Made with just two ingredients: vegan cream and vegan chocolate chips, this vegan chocolate ganache is the best vegan topping for cakes.
Ganache is a French dessert recipe, and as a French baker, it’s been a staple in my kitchen for years. Ganache is a chocolate glaze or frosting, perfect for a mirror or dripping effect on top of a vegan Bundt cake or to use as a vegan ganache frosting to frost two-layered vegan cakes.
While many people think it’s a complicated French dessert, making vegan ganache is pretty easy and requires just two ingredients: an equal ratio in weight of vegan cream and vegan chocolate. You can eventually flavor ganache with extract, like a touch of vanilla peppermint, to glaze a cookie like my vegan peppermint chocolate cookies.
Why You’ll Love This Vegan Ganache Recipe
- Easy to make in 10 minutes
- Versatile – drizzle for dripping effect on cakes, or refrigerate for frosting cupcakes
- Gluten-free
- Just 2 ingredients
- Dairy-free
- Creamy and smooth
- Glossy fancy look
Ingredients and Substitutions
This paragraph gives you all my tips about picking the right ingredients. For the full recipe with measurements, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post!Go to Full Recipe
- Vegan Chocolate Chips – Depending on the strength of the ganache you are after, you can use semi-sweet chocolate like 53% cocoa or dark chocolate up to 70%. Obviously, the darker the chocolate, the more bitter and less sweet the ganache. You can also use chopped chocolate, but if so, it’s highly recommended that you weigh ingredients instead of using cups! While chocolate chips pack nicely in a cup, chopped chocolate doesn’t. Also, you can use sugar-free chocolate for this recipe. It will melt very well as soon as it’s not 100% cocoa chocolate bars.
- Vegan Cream or full-fat coconut milk – You can use vegan soy cream sold in the cold section of your grocery store or canned coconut cream and use only the top part of the can. Alternatively, if these ingredients are not available in store, you can also use almond milk, or canned coconut milk, full-fat, shaking the can before measuring. Note that the less fat, the thinner and less shiny the ganache.
- Flavoring like vanilla extract, almond extract, or peppermint extract is optional and depends on the flavor you want for your ganache.
Making Vegan Ganache In 5 Minutes
This vegan ganache recipe is the easiest vegan dessert or vegan staple you will make and clearly a no-fail.
- In a non-stick saucepan add the plant-based cream of choice, bring to a boil then stop heat immediately.
- Place the dark chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl or a bowl that can handle boiled liquid like a glass bowl. Pour the boiled vegan cream on top of the chocolate chips. Don’t stir, just wait 2 to 3 minutes.
- Stir gently to incorporate the chocolate and cream together. It takes a good minute of a gentle stir to combine both ingredients, and it has a marble look at first.
- The consistency gets thicker and still liquid but becomes dark, shiny, smooth, and glossy.
Expert Pastry Tips For Ganache
- Weigh your ingredients on a kitchen scale – ganache is pure chemistry, and as a scientist, I love precision. Ganache works at 100% time if you weigh the same amount of chocolate and chips. If you work in cups, make sure you pack the cup and level up the top. It will never be as precise if you work in volume, which means you may add too much liquid and end up with a less thick ganache.
- Don’t stir until the chocolate chips are melted – ganache is a slow-process dessert. Don’t touch the ingredients for at least 2 minutes before stirring so the boiled cream naturally melts the chocolate without adding movement.
- Pop in the fridge to thicken and pipe the ganache. Ganache thickens when cold. Pop the bowl in the refrigerator overnight, and use it in a piping bag the next day on top of vegan cupcakes. You can also roll balls of overnight refrigerated ganache into cocoa powder and turn them into vegan truffles.
- Use lukewarm ganache for a dripping effect on cakes. Pour the lukewarm ganache on top of the cake, it’s runnier and creates the most beautiful dripping effect. Then, pop the cake in the fridge to set the ganache, it stays soft inside but hardens as well.
How To Use Vegan Ganache
Ganache is mostly used to:
- Frost vegan cakes – like my vegan Bundt cake, crazy chocolate cake, or Vegan Birthday Cake.
- Dip fresh fruits serve lukewarm and dip in fruits like strawberries, pineapple, or mango chunks.
- Ice cookies – try this on top of my almond flour chocolate cookies or vegan chocolate shortbread.
- Decorate puff pastries like choux pastries, and vegan eclairs for example.
- Decorate vegan cupcakes for a thin chocolate glaze, use lukewarm, or refrigerate overnight pipe to replace vegan buttercream on top of vegan chocolate cupcakes.
- Drizzle on vegan ice cream
More Vegan Ganache And Frosting Recipes
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Vegan Ganache
Made with just two ingredients: vegan cream, vegan chocolate chips, and a touch of vanilla, this vegan chocolate ganache is the best vegan topping for cakes.
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Servings: 12 servings (4 tbsp)
Calories: 131.2 kcal
Ingredients
- 8 oz Dairy-Free Dark Chocolate Chips - semi-sweet or dark
- 1 cup Vegan Cream - soy cream, or coconut cream
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
Optional flavors
Instructions
- In a glass bowl, add the chocolate chips. Set aside.
- Add the vegan cream to a non-stick saucepan – if you are using canned coconut cream, only use the thick part on top of the can.
- Place over medium-high heat and bring it to a boil. Stop the heat and pour it over the vegan chocolate chips.
- Set aside for 3 minutes, then stir until the mixture is glossy and all the chocolate is melted.
- Stir in vanilla extract and cool down at room temperature for 30 minutes to thicken.
- Use on top of vegan Bundt cake or to dip strawberries. The ganache hardens in the refrigerator.
Notes
Serving size – this ganache serves 2 cups, and frost a 9-inch cake or 12 cupcakes.
Store it for up to 3 days in the fridge, in an airtight container, or in zip-lock bags, and remove it from the refrigerator the day before so it has time to soften. Microwave, or place in a bain-marie to make it runnier.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving (4 tbsp) | Calories: 131.2kcal | Carbohydrates: 12.6g | Protein: 2.1g | Fat: 9.9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 48.6mg | Potassium: 0.2mg | Fiber: 2.1g | Sugar: 9.2g | Calcium: 32.5mg | Iron: 1.5mg | Magnesium: 0.02mg | Phosphorus: 0.01mg
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
OMG, this ganache is a amazing! Used it to frost cupcakes, and they disappeared in seconds at the office party. Super easy, super delicious. Thanks a ton!
Just made this vegan ganache for a birthday cake, and it’s pure heaven! The silky texture and rich chocolatey flavor are unmatched. Thank you for this divine recipe!