Whipped Chocolate Ganache with Walnuts

This whipped chocolate ganache with walnuts is great for filling cakes or for no-bake desserts. It’s a decadent chocolate mixture that’s light and airy, yet rich and satisfying. The walnuts add a nice crunch and delicious nutty flavour.

Ingredients

200 g (1 1/4 cups) of semi-sweet chocolate callets/chips (you can also use 260 g milk chocolate only or a mix of 100 g of semi-sweet chocolate + 130 g of milk chocolate)
400 ml (1 3/4 cups) whipping cream
100-150 g (1-1.5 cups) ground walnuts

Note: All chocolate should be a good-quality baking or couverture chocolate.

The quantities in this recipe will make enough ganache to fill an 18 cm (7’’) cake with two layers of filling.

Directions

Heat the whipping cream in a heavy-bottomed saucepan (or in a bowl over a pot of boiling water) until it almost comes to a boil. Add the chocolate and let it sit for 5 minutes before stirring it slowly with a spoon or spatula.

Stir slowly until all the chocolate is melted.

Place plastic foil directly on the ganache so that there is no air trapped inside which will cause a skin to form on top.

Chill it in the fridge until cold, at least 2 hours or overnight.

Using an electric mixer beat on low speed until blended and smooth. Increase speed to medium-high; beat until mixture is thick and medium-firm peaks form when beaters are lifted (~1.5 minutes).

Mix in the ground walnuts.

For a firmer whipped ganache you can add a bit of unflavoured gelatine (softened in water and melted a few seconds in the microwave) in the warm whipped cream & chocolate mixture. For the chocolate & whipping cream quantities above, use 7-8 g of gelatine powder softened in 80 ml of water. Note that the more walnuts you add the firmer your whipped ganache gets, so you won’t necessarily need the gelatine.