted overnight in port. He creates a caramel using brown sugar, butter, honey, and cinnamon and adds this to the purée, cooks it a bit further, then adds the milk chocolate and a little more port; every ingredient in this ganache delivers a huge impact of harmonious flavors. Chef Brown states “I think the fruit and port combination has been good because it adds a rich texture that makes up for the loss of cream. The emulsion we get is quite different because of the high amount of fruit puree or paste we make with the rehydrated fruits. It has a pretty dense viscosity, similar to a Fig Newton. We add the port while the purée is still very warm so we don’t break the emulsion. We also tend to use a Robot Coupe, or food processor, to force the emulsion.” He goes on to state that “one advantage of this ganache is that it is easier to reheat and get a nice emulsion a second time. Traditional ganache, I find, requires more care to get a good emulsion when reheating, and personally, I don’t think it is ever as good as when it’s made fresh. One ganache I will make again is a butternut squash with coconut and curry. We use coconut milk instead of cream so it is a creamless ganache. The challenge here is getting the fiber of the squash processed enough to not have an off-putting texture. We’ve made it before with customers really liking it; it was inspired by a winter bisque soup.” Chef Brown also likes to infuse herbs into creamless purées to add flavor without changing the fat content. Herbs can absorb water from cream, leaving you with an undetermined amount of fat, making the ganache a little more unpredictable.

Chef Brown sums it up well by stating “I think that while it is important to respect the old processes, it is also a respect to the profession to explore new ways to make chocolates. Ultimately, it is about personal taste and preferences but in an age where health is such a concern, it makes sense to explore options that will allow people to continue to enjoy chocolates. If that means using options other than cream, I’m all for it. We live in a very exciting time for chocolate as there has been an influx of new and creative minds who challenge themselves to produce high-quality chocolates in a new world of their own creation. We will only find new techniques by experimenting, which requires thinking ‘outside the box’ (or rather ‘outside the pot’). I’m excited to be part of that generation of chocolatiers. Change with creativity is progress, such as with creamless ganache. It should be an exciting journey.”