swollen particles. This is why high-chocolate
ganaches are often unstable and coarsen with
time.
Maturing Ganache Many confectioners let
ganache mixtures stand at a cool room
temperature overnight before working with
them. This gradual cooling allows the cocoa
butter to crystallize so that when the ganache
is shaped or eaten, it softens and melts more
slowly. Ganache refrigerated immediately
after making hardens without forming many
crystals, and becomes soft and greasy when it
warms.
Thanks to the initial scalding of the cream
and the chocolate’s sugar content, moisture-
absorbing cocoa particles, and abundant
microbe-unfriendly phenolic compounds,
ganache has a surprisingly long shelf life of a
week or more at room temperature.
Tempered Chocolate for Coating and Molding