There is something about the decadent smoothness of chocolate ganache that is special and unbeatable. Consisting of just two ingredients – dark chocolate and plant-based double cream – it’s simple too.
When decorating a cake, ganache can be used to cover a cake like icing, or drip from the top for a funky decorative flair. However, the two styles of ganache require different ratios of chocolate to cream. Icing ganache has a ratio of 2:1 chocolate:cream, whereas a drip ganache is 1.5:1 chocolate:cream
Ingredients
- Dark chocolate, chopped and in a heatproof bowl (I prefer to use Lindt 51% cooking chocolate)
- Plant based double cream
To cover a 4 layer 6″ (15cm) cake, about one kilo of ganache is needed (666g chocolate and 333g double cream).
To drip on top of a 6″ (15cm) cake, about 175g of ganache is needed (105g chocolate and 70g double cream).
Process
- Heat up the cream in a saucepan over a low-medium heat until small bubbles appear at the edges, but don’t let it boil
- Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and mix with a whisk until combined and smooth
- Wait around 10 minutes for the ganache to cool before decorating the cake
- To cover a cake, use an offset spatula and treat the ganache like buttercream
- To drip, fill a piping bag with a small round (#2) tip attached and pipe the ganache to the edge of the cake so that it drips over the edge and down the side. Once the edge is covered, fill in the centre
Enjoy!
P.S. Ganache can be used for things other than decorating cakes! It can be used for dipping strawberries, or adding to plant based milk to make a silky hot chocolate, or leave it to cool a bit longer so that it can be piped into choux pastry or even to create decorations using the piping bag!
Ellebee's Bakes & Cakes 
One thought on “Chocolate Ganache”