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 1:1 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
- 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
- Filling for chocolate hand pies
- 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
- Topping for marble loaf cake (with slightly reduced cream for a thicker ganache!)
- As a layer in peanut butter banana cream 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 a 1:1 ratio of cream to chocolate.
Did you know that chocolate ganache is the base for chocolate truffles? I actually use less cream when I make chocolate truffles because the 1:1 ratio is too thin and sticky. Instead of a 1:1 ratio, use 8 ounces of chocolate and 2/3 cup (160ml) 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 Bakers 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.
Hello!
Can I let it cool/set and instead of piping it, just spread it over my cake (without whipping it)? Will one batch be enough to frost a 9×13?
Thank you!
Sara
Hi Sara! Yes, you can use this cooled and thickened ganache to spread on a 9×13 inch cake. There is enough for that size cake.
Thank you very much Sally!
I have almond bark instead of pure chocolate, will it turn out well enough for a Swiss roll?
Hi Katie, almond bark has additional sugars and ingredients included in the bars. For chocolate ganache, we recommend using pure baking chocolate bars for best results.
Can I make the ganache, let it cool, refrigerate it and whip it up the next day?
That should work Patty!
Can liquor be added to the ganache?
Hi Susan! You can stir the 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.
thank you for your recommendation. My ganache for some reason did not thicken even after cooling, it also did not attain the shiny chocolate brown shade when i melted the chocolate. Not sure what i did wrong, i did use a metallic bowl, only thing i can think is maybe i over heated the cream?
Make sure you are using the full fat heavy cream and pure chocolate!
Yes I made it today for the first time and used full heavy cream and Ghiaradelli 60% cocoa bittersweet chocolate chips….it came out perfect and is heavenly! It makes a difference …
I wonder if you used 8 ounces of chocolate? If you use two SQUARES instead of 2 BARS, then it will not be enough. It’s an easy mistake to make if you are used to the individually wrapped 1 oz squares. To make up the equivalent in the old style packaging, you’d need all 8 of the individual squares in a box.
Hi Sally,
can I use the whipped ganache in your chocolate layer cake recipe? and then use it to cover it as frosting? will this ganache recipe be enough for layering and frosting the 9 inch 2 layer cake ?
Yes! You can use the whipped ganache for my chocolate layer cake. I recommend 1.5x this recipe to ensure you have enough to fill and frosting the cake.
The two ingredient ganache was a bit flat. Adding a pinch of salt, espresso granules and splash of vanilla tuned it up. Love the tips on whipped ganache, thank you for them!
Once cooled, can you reheat the ganache for a drip on a bundt cake?
Yes, definitely!
What’s the beat way to reheat the ganache? I had so much that I made more profiteroles and want to dip the new batch in the ganache.
You can reheat it in the microwave at 10 second increments stirring between each one until you get the desired consistency.
If i make this ganache. Can i add a touch almond extract to it? Or would that ruin the flavor?
Hi
I live in the UK and Ghirardelli and Bakers brand are not available in stores. Do you have any suggestions for Good quality chocolate available in UK stores?
I have tried the brands available in local stores and not happy with the outcome. Any suggestions on what i should look out for?
thanks,
Elizabeth
I’m sorry I’m not familiar with what brand are available for you! If they say something like “pure chocolate” they should work! Are you a part of our Facebook group? I’m positive someone on there can offer suggestions!
I’ve always marveled at Ganache, but was afraid to tackle it. Now I can’t wait to try it on a Swiss Chocolate Roll (your recipe too). Thanks for making everything easy enough to try new things.
Once you put the cream on a sponge cake do they need to be stored in the fridge ?
I would store this in the refrigerator once on a cake so that it maintains it’s shape – if it gets too warm it could thin out.
Delicious!
Hi, Sally.
When whipping the ganache, does it have to be cold or will it be ok after cooling at room temperature? Thanks.
It can be at room temperature.
Hi Sally, thanks for this wonderful recipe and method. One question, can I freeze the ganache?
Hi Ida! Yes. Once ganache cools completely, you can cover it tightly and freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator.
Hi! Do you have any suggestions on how to make a white chocolate ganache drip, that can then be painted gold?
Thanks!
Hi Lisa! The best way to make a lovely drip look is to make sure the ganache is thick enough to still drip down the sides of a cake, but not thin enough to just pour down the sides. Let it cool/set for about 15-20 minutes before using as a drip. I’m unsure about painting it gold– I haven’t done it before so I can’t be much help!
Hi Sally,
So I have made ganache before, and have always found it much easier than whipping the butter cream. But have mostly used it as a frosting to just cover the cake, never as a filling. I love the idea of whipping it up to use a filling which gives a feeling of butter cream.
I just baked 3 6-inch chocolate cakes yesterday for a birthday party. Want to use this recipe for filling and frosting. How many cups do you think I would need for filling? And how many as frosting for covering the cake?
Hi Natasha! This amount of whipped ganache will be plenty for frosting and filling the small 3 layer 6 inch cake. I would use 1/2 – 2/3 cup between each layer, then use the rest for frosting the layer cake.
Hi Sally! Love your site! I’m wondering if this recipe will work with REALLY dark chocolate, like 70-80% dark? I just happen to have a bunch of Lindt bars and thought I’d try them and add a bit of sugar to the cream for some added sweetness?
Yes, definitely! The ganache will taste very dark. You can use any pure chocolate for ganache!
I managed to salvage my ganache! I double boilers and added powered sugar! I brought it back to life and I sweetened to taste-yeah. I plan on using it as a frosting.
Do you have any suggestions for how to use this as a frosting? I recently made an Italian rainbow cookie cake (think almond flavoring with the three colors – red, yellow, green and jam filling), and I was supposed to pour the ganache over the top. It looked beautiful on top of the cake, but it just oozed all over the sides and was a complete mess. It was unmanageable. Any tips?
Hi Jackie! Let it thicken a but before pouring over a cake. It is VERY thin at first, but give it about 15 minutes and it’s much more manageable for pouring without dripping/oozing everywhere.
This is probably a silly question, but Is there a certain brand for heavy cream that you recommend and where is it located in the grocery store? I tried 3 different stores and all I can find is heavy whipping cream but no heavy cream? Thanks in advance for the help 🙂
Hi Kellie! You can use heavy whipping cream. Heavy cream and heavy whipping cream are similar and can be used interchangeably in recipes.
Hi there,
Thanks so much for such an informative post! If I use this recipe to make the whipped chocolate ganache (to frost the inside of a cake) how many cups will it yield?
About 3 cups of whipped ganache. 🙂
Came out perfect, now to have it sit and set to use in my chocolate French Macarons! Thank you, I will use this recipe from now on
I love making ganache and putting it on a flourless chocolate cake, simple and decadent.
I didn’t think there was a difference between heavy cream and heavy whipping cream. What is the difference?
Hi Linda! There isn’t a difference– both can be used interchangeably as they contain the same percentage of milk fat. But different brands either call the product heavy whipping cream or heavy cream. Same thing– can use either.
I always love reading your tutorials (whether I know about the subject or not)…your clear, concise instructions and reasons things work (or don’t) are so beneficial. I’ve been making ganache as frosting, topping, truffles, etc, for a long time, and I usually use dark chocolate (60% cacao or more) because the dessert is usually sweet enough (like Boston Cream Pie), but I agree that semi-sweet is great as a truffle base. Thanks for the tips!
Thank you for a wonderful tutorial on Chocolate Ganache. I have made it before and had some success. Your recipes usually have the clearest instructions and the best reasons for not skipping over any steps. I do not have any piping tools and have not begun to decorate cakes or cupcakes except with a spatula, but I think I am ready now. Could you recommend a beginner set that would be satisfactory and have the basic tools? I’ll let you know how it works out.
Hi Judy! This is so nice to read, thank you so much. If you want to begin piping, give my Piping 101 post a read. Lots of helpful information there. Those are my favorite tips and each are very easy to use. You’ll need some piping bags. I recommend reusable piping bags or disposable piping bags, both linked in that post too. 🙂
Thank you SOOOO much for this information, Sally. You don’t how many times I tried to make ganache and it never comes out right! Excited to try making some soon!
Hi Sally, if I wanted to use the ganache as a filling in chocolate cupcakes, do I still allow to set in frig for a time or should I use while still thin?
Hi Michelle! I recommend letting the ganache set at room temperature until it’s cooled and “spoonable” consistency. Then you can spoon or pipe it into the cupcakes.
How many cupcakes will this recipe pipe?
About 1 dozen.
So excited to try the whipped ganache!
Me too! I was actually thinking about making it with the coconut milk, whipping it, and putting it on top of Sally’s Chocolate Caramel Coconut Cupcakes to up the coconut flavor! Yum. Sally, I’m assuming the coconut version can also be whipped into frosting?
Very useful post! I’ll certainly be referring to it regularly, as I make ganache quite often! A trick to remedying siezed chocolate is to actually add a tiny bit of hot water! The ideal option is to not let any water get in there in the first place, but wonder of wonders, adding a tiny bit of extra hot water fixes it!