How to Make Ganache

Co-authored by Jessica Banh

Simply cream and chocolate, ganache is a delicious confection. It can be used to fill or top cakes, cookies, and other desserts. Best of all, it can be used as a glaze, a topping, or even whipped. It sounds complicated, but making ganache is actually quite simple!

Ingredients

12 ounces semisweet, bittersweet, or milk chocolate
1 cup heavy cream

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Making Basic Ganache

1
Chop your chocolate. The higher-quality chocolate you use, the better your ganache will turn out.^{[1]
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Expert Source

Jessica Banh
Pastry Chef
Expert Interview. 6 April 2022.} With a serrated knife, finely chop the chocolate until there are no chunks of it left. This ensures that it will melt evenly. Place in a heat-proof bowl.
2
Bring your cream to a boil over medium high. Bring the cream to a boil on your stovetop. When it's come to a boil, immediately remove from the burner

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3
Slowly mix cream and chocolate. Pour a little bit of cream at a time into the bowl, then stir.^{[2]
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Expert Source

Jessica Banh
Pastry Chef
Expert Interview. 6 April 2022.} Once all the cream is in, stir until smooth. It should have a glossy texture.
- Now would be the time to add in any liquor to give your ganache a little bit of a kick.
- Your ganache might also profit from some flavorings. A teaspoon of vanilla extract does wonders; a bit of peppermint oil gives the ganache a cool burst of flavor.
4
Let stand 10 minutes to cool, then serve with cakes, cookies, or whatever you else desire!
- Refrigerate your unused ganache. When you're ready to bake the next batch of cookies or coat your next chocolate cake, simply reheat the ganache over a double boiler.
5
Finished.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Modifying Your Ganache

1
Tweak the different proportions depending on what you use the ganache for. Making basic ganache is a piece of cake. Getting the ganache so that it's perfectly suited for its partner in crime in another story. Here are some proportions that you can use as a guideline when making ganache.^{[3]
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Research source}
- For glazes, particularly hard glazes — 3 parts chocolate to 1 part heavy cream, along with a tablespoon or more of corn syrup
- For truffles — 2 parts chocolate to 1 part heavy cream
- For cake filling — equal parts chocolate and heavy cream
- For soft icing — 1 part chocolate to 2 parts heavy cream
2
Create whipped ganache by refrigerating and then whipping. Take your basic chocolate ganache and set it in the refrigerator so that it's just a tad cool before whipping. Pour the ganache into a metal or ceramic bowl and then beat with an electric whipper, just as you would make whipped cream out of heavy cream.^{[4]
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Research source}
3
Make ganache for piping. Let the ganache cool completely and thicken up some. When you can spoon your ganache into a piping back and it holds its form, its ready for action.

Community Q&A
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Question

Can you heat ganache in microwave?

Jessica Banh
Pastry Chef
Jessica Banh is a Pastry Chef and the Owner of Fancy Flavors in San Jose, California. With over 12 years of technical experience, Jessica has expertise in a wide variety of pastry techniques and has a focus on macarons. Her work has been featured in The SF Chronicle, The Mercury News, and Good Morning America. She received her training from The Professional Culinary Institute.

Jessica Banh

Pastry Chef

Expert Answer

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Definitely! Microwave your chocolate and heavy cream together in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second spurts. Make sure you fully agitate the chocolate so it can fully melt together with the cream.
Question

Why did my ganache curdle?

wikiHow Staff Editor
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Ganache can curdle if you used too high a temperature to make it. It might also occur where the ratio of chocolate to liquid is not properly balanced, so make sure to follow the ingredient amounts carefully. It can be saved though! To try to save the ganache, add the curdled ganache to a blender or food processor, add a tiny amount of boiling water to the mixture and process or blend it on high (if you have to do it by hand, stir as fast as you can). The idea is to recombine the ingredients and the hot water as quickly as possible. In most cases, this will save it sufficiently for use.
Question

What is ganache used for?

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Ganache has several uses: It can be used as a filling for chocolate truffles, as a filling or coating on cakes/cupcakes and other baked goods and as a filling in various non-chocolate candies. It can be added as a filling to cookies or used as one of the layers in desserts like trifle or tiramisu. Ganache can also be used as a dip for fruits like blueberries, strawberries and sliced pieces of fruit.