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GANACHE

Ganache is one of those basic things that I think everyone should know how to make. It’s an excellent filling and frosting when used at different temperatures. It pleases a palette that doesn’t like “sweet” very much and also can be transformed into so many different flavors. This recipe is very easy to manipulate—if you’d rather have a softer or harder product, you can just adjust the amount of cream.

3 cups dark chocolate

4 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons honey or agave syrup

1 cup heavy cream

HOW TO MAKE IT

1 Start the day before—Place chocolate, butter, and honey or agave in a mixing bowl. 2 Heat the cream in a soup pot over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the cream comes to a boil. Then pour the cream over the chocolate and honey or agave and let sit for about 5 minutes. 3 Whisk the ingredients together. The mixture will be liquidy, but don’t be scared—it’ll set up. 4 Cover the bowl with plastic wrap so that the plastic is actually touching the surface of the ganache, and let it sit overnight at a cool room temperature. 5 After the ganache has sat overnight, it can be used as frosting as is. If you’d like an airier, lighter frosting, you can whip it in a standing mixer, but it’ll make the ganache dull-looking and a little broken. To use it as a filling, just microwave it for a few seconds to get to a syrupy consistency and pour it into the center of cupcakes with holes poked through them.

NOTE: Many of my cupcake recipes call for this ganache recipe to be flavored, and it’s very easy to do. As long as you keep the same quantities of liquid and solid ingredients, you’re golden. For instance, if you’d like a whiskey ganache (like in Love Kills, page 63), replace half the cream with whiskey. The trick is that you won’t want to heat up the whiskey, so you’ll need to melt the chocolate first and add the whiskey after the cream has been mixed in.

NOTE: How to fix a broken ganache—A broken ganache looks like a vinaigrette before you mix it: The fat separates from the mixture and makes streaks in the chocolate and gives it a grainy texture. To fix it, heat up the ganache in a saucepan over medium heat until it’s hot enough to make it all spreadable, then transfer it to a mixing bowl. In a separate pan, heat up a little bit of heavy cream and pour it into the middle of the broken ganache. Slowly whisk it in, starting from the middle, making your way to the side of the bowl. Stop whisking when the ganache has become smooth and silky looking.

YIELD: About 4 cups

KEEPS: Two days at room temperature if sealed with plastic wrap (the plastic wrap should be touching the ganache so no air gets in), or up to five days in the fridge sealed with plastic wrap

FRENCH MERINGUE

French meringue is the purest of the classic meringues and emulates marshmallow well and acts as a light frosting. It’s very important that you do not make the meringue in advance because it won’t hold up for long. Make what you need right when you need it.

6 egg whites (make sure there are no yolks)

1 cup sugar

HOW TO MAKE IT

1 Place the egg whites and the sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer and heat the ingredients together over a double boiler. 2 Whisk the ingredients together until the sugar is somewhat dissolved and the mixture is warm to the touch, about 2 or 3 minutes. Make sure to keep the ingredients moving because you aren’t trying to cook anything—you just want to warm the ingredients and make them be better friends. 3 Once the mixture is heated, place the bowl back onto the standing mixer and whip the ingredients on high for about 10 minutes. You don’t need to whip until it’s cool (a myth), but you want to stop whipping when the peaks are glossy and can hold their shape. If the mixture looks grainy, you went too far, and the meringue will break down on the cupcakes.

YIELD: 6 cups, or enough for 12 cupcakes

KEEPS: Does not keep

ALL-PURPOSE CARAMEL

Everyone needs a good caramel recipe. I have a firm belief that good caramel is a bit dark and always salted. If that’s not your preference, I forgive you;