How to make the best silky smooth whipped chocolate ganache frosting perfect as a cake filling or to decorate ll your cakes and pastries!
Follow this easy-to-make recipe and all my tips (+ video) to make this delicious chocolate frosting at home.
What is a whipped ganache?
Whipped chocolate ganache is a delicious chocolate-based frosting recipe, widely used in pastry making to fill or decorate cakes, like a layer cake, cupcakes, tarts, pies, even in French entremets or a chocolate mousse cake.
It is mainly made of a mixture of melted chocolate and heavy cream but in a different ratio than the classic chocolate ganache recipe which is generally thicker and less unctuous in texture.
As its name suggests, this ganache is whipped with a hand mixer or a stand mixer to obtain a fluffy whipped chocolate frosting with an airy and light texture.
Why we love this recipe
- Whipped chocolate ganache frosting is very popular for its creamy texture and rich chocolate taste. It is much firmer than a simple whipped cream and also has a much lighter texture than chocolate buttercream.
- Perfect in pastry, it can be declined with all the flavors and we can make it with dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and even white chocolate.
- We can use it to fill choux pastry (pâte à choux), to fill a number cake, to decorate cupcakes with a piping bag, and even in cake layers to make a chocolate cake like this chocolate strawberry cake.
More chocolate frostings
Ingredients you need
These are the only 2 ingredients you'll need to make this whipped ganache recipe. *You can find the quantities and instructions in the recipe card further down this page.
- Chocolate: Preferably use good quality chocolate, semi-sweet baking chocolate or dark bittersweet chocolate, in bar or gallet shape, Valhrona, Callebaut or Cacao Barry are the brands I prefer for professional pastries.
- Heavy Cream: Only room temperature heavy cream with at least 30% fat or heavy whipping cream with 35 % fat. One part is incorporated hot hot and the other part is incorporated cold.
Variations and substitutions
- Add flavoring: You can flavor your ganache by infusing a flavor into the hot heavy cream before adding it to the melted chocolate like vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste, lemon extract or lemon zest, orange zeste and more.
- Add gelatin: For a firmer ganache frosting, you can add gelatin leave by melting it into the hot cream.
- With mascarpone: Replace the cold heavy cream with mascarpone cheese by incorporating it at the end of the recipe preparation when whipping the ganache.
- White chocolate: To make a white chocolate ganache recipe, follow my recipe for whipped white chocolate ganache.
- Milk chocolate: You can also make it with milk chocolate, as explained in my recipe for whipped milk chocolate ganache.
Ratio between chocolate and cream
The proportions are not the same for dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate. The more cocoa there is in the chocolate, the more cream should be added.
- Dark chocolate: 1 : 3
- Milk chocolate : 1: 2
- White chocolate: 1: 1.4
Example: for one part of milk chocolate, I add 2 parts of heavy cream = 300 g of milk chocolate + 600 g of heavy cream.
>> Incorporate ½ to ⅓ of the total amount of hot cream into the chocolate and then the rest of the cold cream.
How to make Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting
Melt the chocolate
- Place the chopped chocolate or chocolate chips in a large bowl.
- Melt it in a double boiler, placing the large bowl over a saucepan containing a little water over medium heat.
- Stir with a spatula or spoon until the chocolate is well melted.
Tips: You can also use your microwave to melt the baking chocolate. Heat the chocolate in 20-second increments until completely melted.
Add the hot cream
- Place the heavy cream in a saucepan and heat over medium heat until simmering.
- Remove from heat and pour the hot cream over the melted chocolate in 2-3 batches (depending on the amount of ganache being made) and stir between each addition with a spatula or wooden spoon to obtain a smooth ganache without lumps.
Tips: You can run a hand blender through the ganache for a few moments to smooth it out and remove any remaining bits of chocolate.
Add the cold cream
- Add the other part of the cold cream to the ganache.
- Stir again with a spatula to incorporate it until you have a liquid ganache.
- Cover the chocolate ganache in contact with a plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight (at least 6 hours).
Tip: you can replace the cold cream with mascarpone cheese by adding it when you whip the chocolate ganache.
Why do we add half cold cream? Once heated, heavy cream does not rise as well as cold heavy cream, so incorporating some of the cold cream ensures that the frosting rises well.
Also, adding half the cold cream will help the ganache cool more quickly.
Whip the ganache
- Place the cooled chocolate ganache in the mixing bowl of your hand mixer or your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
- Whip on medium speed for about 3 to 4 minutes until you have a smooth and fluffy ganache.
- Use the whipped ganache immediately to frost or fill your cakes or place in the refrigerator until needed.
Tip: Be sure to always beat at medium speed and not at high speed and watch that its texture does not start to get grainy.
Serving Suggestions
This whipped ganache recipe is delicious eaten with a spoon 😋 but here are some ideas for cake and pastry recipes where you can use it:
- Fill a number cake
- Fill and decorate a cake
- In glass jars
- Piping chocolate cupcakes
- To fill or to decorate a chocolate pie, chocolate tart,...
- In a Christmas log or a chocolate roll cake
- In choux pastry or chocolate éclairs
Tip: You can also flavor the ganache with almond and hazelnut praline paste, Nutella spread, Biscoff spread and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ganache is a mixture of melted chocolate and cream while chocolate whipped cream is usually a whipped cream flavored with cocoa powder.
For best results and to have a ganache with a better hold, use preferably a quality baking chocolate rich in cocoa butter.
This is the case if you have whipped it too fast or too long, but also if the chocolate has been heated too much.
If your ganache is grainy then melt it in a double boiler until it is completely liquid then let it cool overnight in the fridge before whipping it again.
For a firmer ganache, you can reduce the amount of cream, add gelatin, or replace some of the cream with mascarpone cheese.
It keeps in the fridge for about 2 days, once it is whipped up, use it immediately on your cakes.
When cold, the ganache hardens a little and has a creamy texture, but it is not hard like a classic chocolate ganache because it contains more cream.
Yes, it is possible to use whipping cream as long as it has a minimum of 30% fat.
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Whipped Chocolate Ganache
- Total Time: 25 minutes
Description
Recipe of the smooth and fluffy whipped chocolate ganache frosting perfect for garnishing and decorating all your cakes.
Ingredients
Chocolate ganache :
- 200 g (7 oz) baking chocolate
- 600 g heavy cream - full fat
Milk chocolate ganache :
- 200 g (7 oz) milk chocolate
- 400 g heavy cream - full fat
White chocolate ganache :
- 200 g (7 oz) white chocolate
- 280 g heavy cream - full fat
Instructions
- Cut the baking chocolate into small pieces or chop it finely with a knife, then place it in a large bowl.
- Melt the chocolate in a double boiler in a saucepan with a little water over medium heat or use your microwave in 20 second increments until it is completely melted and smooth, then set aside. (be careful not to overheat it or it will burn)
- Place half of the full heavy cream in a saucepan and heat over medium heat until simmering then remove from heat.
- Pour the hot cream over the melted chocolate in 3 batches and mix after each addition with a flexible spatula or wooden spoon vigorously until you have a smooth, homogenous ganache (you can run a hand blender through the ganache to smooth it out)
- Then add the other half of the cold heavy cream and mix again to incorporate it.
- Cover and place in the fridge overnight (minimum 6 hours) until completely chilled.
- Transfer the cooled ganache to the bowl of a mixer or the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
- Whip on medium speed for about 3 to 4 minutes until you have a smooth, firm ganache. (Be careful with the speed and watch the texture carefully to prevent it from graining)
- Use the whipped ganache immediately on your cakes.
Notes
Conservation: the ganache can be kept for about 2 days in the refrigerator under a plastic wrap. Once it has been whipped up, it is best to use it immediately as the air bubbles will escape and it will gradually lose its smooth texture.
You can replace half of the heavy cream incorporated cold by mascarpone by adding it when whipping the ganache.
You can flavor the ganache by infusing your flavor into the hot cream.
Finely chop the white chocolate so that it melts more easily.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Frosting, ganache,
- Cuisine: Française
Keywords: whipped ganache, chocolate whipped ganache frosting, whipped chocolate ganache frosting, whipped ganache frosting,
Hello
Can I use your ganache recipe to fill macarons? If so, would you recommend adding gelatin in what proportion? With my thanks
Hello, yes, it's possible to use chocolate ganache to fill macarons, and it's not necessary to use gelatine, as it's quite firm.
Can I freeze a cake filled and frosted with whipped Ganache, either made with whipping cream or mascarpone? Thank you.
Hi, yes it's possible to freeze a whipped ganache, even if it contains mascarpone cheese, as long as it is already filled in the cake.
Would the milk chocolate ganache recipe be enough to frost a two layer cake and fill it?
Hi, it will depend on the diameter of the cake, the best is to double the quantities because I don't think you will have enough for the outside and inside of a 6 inches / 15 cm cake.
Hello, I need to make a layer cake with a whipped dark chocolate ganache. Do you think I can make it and freeze it without the covering since it will be a mascarpone chantilly.
Or should I freeze the non-whipped ganache separately?
Thank you for your help.
Hello, yes, it's better to freeze the cake already filled with the whipped ganache, then let it defrost in the fridge and add your coating.
Hello I would like to know if I prepare my whipped ganache non whipped how long before I can prepare it thank you.
Hello, you can prepare it 2-3 days in advance, keep it in the fridge and whip it up on the day.
Thanks for your clear info…first time I have seen the cold cream addition. Keen to try. I have many slab cakes to make for a wedding, can I cover and store the day before in the fridge without covering as I don’t have containers suitable….or can use cling wrap? Could be hot weather so may be unsuitable to leave out. Thanks
Hello, thank you for your message, yes you should always keep cakes with this ganache frosting in the fridge to avoid any risk of intoxication, you can cover them with plastic wrap and keep them in the fridge..