Chocolate Ganache Cake is the recipe that Teresa made the first time she wanted to present a chocolate cake that looked completely professional and bakery-caliber without buying any special ingredients or learning any complicated decorating techniques.
The ganache revelation was that two ingredients, good quality dark chocolate and heavy cream, melted together and then divided and used in three different ways in the same cake, could produce something so deeply beautiful and so completely extraordinary in flavor that no one who received a slice could believe it had been made at home. Whipped ganache as the filling and frosting, poured ganache as the spectacular drip down the sides, and the entire cake sitting on the stand looking like something from the window of the most beautiful Parisian chocolate shop imaginable.
Chocolate Ganache Cake is the most deeply and purely chocolatey celebration cake imaginable made entirely without buttercream or powdered sugar frosting. Tender and moist chocolate cake layers made with Dutch cocoa, buttermilk, sour cream, and hot coffee, filled and frosted with whipped chocolate ganache made from only dark chocolate and heavy cream, and finished with a stunning chocolate ganache drip that requires no special equipment and produces an absolutely spectacular visual result. Come follow us on Pinterest where we share beautiful and decadent cake recipes and stunning celebration bakes from our kitchen every single week.
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Chocolate Ganache Cake Recipe
This Chocolate Ganache Cake recipe is the celebration bake that produces the most completely and purely chocolate-forward eating experience of any cake we have ever made because every single component, the cake crumb, the filling, the frosting, and the drip, is made from chocolate rather than from butter and sugar with chocolate added. The ganache frosting is fundamentally different in character from a conventional buttercream. It is silkier, more intensely chocolate-flavored, less sweet, and has a luxurious and almost fudge-like quality when whipped and applied to the cake that no amount of cocoa powder added to butter and sugar can fully replicate.
The whipped ganache technique is the most accessible and most immediately impressive cake frosting method available to home bakers. The same simple ganache base, once cooled to room temperature, can be whipped with a hand mixer into a light and spreadable frosting with a texture between mousse and buttercream that is extraordinary both to eat and to apply. Our Orange Velvet Cake makes a beautifully vibrant and elegantly contrasting companion celebration cake for a complete and stunning dessert celebration table alongside this dark and dramatic ganache creation.
Ingredients Needed for This Chocolate Ganache Cake Recipe
For the Chocolate Cake:
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1¾ cups Granulated Sugar
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Baking Soda
- ⅔ cup Dutch-Process Cocoa Powder
- ½ tsp Kosher Salt
- ¾ cup Buttermilk, room temperature
- ½ cup Full-Fat Sour Cream, room temperature
- ⅔ cup Vegetable Oil
- 2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 3 large Eggs, room temperature
- ¾ cup Hot Strong Coffee
For the Chocolate Ganache Frosting and Filling:
- 500g Best-Quality Dark Chocolate, finely chopped
- 500g Heavy Cream
For the Chocolate Ganache Drip:
- 90g Best-Quality Dark Chocolate, finely chopped
- 90g Heavy Cream
How to Make This Chocolate Ganache Cake Recipe
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare two 8-inch round baking pans with cooking spray and parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, kosher salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Sift the Dutch cocoa powder into the bowl and whisk all dry ingredients together until fully combined. Add the buttermilk, vegetable oil, vanilla, sour cream, and room-temperature eggs directly to the dry ingredients and whisk until almost combined. Add the hot strong coffee and whisk until completely combined with no lumps of flour visible.
The batter will be quite runny and smooth. Divide evenly between the two prepared pans using a kitchen scale for precision if available. Use cake strips wrapped around the pan exteriors if available for perfectly flat and even cake layers. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
For the ganache, finely chop the dark chocolate and place in a large bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat until it reaches a gentle simmer. Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate in the bowl. Allow to sit without stirring for 10 minutes while the residual heat of the cream melts the chocolate. Stir gently from the center outward until the ganache is completely smooth and silky, cara mia. Allow to cool at room temperature until it reaches room temperature. Press plastic wrap directly against the surface of the ganache to prevent a skin from forming.
Once the ganache has cooled to room temperature, divide it into two equal portions in separate bowls. Using an electric hand mixer, whip one portion of the ganache until it becomes lighter in color and develops a fluffy and spreadable texture similar to frosting. This is the whipped ganache that will be used for the filling and frosting.
Using a piping bag filled with whipped ganache, pipe a border around the outer edge of the first cake layer. Fill the center with the unwhipped portion of the ganache, smoothing it level with a spatula. Place the second cake layer on top. Frost the entire exterior of the assembled cake with the remaining whipped ganache. Refrigerate the frosted cake while making the drip ganache.
For the drip, make a small fresh ganache batch using the 90g chocolate and 90g cream following the same process. Allow this small ganache to cool for approximately 15 minutes until it is fluid but not hot. Pour over the top of the chilled cake and use an offset spatula to gently push the ganache toward the edges until it begins to drip naturally down the sides in the most beautiful and completely dramatic presentation imaginable.
How to Serve This Chocolate Ganache Cake Recipe
Bring the cake to room temperature for at least 20 to 30 minutes before serving so the ganache filling and frosting softens from the refrigerator-firm state to its most luxurious and melting texture. Serve on a beautiful cake stand or platter where the dramatic drip sides are fully visible.
Slice with a sharp knife warmed under hot water and wiped dry between each cut for the cleanest and most beautiful cross-section showing the distinct layers of dark cake and ganache filling. A few fresh raspberries or strawberries placed alongside each slice provide the most brilliant color contrast against the deep dark chocolate. Our Raspberry Tiramisu makes a beautifully vibrant and equally deeply indulgent companion for a complete and spectacular chocolate celebration dessert table.
How to Store This Chocolate Ganache Cake Recipe
Store the assembled cake covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Cover with plastic wrap or foil pressed gently against the ganache surface to prevent it from absorbing refrigerator odors or developing a dull film.
To freeze the whole cake, first refrigerate for 1 hour to firm the ganache completely, then wrap the entire cake tightly in plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 2 months. To freeze individual slices, freeze uncovered on a parchment-lined tray until solid, then wrap each slice and store in a freezer-safe container. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.
Tips to Make This Chocolate Ganache Cake Recipe
Use the best quality dark chocolate you can find for the ganache. The ganache is made from only two ingredients and the chocolate is the primary flavor source. A high-quality dark chocolate with 60 to 70% cacao content produces a ganache that is deeply and luxuriously chocolatey with a beautiful glossy finish and a smooth and complex flavor. Lower quality compound chocolate produces a noticeably inferior ganache with a thinner flavor and a less appealing texture.
Allow the ganache to cool completely to room temperature before attempting to whip it. Warm ganache poured into the mixer will not whip. Cold ganache that has been refrigerated will whip but may be difficult to achieve the right texture and can become lumpy. Room-temperature ganache whips quickly into the most beautiful and perfectly textured frosting.
Helpful Notes for This Chocolate Ganache Cake Recipe
Cake strips are strongly recommended for this recipe. Wrapping moistened fabric cake strips around the outside of each pan before baking insulates the sides of the batter and produces cake layers that bake flat across the top rather than developing a dome in the center. Flat cake layers are significantly easier to stack and fill with ganache cleanly and produce a more professional-looking finished cake.
The drip timing is the most critical element of the assembly. The drip ganache must be warm enough to flow but not so hot that it continues running all the way down the sides of the cake and pools at the base of the stand. Approximately 15 minutes of cooling from hot to warm fluid produces the correct consistency. Test by spooning a small amount over the edge of a cold glass. If it drips slowly and stops within a few inches, it is ready.
Variation of This Chocolate Ganache Cake Recipe
Maria made a version adding a tablespoon of instant espresso powder to the hot cream before pouring over the chocolate for a mocha ganache that was deeply sophisticated and completely extraordinary. Teresa tried a raspberry layer variation by spreading a thin layer of raspberry jam over each cake layer before the ganache filling for a chocolate raspberry ganache cake that was absolutely stunning in flavor and color.
For a salted caramel version, drizzle a tablespoon of salted caramel sauce over the ganache filling inside the cake before stacking the second layer for a hidden caramel pocket that produces the most delightfully surprising and completely extraordinary flavour combination when the cake is sliced. Our Pistachio and Blackberry Olive Oil Cake makes a beautifully elegant and equally sophisticated companion for a complete and impressive celebration dessert spread alongside this spectacular ganache creation.
FAQs About This Chocolate Ganache Cake Recipe
What is the ratio for chocolate ganache?
The basic rule for ganache is equal parts chocolate and cream by weight for a pourable glaze consistency that flows freely at room temperature. More chocolate relative to cream produces a thicker and firmer ganache that sets to a truffle-like consistency. More cream relative to chocolate produces a softer and silkier ganache. The equal-parts ratio used in this recipe is ideal for a ganache that can be used as both a pourable drip and a whippable frosting.
Will the ganache get hard in the refrigerator?
Yes. Chocolate ganache hardens and becomes significantly firmer in the refrigerator as the cocoa butter in the chocolate solidifies at cold temperatures. This is why the assembled cake must be brought to room temperature for at least 20 to 30 minutes before serving, allowing the ganache to soften back to its most luxurious and melting texture. The ganache will never become completely hard at room temperature.
Can I use milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate?
Yes but the result will be noticeably sweeter and less deeply chocolatey in flavor. Milk chocolate contains more sugar and milk solids than dark chocolate and produces a lighter-colored and milder ganache. If using milk chocolate, reduce the quantity of cream slightly as milk chocolate has a higher sugar content and sets more firmly than dark chocolate at the same cream-to-chocolate ratio.
Conclusion
This Chocolate Ganache Cake is the celebration bake that makes every person who receives a slice feel completely and genuinely and magnificently celebrated through something that looks absolutely extraordinary and tastes even more deeply and completely extraordinary than it looks. Pure chocolate, silky, dramatic, and completely unforgettable in every single bite from the moist dark cake through the whipped ganache and into the drip. We hope it brings the same awe and the same deeply chocolate-satisfied gathering to your table that it has always brought to ours. Make it, share it, and come back to tell us all about it. With all our love, Maria, Lucia, and Teresa.
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Chocolate Ganache Cake The Most Rich and Decadent Chocolate Cake You Will Ever Bake
- Total Time: 3 hours including cooling and chilling
- Yield: 14 slices 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
The most rich and decadent Chocolate Ganache Cake made with moist Dutch cocoa chocolate layers filled and frosted with whipped two-ingredient dark chocolate ganache and finished with a stunning chocolate ganache drip. A completely spectacular and deeply chocolatey celebration cake that requires no buttercream or powdered sugar frosting.
Ingredients
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 3/4 cups Granulated Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
2/3 cup Dutch-Process Cocoa Powder
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
3/4 cup Buttermilk room temperature
1/2 cup Full-Fat Sour Cream room temperature
2/3 cup Vegetable Oil
2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
3 large Eggs room temperature
3/4 cup Hot Strong Coffee
500g Best-Quality Dark Chocolate finely chopped for ganache
500g Heavy Cream for ganache
90g Best-Quality Dark Chocolate for drip
90g Heavy Cream for drip
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Prep two 8-inch pans with cooking spray and parchment.
2. Whisk flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sifted cocoa in a large bowl.
3. Add buttermilk, oil, vanilla, sour cream, and eggs. Whisk until almost combined.
4. Add hot coffee and whisk until smooth and no lumps remain. Batter will be runny.
5. Divide evenly between pans. Use cake strips if available.
6. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely.
7. Chop 500g chocolate and place in large bowl.
8. Heat 500g cream to a simmer. Pour over chocolate. Rest 10 minutes. Stir until smooth.
9. Cool to room temperature. Press plastic wrap on surface to prevent skin.
10. Divide ganache into two equal bowls.
11. Whip one half with electric hand mixer until lighter in color and spreadable like frosting.
12. Pipe whipped ganache border around first cake layer edge. Fill center with unwhipped ganache. Smooth level.
13. Place second layer on top. Frost exterior with remaining whipped ganache. Refrigerate.
14. Make drip ganache: heat 90g cream to simmer. Pour over 90g chopped chocolate. Rest and stir smooth. Cool 15 minutes.
15. Pour drip ganache over chilled cake. Push toward edges until drip forms down sides.
- Prep Time: 50 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 697
- Sugar: 37g
- Sodium: 234mg
- Fat: 47g
- Saturated Fat: 23g
- Unsaturated Fat: 20g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 63g
- Fiber: 7g
- Protein: 9g
- Cholesterol: 90mg
Keywords: chocolate ganache cake, chocolate ganache drip cake, whipped ganache frosting cake, best chocolate ganache layer cake recipe
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