One day, while scrolling instagram, I saw a post from Erin Jeanne McDowell where she was making chocolate ganache. I’ve seen and made chocolate ganache before. The crazy thing in this video is that she was going to whip it. I’d never thought about that. She also talked about the best ways to get the cream and chocolate to incorporate properly. Turns out it’s all about making a bunch of tiny little circles until you see the ganache start to form. After that she talks about how to whip it. This makes it more airy and light, not quite a moose as there’s no gelatin, but closer to a whipped cream. The key is to let it cool to just the right consistency before you whip it. Too hot and it won’t hold any air. Too cool and it’ll be too thick to do anything. The key is to cool it on a larger surface. It’ll cool a bit faster and more evenly. Then once you can run a spatula through it and it leaves a gap and holds its shape then you know you’re ready to whip. Pop it into the mixer with the whisk attachment and start whisking. The output is a light and airy chocolate-y delight.

Once I saw that I knew I needed to try it out. I figured the best thing to go with this would be some minted whipped cream. Mint and chocolate, you can’t go wrong. I whipped up a batch, pun intended, and then folded them together. After a bit in the fridge to firm slightly I tired it. It was a creamy minty chocolate-y pie that was light in texture. It’s slightly crumbly after being in the fridge, and melts instantly in your mouth. The richness of the ganache is well balanced with the cooling mint whipped cream. The texture of the two work very well together. This is a great afternoon snack on a hot summer day. You can cheat a bit and skip making the crust as well if you don’t want to heat up your kitchen in the heat of the summer. Instead go with a pre-made cookie pie crust. Once of these days I’ll work on figuring out the best ratio of chocolate to cream to try and evenly match the consistency of the whipped cream. It might not be too much of a ganache at that point, but we’ll try it out some day and report back. For now enjoy this cool chocolate-y treat.

Ingredients

Crust:

• 2 Cups of crushed oreo cookies (without the frosting)

• 1/2 Cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter

• 1/4 teaspoon of salt

• 1 Tablespoon of granulated sugar

Ganache:

• 1 - 3.2 oz - 70% dark chocolate bar

• 1 - 4 oz - 45% milk chocolate bar

• 1 Cup heavy cream

Mint Whipped Cream:

• 1 Cup heavy cream

• 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract

• 20 drops of green food coloring

Instructions:

Crust:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2. Separate the Oreos and frosting (eat or discard the frosting)

3. Add the Oreos to a blender and blend to a fine crumb

4. Mix in the salt and sugar

5. Melt the stick of butter

6. Combine all ingredients and press into the bottom of a 9 inch pie pan. I prefer to use the bottom of a measuring cup

Ganache:

1. Chop both bars of chocolate and place into a heatproof bowl

2. A the heavy cream to a sauce pan and bring to a slight boil

3. Once the heavy cream comes to a boil remove from heat and pour over the chocolate

4. Let the mixture sit for 10-20 seconds

5. Once that time has elapsed stir in small circles

6. Continue to do so until you see chocolate start to show while mixing. It’ll be pretty apparent

7. Once this starts slowly increase the size of your circles until you’ve almost reached the edge

8. By this point the ganache should be shiny and completely mixed together

9. Take baking pan and line it with foil (or skip if you don’t care about mess)

10. Pour the ganache onto the tray

11. Let sit and cool

12. To see if it’s cool enough run a spatula through it. If it comes back together it’s not cool enough. If it holds is shape and stays apart you’re good to go

13. Add this to your mixer with the whisk attachment on it

14. Whisk on medium until it changes color and has a slightly stiff peak

Mint Whipped Cream:

1. In a large bowl add the heavy cream, peppermint extract, and food coloring

2. Whisk vigorously until stiff peaks form. Do not over whisk.

Assemble

1. In one of the large bowls, gently fold the whipped cream into the ganache

2. Carefully scoop the mixture into the crust

3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving

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