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Sweet is good…
And this is how to make a dairy-free chocolate ganache…
I LOVE sweet things, but I don’t want to feel guilty after eating it. The thing is to find the right sweet, and I have dedicated one online class to all those of you who want to celebrate your sweet tooth naturally. One of the recipes you can find there and that I would like to share is how to make a dairy-free chocolate ganache.
Let’s stop being afraid of sweets by eating sweets prepared with ingredients coming straight from nature.
What Is Dairy-Free Chocolate Ganache?
Ganache is usually prepared with thickened dairy cream and melted chocolate and can be used as icing, filling or cream. But to get this fabulous dairy-free chocolate ganache, I will go in a completely different direction. This way, not only your taste buds will get immense pleasure, but your organs will be nourished too.
This is how to make a dairy-free chocolate ganache. The ingredients I use for this are very simple: cacao paste, maple syrup, filtered water, and raw cashews. Cacao paste is the thing that will give this dairy-free ganache that rich, chocolate flavour because this is pure cacao. So, if you cannot find this gorgeous cacao paste, you should go for cacao liqueur or good-quality chocolate with high cacao percentage (75% or 85% is great). Chocolate lovers, if you are curious how we actually get this beautiful cacao paste, you can read about it here. Also, if you really love chocolates, you are free to discover how to make chocolate at home.
When I was working on this recipe, I wanted my dairy-free ganache to taste something like milk chocolate. And that is how cashews became the other key player in this recipe. Raw cashews are really great for this recipe because they don’t have such a strong flavour as other nuts, such as Brazilian nuts for instance, so I knew they will not take away anything from the chocolaty flavour I wanted. At the same time, cashews are super creamy, so they can only give the ganache that heavenly soft texture. But there is one thing you need to do if you want your ganache to have this super creamy texture. You should blend the cashews for about 2 minutes because it will take away the sandiness that cashews have.
Once you combine all the ingredients, the mixture will be runny and look more like a milkshake than a creamy filling or topping for cupcakes. I actually like to add just a pinch of salt because it will really pull out the flavour of the chocolate. So, the next step is to pop this into the fridge for a couple of hours until your ganache sets. Alternatively, you can keep it in the freezer if you want it to get the icy texture. I want this to be soft with the mousse-like texture.
Kids, Chocolate Ganache Is Ready!
Once you have your ganache ready, you can go wild. You can simply scoop it over chocolate cupcakes and garnish these with some fresh berries. Or you can also use it as a filling and start piping them in the middle. You can have it as a chocolate mousse if you like it.
It is great for birthday parties, especially for kids because they love chocolate and we parents have to be mindful of what type of sugar and how much they take in. With this dairy-free chocolate ganache, you can be sure that their organs will be served as well. And that’s how to make a dairy-free chocolate ganache.
How To Make Dairy-Free Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 3/4 cup Coconut Oil
- 2 Eggs
- 1/2 cup Coconut Milk (or any milk you wish)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 cup Honey
- 1 cup GF Flour
- 2/3 cup Cacao Powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 2/3 cup Coconut Sugar
For the Ganache:
- 300 grams Cacao Paste, crumbled
- 1 cup Cashews, raw
- 1 cup Filtered Water
- 1/3 cup Maple Syrup
- Pinch of Salt
For serving:
- Fresh Strawberries, halved
Instructions
To prepare the cupcakes:
- Preheat your oven to 175C and prepare your cupcake papers and muffin tray.
- Mix all the wet ingredients and set aside.
- Combine all the dry ingredients and set aside.
- Gradually pour in the wet mix to the dry ingredients and mix well until combined. Do not overmix as the batter will turn tough.
- Fill each cupcake with 1/4 cup batter at a time until filled to the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes.
- Check, and when done, leave to cool on a wire rack.
To prepare the ganache:
- Fill a pot with water and set a stainless steel bowl on top of it to use this as a double-boiler.
- When the water starts boiling and the bowl is hot, add the crumbled cacao paste and leave until it starts melting.
- Whisk continuously until the cacao is completely melted and set aside.
- Add the cashews and water to your Vitamix and blend until creamy and smooth.
- Pour into the bowl with the melted cacao and whisk until combined.
- Add the maple syrup and a pinch of salt and mix well.
- Pop into the fridge or freezer until set.
To serve:
Top the cupcakes with the ganache filling,
garnish with halved strawberries and enjoy!
Try them out. Take photos and send them over!
Love, Cynthia
