ganache

noun

ga·​nache (ˌ)gä-ˈnäsh 

gə-

: a sweet creamy chocolate mixture used especially as a filling or frosting

Examples of ganache in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Lastly, the caramel is topped with a silky chocolate ganache. —Pam Lolley, Southern Living, 28 Nov. 2024

The bonbons from Stick With Me Sweets are almost too pretty to eat, while the chocolates from La Maison du Chocolat include various ganaches, pralines, and almond pastes in an equally stunning display. —Alaina Chou, Bon Appétit, 21 Nov. 2024

Another is ice cream made from pig’s blood and filled with a ganache of juniper oil and deer-blood garum. —Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2024

Coenen started with a simple chocolate ganache filling for her kouign amman, but has since gone far beyond. —John Metcalfe, The Mercury News, 8 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, originally a kind of bonbon manufactured by the Parisian confectioner Siraudin (probably after Les Ganaches, a play by Victorien sardou first performed in October, 1862), literally, "lower jaw of a horse, jowl, imbecile," borrowed from Italian (Tuscan) ganascia "jaw, jowl," central Italian ganassa, going back to Vulgar Latin (northern and central Italy) *ganassa, re-formation (with gender conformed to the source noun) of Greek gnȧthos "jaw" (attested in Medieval Latin of Italy as ganathos) — more at -gnathous

Note: The French word occurs in a list of bonbon varieties produced by "la maison Siraudin" ("Courrier de la mode," LʼIllustration, journal universel, vol. 44, no. 1139, 24 décembre 1864, p. 415): "Les bonbons preférés sont: le Maltais, la Praline du club, la Praline Livry, au sucre de violette, lʼÉmélie, lʼOrangine, puis les Ganaches, qui eurent presque le succès de la pièce de Victorien Sardou, etc., etc." ("The preferred bonbons are: the Maltese, the Club Praline, the Praline Livry, with violet sugar, the Émélie, the Orangine, then the Ganaches, which had nearly the success of Victorien Sardouʼs play, etc., etc."). The Ganache bonbon is cited in English in a list of popular French bonbons, others of which are named after successful operas and plays of the period ("Bonbons," Every Saturday: A Journal of Choice Reading, vol. 7, nol. 163, February 13, 1869, pp. 220-21).

First Known Use

1977, in the meaning defined above