Chocolate to cream: the right ganache ratio
Ganache is only two ingredients, chocolate and cream, and the ratio between them decides everything: whether it pours over a cake, drips neatly down the side, whips into a mousse-like frosting, pipes a swirl or rolls into truffles. This ganache ratio calculator gives the usual chocolate-to-cream ratio for each job and for dark, milk or white chocolate, then works out the grams for the amount you need.
Tell it what you know: the total ganache wanted, the chocolate you have, or the cream you have. You can also type your own ratio, such as 2:1, if you follow a recipe. Everything runs in your browser and nothing is saved.
How to use the Ganache Ratio Calculator
- Choose what the ganache is for: glaze, drip, whipped, piping or truffles.
- Pick the chocolate: dark, 70 per cent or higher dark, milk or white.
- Say whether you know the total, the chocolate or the cream, and enter the weight in grams.
- Weigh out the chocolate and cream shown, heat the cream, pour it over the chopped chocolate and stir.
Ganache Ratio Calculator features
Five uses, four chocolates
Starting ratios for glaze, drip, whipped, piping and truffles.
Three ways to size it
Start from the total, the chocolate or the cream, and the other amounts follow.
Your own ratio
Type chocolate:cream, for example 3:2, and it replaces the preset.
Comparison table
All five uses for your chosen chocolate side by side, scaled to your amount.
Why the ratio changes with the chocolate
Dark chocolate has a high share of cocoa solids and cocoa butter, so it sets firm and can carry more cream. Milk chocolate contains milk solids and sugar, and white chocolate has no cocoa solids at all, so both set softer and need less cream to hold a shape. That is why the same job asks for roughly 1:1 with dark chocolate for a pouring glaze but about 2:1 with white. A dark chocolate of 70 per cent or more has less sugar and sets harder still, so this tool trims its chocolate share by 15 per cent.
The ratios are by weight, chocolate first. A 2:1 ganache is 200 g of chocolate to 100 g of cream. Weigh both: chocolate chips and chopped bars pack differently in a cup.
How to use each ganache
- Pouring glaze. The softest set. Pour it warm over a chilled cake so it flows smoothly down the sides.
- Drip. Firmer than a glaze so it stops partway down. Test one drip on a cold cake and loosen with a spoonful of warm cream if it stops too early.
- Whipped. Cream-heavy ganache, chilled fully, then whipped. It makes a light frosting and filling, but over-whipping turns it grainy.
- Frosting and piping. Let it cool until it holds a ribbon. If it sets too hard, warm it briefly or beat in a little cream.
- Truffles. The firmest. Chill, scoop and roll.
Fixing a ganache that has split
A split ganache looks oily or curdled. It usually means the cream was too hot, the chocolate was in large pieces, or it was stirred too hard. Add one or two tablespoons of warm cream or milk and stir slowly from the centre, or blend it with a stick blender. To fill a cake, see the buttercream quantity calculator and the fondant calculator, and to resize a recipe the recipe scaler.
Ganache Ratio Calculator FAQ
What is the ganache ratio for a drip cake?
About 1.5:1 chocolate to cream for dark, 2:1 for milk and 2.5:1 for white, by weight. Many bakers use 1:1 dark for a thinner drip, so test on a cold cake and adjust.
What ratio is ganache for piping?
About 2:1 chocolate to cream for dark, 2.5:1 for milk and 3:1 for white. Cool it until it holds its shape before piping.
What is the ratio of cream to chocolate in whipped ganache?
Roughly 2 parts cream to 1 part dark chocolate, so 1:2 chocolate to cream, with a little less cream for milk and about equal parts for white. Chill it fully before whipping.
Why is my white chocolate ganache so soft?
White chocolate has no cocoa solids to help it set, so it needs more chocolate per gram of cream than dark. Raise the chocolate share or chill it longer.
Can I use milk or single cream?
It will not set properly. Cream of at least 30 to 35 per cent fat, such as heavy or double cream, gives a stable emulsion.
How long does ganache keep?
Covered, it keeps about 2 days at cool room temperature and about 1 to 2 weeks in the fridge. Whipped ganache is best used within a couple of days.