Vegan Not Vegan Chocolate Ganache: Because I still had coconut milk in the cupboard

My sister-in-law, Anh, had just joined the in-your-prime 29 club with me so I made her a chocolate cake for her birthday. I wanted to make a rich ganache for the frosting, but I didn't have any cream on hand - only coconut milk. So I tried out this recipe for "vegan chocolate ganache" except used dairy laden milk and dark chocolate instead of the vegan variety. Anh, like myself, is a big fan of almond flavor plus it goes phenomenally well with coconut, so I added a few teaspoons of almond extract to the ganache.  I feel compelled to share this recipe because I was shocked by how well this nontraditional ganache turned out and I would make it again in a heartbeat.


Recipe adapted from about.com

Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:16 ounces good quality dark & milk (dairy-free if you want to keep it vegan) chocolate, coarsely chopped1 15-ounce can coconut milk (not lite varieties)1 1/2 tsp almond extract (can use vanilla)Preparation:1. Place the coarsely chopped dark chocolate in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.
2. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, heat the coconut milk until bubbles just begin to appear around the edges and steam rises from the surface. Pour the hot coconut milk over the chopped chocolate and let stand without stirring for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, stir the chocolate-coconut milk mixture until glossy and smooth (this will take about 2 minutes of gentle stirring). Add the vanilla extract and stir until incorporated. Cool in the refrigerator if you want a thicker more frosting like ganache or pour over directly over cake like I did.