Chocolate Ganache Frosting Recipe – VIDEO

Transform dreamy, creamy Chocolate Ganache into a spreadable frosting! This stuff is a little slice of chocolate heaven and goes great on all types of baked goods, including cakes, cupcakes, cookies and more!

I know, I know, I just posted a Chocolate Ganache recipe, but trust me when I tell you that Chocolate Ganache Frosting deserves its own moment in the spotlight.

Straight-up ganache is shiny, glaze-like and pourable or even dunkable. The frosting version contains a few extra ingredients and it gets to spend some time chillin’ in the fridge, making it spreadable.

This stuff is like heaven, you guys. I love ganache, but this frosting takes creamy chocolate to a whole new level. I made a few batches of Chocolate Cupcakes this week and after spreading this frosting on most of them, my willpower was gone.

This Chocolate Ganache Frosting wins out over EVERY SINGLE other frosting on the planet for me. Yum yum YUM.

HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE GANACHE FROSTING

STEP 1

Place 2 cups of chopped semi-sweet or bittersweet baking chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl.

Add 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, 2 tablespoons of light corn syrup and 2 tablespoons of salted butter to a small saucepan and let cook over medium high heat, stirring often.

Remove from the heat once the butter melts and the cream becomes frothy and begins to bubble, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately pour the hot cream mixture over top of the chopped chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes.

STEP 2

Whisk the chocolate and cream until the mixture is creamy, free of lumps and deep brown in color. Place the bowl of melted chocolate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, whisk until creamy and spread onto cooled baked goods.

RECIPE NOTES

• This frosting works great in a piping bag and it’s also fun to spread using an offset spatula. The creaminess is almost indescribable. Are you understanding how in love I am?
• If you don’t have baking chocolate on hand, replace it with 2 cups of good quality semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips and skip the bittersweet chocolate.
• Try this recipe with white chocolate for entirely different, yet still creamy and delicious flavor.
• Use dark baking chocolate for a super rich frosting.
• Let the ganache sit in the fridge for up to an hour for an even thicker frosting.
• If you are looking for a thinner frosting with more of a glaze consistency, consider making plain chocolate ganache instead.
• To achieve a buttercream consistency, wait until the frosting has completely cooled to room temperature and whip the ganache with a hand mixer until light and fluffy.

HOW LONG DOES GANACHE LAST

Keep ganache in a sealed container in the fridge for 2-3 weeks.

CAN YOU FREEZE GANACHE

You can absolutely freeze ganache with little to no change to its quality. Freeze in a sealed container (or double-bag) for up to 1 year. Let it thaw completely before reheating and drizzling over baked goods.

CAN YOU MAKE GANACHE IN THE MICROWAVE

Absolutely! If you’d like to skip the stove top, heat the cream in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave for 2 minutes. Pour over the chocolate chips and follow the rest of the instructions as noted in the recipe card below.

CAN I USE HALF AND HALF FOR GANACHE

Only in a pinch! Heavy whipping cream is the preferred choice, as it creates a perfectly creamy, fudgy end result.

HOW TO THICKEN CHOCOLATE GANACHE

If letting it hang out in the fridge doesn’t thicken it up enough, add powdered sugar to the mixture 1 tablespoon at a time stirring well after each addition.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GANACHE AND GANACHE FROSTING

Ganache and Ganache Frosting are made with the same ingredients, but using different ratios of cream to chocolate. Ganache usually refers to a glaze that is drizzled over baked goods and ganache frosting refers to a spreadable frosting or filling for baking goods.

Allowing ganache to cool in the fridge will make it thicker (much like the frosting), but it also causes it to lose its “drippy” quality that ganache is known for.

CAN YOU POUR GANACHE GLAZE OVER GANACHE FROSTING

See the above photo of Chocolate Espresso Cake and you’ll see that the answer to that question is YES. It works amazingly well!

WHAT TO DO WITH GANACHE FROSTING

For a few inspiring places to start (because the options really are endless):

• Replace the dulce de leche with ganache in these Chocolate Sandwich Cookies.
• Spread it all over this chocolate cake.
• Top Chocolate Cupcakes with it.
• Use it along with regular ganache on this super rich and yummy Chocolate Espresso Layer Cake.
• Put it into the center of your next lava cake.
• I cannot think of a single baked good that this would not be great on. You could even try drizzling it over this Chocolate Raspberry Bundt Cake.

SALTED BUTTER VS UNSALTED BUTTER

Ahh, the great baking debate. Many bakers use unsalted butter in their baked goods in order to avoid over-salting. I, however, believe that there is no such thing as “over-salting.”

I always use salted butter in my baked goods (and for everything else under the sun) because it gives everything I make an extra touch of salty deliciousness. If you go the unsalted route, keep in mind that you may need to add a bit extra salt to the recipe!

BEST FROSTINGS TO USE FOR CAKE

Here is a list of my other favorite types of frosting to slather all over cakes!

• Vanilla Buttercream
• Chocolate Buttercream
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• Lemon Buttercream Frosting
• Caramel Buttercream