Use this as your complete guide for making homemade chocolate ganache. Chocolate ganache is a 2-ingredient recipe with virtually endless uses. For the best tasting ganache, I recommend using semi-sweet chocolate.
Chocolate ganache is a mixture of chocolate and warm cream. Stirred until smooth, silky, and shiny, ganache is a staple in any baker’s kitchen. It’s not only easy and quick, it’s uniquely versatile. Chocolate ganache can be used with so many dessert recipes as a filling, dip, spread, frosting, topping, or layer in a cake. The uses are virtually endless!
It’s not as syrupy and caramel-like as hot fudge sauce, but it does thicken considerably.
Uses for Chocolate Ganache
- Topping for chocolate cupcakes, cream-filled chocolate cupcakes, or no-bake cheesecake jars
- Filling for layer cakes
- Topping for this showstopping chocolate chip cake
- As a frosting for chocolate peanut butter cake or dark chocolate mousse cake
- Swirl in chocolate marble banana Bundt cake
- Topping for homemade brownies, pound cake, vanilla cake, or ice cream
- Swirled throughout chocolate swirl pistachio ice cream
- Filling for chocolate hand pies
- As a layer in crème de menthe pie
- Dip for strawberries and other fruit (serve with a bowl of whipped cream, too!)
- Topping for chocolate cake or flourless chocolate cake
- Frosting for chocolate raspberry cake (and you can even flavor it with raspberry liqueur)
- Layered in trifles
- Filling for no-bake s’mores cake
- Topping for homemade eclairs, crepes, angel food cake, and peanut butter pie
- Filling for striped fudge cookies and peanut butter fudge puddles
- Topping for marble loaf cake (with slightly reduced cream for a thicker ganache!)
- As a layer in peanut butter banana cream pie and peanut butter pie
- Filling inside of Easter cupcakes or your favorite cupcake recipe (see my How to Fill Cupcakes post for exact details on how to do so)
Let’s dive into an in-depth chocolate ganache tutorial. If you don’t care to read through the tutorial, feel free to jump straight to the recipe below.
Chocolate Ganache Video Tutorial
2 Ingredients in Chocolate Ganache
- Heavy Cream or Heavy Whipping Cream: Do not use half-and-half, whole milk, or any other liquid because the ganache won’t set up properly. For a non-dairy alternative, use canned coconut milk. See recipe note.
- Pure Chocolate: You can use semi-sweet chocolate (recommended), bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate. See recipe note.
When making homemade ganache, you need roughly a 1:1 weight ratio of cream to chocolate. (226g of chocolate for 240g of cream.)
Did you know that chocolate ganache is the base for chocolate truffles? I actually use less cream when I make chocolate truffles. Instead of a 1:1 weight ratio, use 8 ounces of chocolate and 2/3 cup (160ml/g) cream for truffles.
Best Chocolate to Use in Chocolate Ganache
The best chocolate for chocolate ganache is a pure chocolate baking bar, such as Bakers or Ghirardelli brands. (Not sponsored, just a genuine customer!) These are typically sold in 4-ounce (113g) bars in the baking aisle near the chocolate chips. Do not use chocolate chips because they will not melt into the best ganache consistency—save them for chocolate chip cookies instead. If you absolutely must use chocolate chips, make sure they are higher-quality chocolate such as Ghirardelli or Guittard brand semi-sweet chocolate chips.
For traditional chocolate ganache, I recommend using semi-sweet chocolate. This is the most commonly found chocolate in the baking aisle. Semi-sweet chocolate contains 35–45% cacao and is usually sweeter than bittersweet or dark varieties and darker than milk chocolate and white chocolate. If you like it a little darker, bittersweet chocolate (60% cacao) also makes an excellent ganache.
TIP: The best tool for chopping chocolate is a large serrated knife. The grooves help chip away the hard chocolate bar texture.
How to Make Chocolate Ganache
- Place finely chopped chocolate into a heat-proof glass or metal bowl.
- Heat cream on the stovetop until just simmering. If it’s boiling, the cream is too hot and could separate or even burn the chocolate. Once you see little simmers around the edges, turn off the heat and immediately pour the warm cream over the chocolate.
- Let the 2 sit for a few minutes before stirring.
- Stir slowly until smooth.
After you stir the chocolate and warm cream together, use the ganache right away as a fruit dip or drizzle on top of cakes, cupcakes, pound cakes, ice cream, and more. But if you wait about 2 hours and let it cool completely, the ganache can be scooped with a spoon, spread onto desserts, or piped with piping tips.
Piped Chocolate Ganache
If you’re craving a pure chocolate topping for your desserts, choose chocolate ganache. Once it cools and sets, you can pipe it onto your favorites including chocolate cupcakes. Super intricate piping tips aren’t ideal. Wilton 1M piping tip or Ateco 844 piping tip are my favorites for piped chocolate ganache. I used Ateco 844 in these photos.
Whipped Ganache
Let’s take chocolate ganache 1 step further. Did you know that you can beat ganache into a whipped frosting consistency? Think of the whipped buttercream from this vanilla sheet cake, but not as sweet or heavy. Once the chocolate ganache cools completely, whip it on medium-high speed until light in color and fluffy in texture, about 4 minutes. Now you have a decadent mousse-like frosting without an onslaught of extra sugar. It’s REALLY good!
You can pipe the whipped ganache, too. I used Ateco 844 piping tip in this next photo.
These 2 Tricks Make Chocolate Ganache Even Easier
Here are my 2 super simple tricks that make ganache even easier to make.
- Chop the chocolate as fine as possible. The finer you chop the chocolate, the quicker it melts with the cream. If the chocolate is in large large chunks, it won’t fully melt. And if the chocolate is not melting, reference Troubleshooting Chocolate Ganache below.
- Pour the warm cream over the chopped chocolate and let it sit before stirring. After you pour the warm heavy cream over the chopped chocolate, let it sit for a few minutes. During this time, the chocolate will soften and begin to melt which means that you won’t need to over-stir it. I’d rather spend extra minutes doing nothing than extra minutes stirring chocolate that won’t melt. Wouldn’t you?!
Troubleshooting Chocolate Ganache
After writing an entire cookbook (Sally’s Candy Addiction) on chocolate and candy, I’ve seen it all when it comes to making chocolate ganache. Seized chocolate? Yep. Grainy ganache. Yep, that too. Here are 3 problems you could encounter and how to fix each.
- Chocolate Isn’t Melting: If the chocolate isn’t melting, it wasn’t chopped fine enough or the cream wasn’t warm enough. Chop the chocolate into very small pieces and warm the cream until it’s just simmering. The microwave doesn’t evenly warm cream like the stove does, so I always recommend the stove. If you’re left with chocolate chunks swimming in cream, do not microwave it. Instead, place the mixture into a double boiler OR place the (heat-proof!) glass bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water. Do not let the surface of the simmering water touch the bottom of the glass bowl. Stir the ganache constantly over the indirect heat until it’s smooth.
- Chocolate Seized: When chocolate seizes, it creates a gritty and solid mass of chocolate. Simply put, seized chocolate will not melt. Chocolate seizes when it comes into contact with water. Don’t let even a drop of water into the bowl! Here is a wonderful article on overheated and seized chocolate.
- Greasy or Grainy: Use a glass or metal bowl. A plastic bowl could melt or leave you with a dull or grainy ganache. Use real chocolate; cheap chocolate chips result in a grainy ganache. Use a spoon or small rubber spatula to stir the chocolate and warm cream together. Do not use a whisk. The whisk incorporates too much air into the delicate melting chocolate, which could cause the fat to separate and turn greasy.
How to Make Chocolate Ganache
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 and 1/2 cups
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stirring
- Cuisine: American
Description
You only need 2 ingredients and a few minutes to make pure chocolate ganache. For ganache success, I encourage you to read the troubleshooting tips above and recipe notes below before beginning.
Ingredients
- two 4-ounce quality semi-sweet chocolate bars (113g each), finely chopped (see Note about using white chocolate)*
- 1 cup (8 ounces; 240ml) heavy cream or heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Place chopped chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it begins to gently simmer. (Do not let it come to a rapid boil—that’s too hot!) Pour over chocolate, then let it sit for 2–3 minutes to gently soften the chocolate.
- With a metal spoon or small silicone spatula, very slowly stir until completely combined and chocolate has melted. The finer you chopped the chocolate, the quicker it will melt with the cream. If it’s not melting, do not microwave it. See Troubleshooting Chocolate Ganache in blog post above.
- Ganache can be ready to use as a drizzle or you can let it sit at room temperature to cool and thicken. It will fully cool within 2 hours. Refrigerating speeds this up, but the ganache will not cool evenly. Stir it a few times as it sets in the refrigerator so it remains even and smooth.
- Once completely cool and thick, the ganache can be piped with a piping tip or scooped with a spoon. You can also beat the cooled thickened ganache with a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until light in color and texture, about 4 minutes on medium-high speed.
- Cover tightly and store ganache in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Once ganache cools completely, you can cover it tightly and freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator. To rewarm or thin out again, stir constantly over low heat on the stove in either (1) a double boiler or (2) in a heat-proof bowl placed over a pot of simmering water. Don’t let the bottom of the bowl touch the simmering water.
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Small Saucepan | Double Boiler | Silicone Spatula | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) if whipping the ganache
- Chocolate: Ganache will only set if the correct chocolate is used. You can use high-quality chocolate chips if needed (I prefer Ghirardelli or Guittard semi-sweet chocolate chips), but I recommend using pure chocolate baking bars, in either semi-sweet or bittersweet. You can find them right next to the chocolate chips in the baking aisle. They are sold in 4-ounce (113g) bars. I like Baker’s or Ghirardelli brands. You can use other varieties of chocolate too, such as milk chocolate (aka German chocolate) or dark chocolate. If using white chocolate, reduce the cream to 2/3 cup (160ml). White chocolate is softer, so you need less cream.
- Halve or Double: You can easily halve or double this recipe. No matter how much ganache you are making, you always need equal parts chocolate and cream.
- Dairy-Free Alternative for Heavy Cream: Use full-fat canned coconut milk. Shake the can well before opening. Whisk on the stove as it heats and bring to a simmer. Measure 1 cup (8 ounces; 240ml). Use instead of warm heavy cream.
- Yield: Yields 1 and 1/2 cups liquid/drizzle/scoop-able ganache. This is enough to cover 1 dozen cupcakes. For piped cupcakes, you may want to double the ganache to ensure there is plenty for piping. If whipping the ganache, you’ll have close to 3 cups. This is enough for 1 dozen cupcakes.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I’m going to pour the ganache over a lamb cake for Easter. How do I get it on a platter after It is poured?
Hi sally, I am planning on using this on top of a cake I am making. It is pig theme and I made some fondant pigs. I want it to look like they’re sitting in mud. How long should I wait to pour the “mud” (ganache) on top of the cake? And will the fondant toppers melt? Can I wait for it to completely cool or does it dry hard? I wasn’t sure if I should refrigerate it a bit or what. Thank you!!
Hi Nikki, That sounds like a cute cake! The ganache will thicken as it cools, so if you want to pour any on top of the fondant pigs, we recommend letting it cool at room temperature for a bit. You can also pour it over your cake and let it finish cooling before placing the pigs on the cake. Have fun!
Hey Sally,
Thanks so much for this awesome recipe. I’m making my brother his birthday cake and I was just wondering can you do this with white chocolate instead or does it not work.
Thanks, Olivia
Hi Olivia! If using white chocolate, reduce the cream to 2/3 cup (160ml). White chocolate is softer, so you need less cream. Enjoy!
Hi Sally, love your recipes. I want to make this for the dark chocolate mousse cake but only have 1 semi sweet chocolate bar and 1 dark chocolate bar. Are they ok to mix or will that ruin the texture?
Thanks!
Hi Sheila, yes, you can combine two types of chocolate for ganache — expect a deeper, darker taste with that combination. Enjoy!
Is there enough ganache for a two layered cake also, would you recommend whipping the ganache to spread on the cake? Thanks Cheryl
Hi Cheryl, this recipe yields about 1 1/2 cups of ganache, or 3 cups if whipped. It should be the perfect amount for a 2 layer cake, depending on how much you’d like to use and if you’re decorating the outside. Whether it’s whipped or not is really up to you and the texture / look you’re going for. Whipped will look more more like traditional buttercream. Hope this helps!
How big of a cake will this frost? I’m doing a two layer 8 inch cake.
Thank you
Hi Alyce! This recipe yields about 3 cups if whipped. It should be the perfect amount for a 2 layer 8 inch cake.
Made this with white chocolate using the ratios suggested. Came out perfectly, use it to fill my macarons. Thanks.
I am wanting to use the gancahe for between two layers of a cake then frost the whole cake with buttercream. How long would I need to let it sit before I put it between the 2 layers?
For me, that’s at least 1 hour in the refrigerator. Give it a stir and see if it’s thick enough to hold up as a cake filling. If not, refrigerate for another 20 minutes.
It came out really runny? Will it firm up as it cools?
Hi Brad, the ganache is definitely a bit “runny” at first. See the video in the blog post for an idea of the texture / consistency. You can use it as is for a drippier topping (like on the first cupcakes photo in the post), or, let it chill and it will thicken. Hope this helps!
Oh, no! I made a cake, but was unable to frost it last night. I took the ganache out of the fridge this morning, and it’s rock-hard! Can it be re-warmed?
Hi Wynne! See the last step of the recipe for rewarming directions. Enjoy!
I am making my annual Irish Bomb cupcakes for St Patrick’s day, and plan to use this as a filling for your Guinness Chocolate cupcakes. I’d like to add some Irish whiskey. Any tips? When is the best time to add? Should I reduce the cream amount?
Hi Joyce, you can reduce the amount of cream by 1-2 Tablespoons, and use alcohol to replace it. Warm the cream on the stove as directed, pour over chocolate, then add the alcohol before you stir it all together.
Hello, Can I use the whipped ganache under fondant ?
Hi Lucy, we don’t usually work with fondant but have seen cakes that use ganache under it. This ganache is best when refrigerated – and fondant covered cakes are typically best when they are not refrigerated. Sorry we can’t be of more help here!
I need your advice. My favorite bakery has closed. They made a chocolate mousse cake that I absolutely LOVE! The “frosting” of the cake was a hard ganache not a soft ganache. They had a crumb coat of buttercream then it seems like several layers of ganache then it turned a thick chocolate “shell”. Would I just continue to add ganache several times, chill after each layer to get the hard ganache texture?
Hi Misty, that sounds delicious. Without trying or seeing the cake myself, I imagine that’s what I would do to replicate it. Chill after each layer before adding the next.
Hey! i tried making this recipe for my granpa’s cake i tried to doble it, but insted I only dobled the cream, and end up looking like hot chocolate.
Any ideia how i can fix it? Thank you so much!
Hi Beatriz, the only way to fix it would be to add more chocolate so you have 1:1 ratio of chocolate and heavy cream and try to bring it back together. Sorry we can’t be more helpful!
Can you use white chocolate and gel food coloring?
Hi Deidre, absolutely! Just be sure to read the recipe notes about reducing the cream if you are using white chocolate. We also recommend gel food coloring so that you’re not adding too much liquid to the ganache.
I would like to add this ganache to the top of my ice cream cake. Could I pour warm ganache over the cake, cover and freeze? Or should I cool down the ganache first, spread onto cake, then cover and freeze?
Hi Rose, if you’re planning to freeze it, we’d recommend pouring and spreading after it has cooled a bit. You can do it while warm, but it will start to warm the ice cream underneath as well. Hope this helps!
Is it possible to add black food coloring gel to this or will that mess up the consistency?
Hi Rene, You can add black food coloring to your ganache. We highly recommend using a gel food coloring as you don’t want to add too much liquid. Have fun!
Hi there.
Once whipped, is there a way to make the ganache pourable again to coat the whipped ganache crumb coat?
Thank you so much!
Hi Pip! We recommend making separate batches – one whipped one one for pouring. Enjoy!
I would love to use whipped chocolate ganache on a 9 inch birthday cake. Would this recipe make enough to frost the cake?
Hi Nancy, if whipping the ganache, you’ll have close to 3 cups. This should be enough to fill the cake and for some decorations on the outside. If you are going to cover the outside of the cake also you may wish to double the recipe. Enjoy!
I looove ganache! It came out beautiful & then I whipped it till it was light and let it sit for about an hour. When I went to fill & first the cake, the ganache was very firm & not pipe-able. How do I get it soft again? I tried to whip it again but it was still pretty firm.
Hi!!
I did this recipe with white chocolate baker’s bars and the ganache would not thicken last a chocolate syrup consistency. Do you have any idea what I did wrong? I really would love to try this again! Thanks!
Hi Heather, did you reduce the cream to 2/3 cup? White chocolate is softer, so you’ll need less cream. Once it is all incorporated together, it should start to thicken as it cools. Let us know if you give it another go!
This recipe looks great! I am wondering if I can use good quality melting chocolate, which comes in small pieces (not chocolate chips) in recipe. Thank you.
Hi Dawn, is it pure chocolate? If so, then yes. For the best taste and texture (and to guarantee the ganache stays smooth), I recommend pure chocolate.
Hello!
I was curious about using ganache in wedding cakes, specifically using ganache to replace fondant. I am currently in a theatre production where they mention this and I wanted to try it out for myself.
Would you recommend whipping the ganache like frosting or simply pouring it over the premade and cooled cakes?
Thanks so much!
Hi Margaret, It really depends on the look you are going for. Whipping it would be thicker and have more of a buttercream look (although you can make it smooth with a bench scraper or an offset spatula). For a super smooth finish you can simply pour it over the cake as long as the cake itself is very smooth (to achieve this you may wish to crumb coat the cake first with whatever you use between the layers).
Sally can I use coconut milk and whip that into a frosting as well? Or do I need to use the heavy cream for that purpose?
Hi Peggy! Yes, for a non-dairy alternative, use canned coconut milk. See recipe note for details.
It would probably make sense to specify that the mixing should be done with a spatula or something other than a whisk in the recipe as opposed to only mentioning this in the troubleshooting section. I would also specify that any kind of European chocolate is WAY WAY BETTER to use than the poor quality American chocolate – even Baker’s or Ghirardelli don’t quite make the cut :/
Hi..I made the recipe with milk chocolate chips and it is not thickening. Can I add some melted chocolate? How can I fix this?
Hi Marylin, this ganache will only set if the correct chocolate is used. You can use high quality chocolate chips if needed (we prefer Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips), but we really recommend using pure chocolate baking bars.
Hi again…so there’s no hope for my “ganache”?
If I whip it will I be able to use it between the layers of my cake?
I have a 2 layer red velvet cake with cheesecake in the middle but I need something to go around the cheesecake and seal it in…then I’ll ice the whole cake. The cheesecake will hold up the top layer but I need something to fill in.
Thanks for any help you can give.
Marylin
I’d like to flavor to this ganache. What kind of adjustments (if any) do I need to make to allow for the extract?
Hi Madeline, you should be able to add a few drops of extract without any issues!
I want to do a whipped ganache frosting with a ganache drip on a cake. Will the Whipped Ganchache (after being chilled on the cake) be stable enough or will it melt under the ganache drip?
Hi Lys, It should be just fine! Make sure your ganache for the drip isn’t too warm and you can even chill the frosted cake before you add the drip to make sure it’s solid enough.
Sally this ganache looks amazing can’t wait to try it. I am looking for strawberry ganache and raspberry ganache. What do you suggest. I am gonna also try your red wine ganache. Have you made ganache using liquors to fill cupcakes or any type of fillings that have a liquor in them.
Hi Polly, we haven’t tried strawberry or raspberry ganache. Red wine ganache is our only other published flavor. For a flavored liquor– you can stir liquor into the warm ganache right after you stir in the heavy cream until it’s smooth. Start small, such as 2 Tablespoons, and leave out 2 Tablespoons of cream.
I used a cup for 1 batch.
First time making ganache. Turned out beautiful and delicious! Have some patience when the chocolate and cream are melding. Stir once in a while. It’s wonderful and so simple. Thank you, Sally.