ganache

noun

ga·​nache (ˌ)gä-ˈnäsh How to pronounce ganache (audio)
gə-
: a sweet creamy chocolate mixture used especially as a filling or frosting

Examples of ganache in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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 And don’t miss the chocolate and olive oil ganache with your coffee. Julia Sammut With Benjamin Kemper, Saveur, 3 July 2024 My delicious ganache chocolates were also topped up daily. Yasemen Kaner-White, theweek, 30 Apr. 2024 See all Example Sentences for ganache 

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of ganache was in 1977

Dictionary Entries Near ganache

Cite this Entry

“Ganache.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ganache. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on ganache

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!