How to Make Chocolate Ganache Without Cream?

Ganache is most commonly defined as a mixture of chocolate and cream. But, did you know that you can actually make this multipurpose component without cream?

Whether you just don’t have cream at hand, price consideration (we get it, the cream is expensive!), or you just want to get creative with your ganache, here are several ways to make chocolate ganache without cream.

What Is Ganache?

Ganache is basically a mixture of chocolate and liquid. It is a very versatile component that you can use for a myriad of applications, such as:

• Filling for pralines, cupcakes, pastries, and layers in cakes
• Topping or coating for pastries, cookies, and cakes
• Frosting to decorate cakes and cupcakes
• Glazing for cakes
• Piping decoration for cakes and cupcakes
• And many more

There is no limit to how you create your ganache. By playing around with the type of chocolate and the liquid used, and by adding other ingredients into the mix, you can create different flavors, textures, and consistencies for your creations.

Read more: What is the best chocolate to cream ratio for making a ganache?

Can You Make Chocolate Ganache Without Cream?

The answer is simple: yes! 

Ganache is typically made with chocolate and cream with a 1:1 ratio. But, you can easily reduce or replace the cream altogether with another type of liquid.

3 Ways to Make Chocolate Ganache Without Cream

1. Milk

The easiest way to replace cream in your ganache is by using milk. If you want to still have a rich flavor and make up for the loss of fat in your ganache, you can add butter. But, if you’re looking to reduce the fat content in your ganache, then there’s no need to add butter. Just note that the ganache will be more liquid than if you use cream, so adjust by decreasing the amount of milk you use.

To make chocolate ganache with milk, the steps are pretty much the same:

1. Melt your chocolate coins, or chop your chocolate into small pieces if you’re using a chocolate block
2. Heat the milk and butter in a pan
3. Once the milk mixture starts to bubble up, pour it directly over the chocolate
4. Emulsify with a hand blender until smooth and silky

Read more: Getting to Know 5 Types of Cake Icing

2. Fruit puree

To add flavor to your ganache, you can use fruit puree instead of cream. Personally, our chefs love to use all kinds of fruit ganache in their praline creations. From lychee to passionfruit, fruit puree makes for a wonderful ganache.

By replacing cream with fruit puree, the consistency will most likely change. It is best to experiment with different ratios to get the consistency you want.

As a guideline, here is a Raspberry Ganache recipe for our Raspberry Earl grey Financier, one of the recipes in our 5 Popular Travel Cake Recipes for Your Business e-book that you can download here for free.

Raspberry Ganache

Ingredients:

• 120 g Raspberry puree
• 150 g Embassy Zen White Chocolate 33%
• 5 g Gelatin (bloom in 25 g cold water)
• 35 g Melted cocoa butter
• 30 g Glucose
• 20 g Soft butter

Preparations:

1. Heat the raspberry puree, then add it to the chocolate and mix well until you have a smooth liquid consistency
2. Melt bloomed gelatin and add it to the chocolate mixture
3. Add glucose, melted cocoa butter and soft butter, then emulsify with a hand blender

3. Nut paste

If you prefer to enrich your ganache with the nuttiness and earthiness of nuts, then you can use nut paste instead of cream. Just make sure that you still add a fat component to your ganache, such as neutral vegetable oil. 

Here we have our Black Sesame Ganache recipe from The China Ware, a Chinese New Year special recipe that you can find here.

Black Sesame Ganache

Ingredients:

• 150 g Black sesame
• 30 g Neutral vegetable oil
• 220 g Embassy Zen White Chocolate 33%

Preparation:

1. Toast the sesame seeds at 170°C for 30 minutes, then afterward set it to 150°C until the earthy taste of black sesame is gone (3-4 hours)
2. Blend the sesame in a food processor until it turns into a paste, then add oil and blend it again until smooth
3. Add the sesame mixture to the tempered chocolate, emulsify with a hand blender

Read more: 5 Ideas for Chocolate Cake Fillings and Toppings

Other Ways to Get Creative with Your Ganache

There are many ways to add flavors to your ganache. Here are several ideas you can use:

• Infuse your liquid with aromatic plants, tea, herbs or spices
• Add liqueur or extracts at the end of the mixing process
• Add powdered herbs or dried fruits into the liquid, then mix it with the chocolate
• Stir in fruit jams or peanut butter into your ganache
• Replace cream with juice, pulp, vegetables, concentrates, or even compotes to add fruit and/or vegetable flavor to your ganache

Chocolate ganache is well-known for its luxurious and premium flavor. For that reason, it is best to use couverture chocolate. Couverture chocolate has a high cocoa butter content, which not only gives it a wonderful mouthfeel but also a rich flavor that melts in your mouth.

We recommend our Embassy Oceanic Blend Dark Chocolate Couverture 65%, which has a rich chocolate flavor, as well as our Embassy Zen White Chocolate 33%, for its milky flavor and buttery mouthfeel. For more information, visit our Products page.