Chocolate Ganache is made with just 2 ingredients- chocolate and cream but has so many practical uses as a dip, frosting, filling, and topping.
I have made this chocolate ganache recipe countless times as frosting for Chocolate Cupcakes, a dip for Eclairs, or poured over Poppyseed Cake. See our video below to learn how to master this ganache recipe.
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Easy Chocolate Ganache Recipe
The first time I made this chocolate ganache recipe, I messed it up because I stirred it too soon. I also measured the chocolate all wrong so be sure to measure your 8 oz of chocolate bars by weight (230 grams). If you don’t have a kitchen scale, you can measure chocolate chips with level dry ingredient measuring cups (1 1/3 cups). Measuring correctly is critical here.
Luckily, I’ve made the mistakes in the past so you can start with a master recipe for perfect ganache.
Chocolate Ganache Video
See how simple it is to make this amazing chocolate ganache recipe at home. Soon you’ll be pouring this chocolate sauce over everything you can get your hands on,
Tips for Making the Best Ganache
- 1:1 Ratio – you only need two ingredients measured in equal WEIGHT proportions. Measure the chocolate using a scale (or the package weight) and the cream with a scale or measuring cup meant for liquids.
- Good Quality Chocolate – For a classic ganache, use high-quality semisweet chocolate bars or chips (35-55% cacao) or bittersweet chocolate (60% cacao). It also works with milk chocolate and white chocolate.
- Tools for Ganache – You’ll need a small saucepan to heat the cream, a glass or metal heat-proof bowl to melt the chocolate, and a silicone spatula or metal spoon to stir. Make sure they are all dry because water can make ganache seize.
Only 2 Ingredients
It really is just chocolate and heavy cream, but be sure to measure correctly and use good quality ingredients for the best taste and texture.
- Chocolate – classic ganache is made with semi-sweet chocolate. I recommend using high-quality chocolate bars such as Ghirardelli baking bars which have 40-50% cocoa, chopped into small pieces with a serrated knife. You can also save a step by using high-quality chocolate chips which I get at Costco with 51% cocoa. See substitutions below for bittersweet, milk chocolate, and white chocolate.
- Heavy Whipping Cream – Use heavy cream with 36% milk fat. Heavy cream with 40% milk fat will work, but the ganache will be too thick to pour. Avoid half-and-half or milk because the fat content isn’t high enough for the ganache to set.
Substitutions
- Dairy-free and Vegan – use dairy-free/vegan chocolate and replace heavy cream with full-fat canned coconut milk. Shake the can well then measure 1 cup or 8oz of coconut milk.
- Flavors – once the chocolate is melted, stir in a few drops of extract (vanilla, peppermint, coffee, or orange), peanut butter, instant espresso powder, orange zest, or liqueurs
- Chocolate – you can substitute with bittersweet chocolate but the ganache will be less sweet. If using milk chocolate or white chocolate, decrease the cream by about 2-3 oz.
How to Make Chocolate Ganache
It’s so simple to make chocolate ganache. Follow these easy steps and then see our troubleshooting section below if needed.
- Bring the heavy cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. You will see steam coming from the pot and small bubbles around the outside, but don’t let it boil. As soon as it simmers, pour the cream over the chocolate chips, swirling the bowl to cover all the chips.
- Cover the bowl with a lid to trap the heat and let it sit undisturbed (no mixing) for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and swirl the chocolate chips with a silicone spatula or metal spoon. It will turn into a velvety ganache right before your eyes and you’ll get excited!
Pro Tip:
Keep in mind that the longer the ganache sits, the thicker and more of a frosting or mousse it becomes, but it won’t become hardened. Once it has cooled, or after refrigeration, you can whip it into a frosting (see instructions below).
There are 3 Forms of Ganache
- Ganache Glaze or Dip: Let it sit uncovered at room temperature for about 15 minutes until it coats a spoon nicely before pouring it over a cake (see our tips below)
- Ganache topping or filling: wait until it cools, then cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Use it plain to frost a cake or cupcakes; as filling between cake layers, or inside cupcakes or donuts; or pipe using a wide-tipped piping bag.
- Whipped Ganache: refrigerate for 2 hours then whip on high speed for a few minutes until fluffy and lightened in color. It makes 3 cups of ganache frosting which pipes beautifully.
- Bonus: To make chocolate truffles you need a thicker mixture. Use a ratio of 2:1 (8oz semi-sweet chocolate to 1/2 cup heavy cream). Chill the mixture until firm then scoop into balls. Roll in topping and refrigerate.
How to Glaze a Cake with Ganache
Place the cake on a wire rack over a rimmed platter or rimmed baking sheet. Pour your slightly cooled liquid chocolate ganache evenly over the top of your cake until the desired coverage is reached. You can lift up the wire rack and re-use the chocolate ganache that drips onto the platter.
Troubleshooting Chocolate Ganache
If you notice the chocolate ganache is separated, lumpy, too thin, too thick, or grainy, Have no fear! Here’s how to fix it:
- Lumpy – chocolate isn’t melting. the cream may not be warm enough or the chocolate pieces were too big. Solution: Reheat in a double Double boiler or microwave for 15-second intervals between stirs being careful not to overheat.
- Separated, oily, or seized – cream was too hot or there was water in the bowl. Solution: stir in a tablespoon of warm milk one at a time until the mixture comes back together
- Grainy – you may have used a low-quality variety of chocolate chips, used a whisk (incorporates too much air), or a plastic bowl. Solution: add a tablespoon of warmed milk while stirring. If it gets too thin, add a bit more chocolate.
- Too Thin/Too Thick – the ganache will become thicker as it cools, but if it’s not setting up or thickening, the Solution: try melting more chocolate chips and stirring them in. If it’s too thick, add warmed milk by tablespoons.
So many uses for Ganache!
These are SOME of our favorite ways to use ganache. The uses are endless! Let us know in the comments how you use it:
- Poured as Icing over Cheesecake, Brownies, Poppy Seed Cake Roll, or Chocolate Babka
- Frosting for Chocolate Cake, Tiramisu Yule Log Cake, Mini cheesecakes, or Peanut Butter Cookies
- Filling for Italian Cookies, Pumpkin Cookies, Macaroons, Cream Puffs, Cream Horns, or layered cakes
- Dip for Homemade Marshmallows, Donuts, Apple Fritters, or Shortbread Cookies
- Stirred into regular or Iced Coffee
- Swirled into Banana bread or Zucchini Bread batter before baking
- Served as fondue with strawberries, bananas, or Churros
- Drizzled over Ice Cream, Scones, Pecan Pie Bars, Baklava, Bread Pudding, Baklava Cups, Mini Pumpkin Pies, Crepes, Cinnamon Rolls, Pancakes or Waffles
Make-Ahead
Chocolate ganache keeps well at room temperature on the counter for up to 2 days. Once it’s cooled, cover it with plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out on top.
- To Refrigerate: cover in an airtight container for up to a week
- Freezing: freeze in an airtight container for 3 months
- To Reheat: thaw in the fridge. If separated, reheat on the stove or in the microwave, adding more warm cream or melted chocolate chips as needed
This decadent chocolate ganache is one of our favorite chocolate recipes. It’s so easy and delicious that you’ll be searching high and low for things to dip, spread, and cover with chocolate sauce. Don’t wait to try this recipe!
Easy Chocolate Ganache Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 oz semi-sweet baking bars, finely chopped, or chocolate chips, 230 g by weight or 1 1/3 cups in dry ingredient measuring cups
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream (36% fat), 8oz or 240 ml by liquid volume
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, bring the heavy whipping cream just to a simmer on the stovetop, stirring occasionally. Just as soon as you see a simmer, immediately remove from heat and pour over chocolate chips. Swirl the bowl to be sure all the chocolate is covered.
- Place a lid on the chocolate chips to trap the heat. Let it sit without mixing for 5 minutes, then remove the lid and swirl the chocolate chips with a silicone spatula. Start in the center and work outward until the mixture is smooth, but be sure not to overmix.
- Let the ganache sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before pouring it over a cake. See more ways to use ganache in the notes.
Notes
- Serving Size is based on 2 Tablespoons of Ganache. The recipe makes 1.5 cups of ganache or 3 cups of whipped ganache. This is enough to glaze one cake roll or frost 12 cupcakes.
- Milk fat matters: Use heavy whipping cream or heavy cream with 36% fat for the best results. Do not substitute with milk, half and half, or light cream.
- For dairy-free or vegan ganache: vegan/dairy-free chocolate and a can of full-fat coconut cream instead of heavy cream. Shake the can well, then measure out 8oz.
- The chocolate ganache will thicken as it cools.
- If you want more ganache, increase the ingredients proportionally.
- How to Use Ganache: To glaze a cake, cool for 15 minutes and then pour over the chilled cake. For frosting, let the ganache cool completely, then cover and refrigerate for 2 hours until mousse-like texture. Spread or pipe as frosting or whip using an electric mixer for whipped ganache.
- How to Store Ganache: cool completely. Cover and store at room temperature for 2 days, refrigerate for 5 days or freeze for 3 months. To reheat, thaw in the fridge.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
This is literally the best! I’ve tried other recipes and they’ve failed. Why did I stray?!?! Why?! Never again. This is going in my recipe book of go to recipes that I won’t go without.
It sounds like this is your favorite! Thank you for sharing that wonderful review!
Hello, I’m planning on making this tomorrow. Question about icing the cake over a rack, how do you go about getting the cake off of the rack once the frosting sets? Appreciate the help!
Hi Nicole, we use a spatula or a bent icing spatula to separate it from the rack and move it to your serving plate.
Thanks for this recipe Natasha, I didnt realize using the right chocolate makes all the difference. I wasn’t able to get the right consistency till I tried it for my daughter’s 1st birthday. This ganache is amazing. I wish I made more..
Hello Gwendoline, I’m glad that you were able to make a perfect cake for your daughter’s birthday! Thanks for sharing your good feedback with us.
I followed the recipe exactly and the chocolate chips didn’t melt. I wish I had gone with a recipe where you actively melt the chocolate and cream together in a double boiler. Now I have lumpy ganache.
Hi Lydia, I would suggest using the type of chocolate described and make sure to heat your cream adequately. Following this process should give you the same consistent results that we shared in the tutorial.
I hope this recipe is enough for a Bundt cake? ..
Hi Karen, I have not tested this on a bundt cake but I believe it should be enough! One of our readers wrote the following: “Just made this again for my chocolate bundt cake. As always, it turned out velvety smooth and delicious. Such a great recipe – thank you for sharing it! My husband is now sitting at the table scraping the leftovers off of the foil under the cake with a spatula and eating it. He’s like a little kid with this stuff!” I hope that helps!
Weighed the chocolate, warmed the milk to a simmer, covered the chocolate with the cream. It never thickened. Any idea what I did wrong?
You used milk. It’s supposed to be heavy whipping cream.
You used milk instead of heavy whipping cream. Milk will never thicken no matter how long you wait. You essentially made chocolate milk.
Hi Natasha. I have baked your brownies,and it tastes so yummy. But I encountered that my brownies sink and chewy in the centre. Wat mistakes did I do ?
Hi Mary, it could be the size of the pan used or possibly cooking on convection oven settings? Also, make sure to measure ingredients the same way for baking. This article on measuring may help.
Hi. Is Ghirardelli brand any good for the poppy seed roll glaze! It’s dark chocolate melting wafers
Hi Alyona, I haven’t tested that out so I can’t say for sure. I think it’s worth trying though.
Hello Natasha! Can I use all purpose cream instead of heavy whipping cream?
Hi Jin, I’m not familiar with that product. It’s tricky to substitute because the wrong fat content in the cream will cause it not to firm up properly.
As long as it has more than 30% milk fats. In New Zealand, we dont have heavy whipping cream – its just called cream – and all of it is over 30% so thats what i use.
What if I want to use the recipe as a filling for cake layers? Do I do it the same? I don’t want it to spread down the cake.
Hi Erika, that would work but you would want it to cool until it reaches the desired thickness. You can also fully cool it and then whip it with a mixer into a chocolate frosting to spread between cake layers.
Hi Natasha, I plan to use this ganache on a cake I will be making. I plan to wait till it’s as thick as fudge icing and then put it on the cake. How long do you think I will have to wait to get that consistency? Also I will bake the cake one day before serving. Should I ice the same day I bake it after it cools or the next day?
Thank you,
Hi Nidhi, the longer ganache sits, the thicker and more of a frosting it becomes. It stays great at room temp for a couple of days.
Hi Natasha,
Do you have the ganache recipe in metrics? Thank you!
Hi Andrew, it doesn’t have the metric conversions but this Weight Chart can help. Our new recipes can be converted if you click on Jump to recipe and clck Metric.
Just made this – I only had mini chips, and it was thick enough to pour immediately upon whisking! Which is great, because I hate waiting. Covered 8 jumbo cupcakes pretty well.
Nice, thanks for sharing your experience with this recipe. I hope you enjoyed it!
Do the ganache hardens? I want to dip doughnuts in it and use them as cake toppers
Hi Monique, it does harden after it sits but it stays spreadable at room temp. I poured it over my cake roll and refrigerated it to let it set completely.
Hi Natasha, I had a question. I am making your poppy seed cake and the ganache, should I make it the night before of the event and let the whole cake “propitat’sya’ overnight in the fridge or is it better made the day of the event and just kept in the fridge for a few hours? Thanks so much!
Hi Kate, once the syrup is absorbed, there is no need to let it sit overnight. That sponge cake is very good at absorbing moisture and keeps well but a long resting time is not necessary.
Hey Natasha! How do I use this ganache to pipe roses on my cupcakes? Do I need to let it sit on room temperature longer so that it thickens and is easy to pipe?
Hi! That would work. I would recommend whipping it after it has chilled to make it easier to pipe (but it will lighten in color if you do). You can also leave it creamy. Check out what we did for our Yule Log cake. I used this chocolate ganache for it.
What do you do if the ganache becomes to thick to pour over the edges of a round cake? Thank you!
Hi Sheila, once it becomes thick it will not pour like the liquid. We whip it up and use it as a frosting then.
Simply awesome !!!
I tried this ganache with dark chocolate chips n it turned out amazing.
If I use white chocolate does the ratio of chocolate to cream remain same .
Sounds awesome! I personally haven’t tested it with white chocolate to advise but our readers have reported it doesn’t work well with white chocolate chips. I suspected that was the case – or that some substitutions would be necessary to make a white chocolate ganache but I haven’t experimented with it. If I come up with something great in the future, I will be sure to share it!
Same. Loved the dark chocolate.
Hi,
How long can I keep the chocolate ganache after it’s made? Thank 🙂
I have not tried keeping it for more than 2 days
I’m baking a chocolate chips bundt cake. It’s for my son’s birthday and he’s always like it with a chocolate glaze. I’m not fond of a chocolate glaze and would like to use this instead this year. Since I’m baking a day ahead, should I wait and use the ganache tomorrow or should I go ahead and make this ganache today after the cake cools?
Hi Marisa, It would be better to glaze the cake once it cools to keep the cake moist. The ganache will seal in moisture and keep it from drying out.
Thank you. Everyone just loved this ganache! Quick and so very good.
Privet Natasha! I was wondering if I can substitute milk chocolate chips for white chocolate and use that in a piping bag to make decorative lines for my son’s birthday cake? I imagine I’d have to check the ganache until it reaches firm enough consistency to not run off the side of the cake… what do you think? Thanks so much!
Hi Katya, Several of my readers have reported good results using milk chocolate chips. It may take slightly longer for it to thicken up than semi-sweet but I think it would work.