Making a chocolate ganache drizzle is easy as long as you know these three tips:

1/ CHOOSE YOUR CHOCOLATE CAREFULLY

Not all chocolate is equal in drizzle world. The chocolate that I have found to work best for drizzles is chocolate that has 50% cocoa solids. It drips much nicer than 30-40% chocolate. That being said, I do use Whittaker’s 70% for vegan chocoalte drizzles as this has no milk solilds in it. Although it still drizzles nicely, I definitely notice the difference.

2/ THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE MUST BE AT ROOM TEMPERATURE

This does require a little patience, which has tested me in the past, but the wait is well worth not ruining a cake by dripping warm ganache all over it.

If you try to use the ganache straight away, it will not only melt the icing but it will also be too runny to use. Wait until the bowl that is holding the chocolate is at room temperature. I promise you won’t regret the wait.

If you want to make your ganache in advance, make it as directed in recipe below and then store in the fridge. Microwave in 30 second increments until the ganache reaches a PVA glue-like consistency.

3/ THE CAKE MUST BE COLD

For complete drizzle success, ensure that your cake is COLD. Like really cold. I often pop mine into the freezer for 5 minutes to let the buttercream really firm up and set cold so that the drizzle can drizzle and set on the cold cake. 

DRIZZLE TECHNIQUES

So how does one actually drizzle the chocolate ganache onto a cake? 

It’s easy!

There are three ways you can do this (I seem to chop and change depending on how neat I want the drizzles to be) :

1. WITH A SPOON

– Using a spoon give you less control and I personally find it harder. Basically you drip the chocolate down the edge of the cake from the top and go right around the cake. Once you finish, you pour the remaining chocolate into the middle and spread it out with an offset spatula.

2. POURING

– Pouring involves tipping the ganache into the middle of the cake and bringing it to the sides with an offset spatula to gently encourage the chocolate to drizzle down the cake.

3. WITH A BOTTLE/PIPING BAG 

– This is a more controlled way of getting the drizzles to look uniform on the cake. All you need to do is pour the ganache into a bottle with a nozzle at the end (like in the picture above) or into a piping bag and cut the end of the bag to create a small hole. Starting from the top edge of the cake, gently squeeze big or small blobs of chocolate and watch it fall down the sides of the cake. Continue around the whole cake. Then tip the remaining ganache into the middle of the cake and spread it out with an offset spatula.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE RECIPE

(Enough ganache for an 8 inch diameter cake. Adjust quantities as needed).

RATIO: 1 part chocolate – one part cream (by weight NOT cups)

100g 50% cocoa solids chocolate, chopped

100mls cream 

In a glass bowl, combine chocolate and cream. Microwave on medium to high power for 30 seconds. Remove from microwave and stir. Place back into the microwave for another 30 seconds. Stir and repeat until the chocolate has melted, and a glossy PVA glue-like consistency appears.

The chocolate ganache is ready to use once it is at room temperature.

* If your chocolate has seized, add more chocolate and reheat. Once it is glossy, add more cream until you reach a PVA glue-like consistency. 

WANT TO SEE THE VIDEO?

I made a video on how to make chocolate drizzle on a cake over on my Instagram page. Go and take a look if you’d like to see it.