Berry Ganache With Ginger Orange Glazed Crickets

Yes, you read correctly. Crickets. Why not? They add texture and protein and this recipe doesn't taste buggy at all.
A good introduction to insects. I even had a vegan try it because, well, she decided she had to.

Ginger-Orange Cricket Glaze

50 Crickets ( read my "Insects for Food-prep. 101" Instructables to see how to prep the crickets)
1/2 cup fresh squeezed Orange juice
1 teaspoon micro-planed fresh Ginger
3/4 teaspoon Orange zest
1/4 cup brown Sugar
1/2 Tablespoon Cornstarch

Berry Sauce

2 cups fresh berries, I used strawberries and raspberries, roughly chopped
1/4 cup filtered water
1/8 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon fresh Orange zest
1 teaspoon fresh Lemon juice


Berry Ganache

12 ounces of semi-sweet Chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 - 3/4 cup heavy cream (depending how thick you want your Ganache)
1/2 cup Berry sauce, reserve remaining sauce for garnish

make sure you wash your orange., especially if it is not organic.
Using a micro-plane zest your orange. Zest extra for the Berry Sauce
Juice the orange and set it aside.
The best way to peel ginger is with a spoon. take the tip of the spoon and run it against the ginger skin. It will peel right off. It is even good for the curvy hard to reach spots.
Use the micro-plane for the ginger as well

Put the brown sugar, orange zest, ginger, and cornstarch in a small sauce pan.
Turn the burner on to a medium heat.
Slowly add the orange juice, mixing constantly.
Bring to a simmer then lower heat.
Cook for five minutes and take off the stove

On a dehydrator sheet or baking sheet spreed a thin layer of the sauce down with a spatula.
Scatter some crickets over it and carefully and lightly fold the sauce over them until they are fully covered.

Separate and spread them out on the tray.
Put them in the dehydrator until the sauce is not wet anymore, about an hour.
If you don't have a dehydrator you can use your oven on a low heat, 200 degrees F will work but keep a close eye on them

Add chopped fruit, water, sugar, orange zest, and lemon juice into a small sauce pan
Cook on medium heat until fruit has broken down well and all ingredients are fully integrated
Strain through a fine sieve
measure out 1/2 cup for the Ganache and set rest aside for garnish

Put your coarsely chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set aside.
In small saucepan put the heavy cream and the 1/2 cup of Berry sauce and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
Pour mixture over chocolate and let stand for about 4 minutes or until chocolate is softened.
Stir until smooth but don't over stir it.

Pour Ganache into desired container.

When the Glazed Crickets are ready pull them off the sheet. They will be sticky.
Try one, they're good.
Place them evenly in the newly poured Ganache or in whatever pattern you would like.

I used some orange zest and the extra Berry Sauce as a garnish.
You could also use the Ginger orange glaze.
In this recipe, I chose to put the Berry sauce all around the edges and sprinkle zest in the middle.
Place in fridge and let set

When set, you can slice and serve.
Ganache is a very rich dessert so a little goes a long way.
I cut it into about 1 inch by 1inch squares.

Brush Berry Sauce on the plate.
Place squares over sauce,
and serve

enjoy and thank you