Ganache Ratio Calculator | Cream Weight From Chocolate Type and Use
Enter how much chocolate you actually have and get the exact cream weight plus the total batch weight. Pick dark, milk or white, then truffles, filling, glaze or whipped, and the right ratio is applied for you.
💡 About this tool
Most ganache recipes start from the cream side: "200g cream, 200g chocolate." But real kitchens work backwards. You have 150g of chocolate left from a bar, or an odd amount of couverture, and you need to know how much cream to add. Guess wrong and the result is unusable: too firm and your truffles crack instead of rolling, too loose and your glaze runs straight off the cake.
This calculator applies a ratio based on the chocolate type and what you are making, then divides your chocolate weight by it to give the cream. The dark-chocolate baseline follows standard pastry guidance: truffles (firm) at 2:1 chocolate to cream, filling at 1:1, glaze at roughly 1:1.5, and whipped at roughly 1:2. Milk and white set softer because of their sugar and milk solids, so they need a higher chocolate share to reach the same firmness.
🧐 Frequently Asked Questions
Q. My ganache is too runny and won't set. How do I fix it? A. There is too little chocolate for the cream. Stir in finely chopped chocolate a little at a time and let it melt until it tightens up. If it is too firm instead, add warm cream in small amounts.
Q. My ganache split and went grainy. A. The emulsion broke. Add a small amount of warm liquid (lukewarm cream or warm water) and whisk in small circles from the center in one direction to bring it back. To prevent it, do not let the cream boil — take it off the heat just before it simmers, since overheated cream makes the fat separate.
Q. Why does milk or white chocolate need a higher chocolate ratio? A. Milk and white chocolate carry more sugar and milk solids and less cocoa, so they set softer. To match the firmness of dark chocolate you raise the chocolate share to compensate.
Q. Are the displayed ratios exact? A. They are typical guidelines. The ideal value shifts with cocoa percentage, brand, and how firm you like it. Treat the number as a starting point: add chocolate for a firmer set, more cream for a softer one.
📚 How ganache got its name
Ganache is widely said to have been created by accident in 1850s Paris. The story goes that an apprentice at a confectionery shop spilled cream onto chocolate, and the master called him a "ganache" — period slang for a fool or chump. The name was reportedly tied to a vaudeville comedy of the day, Les Ganaches ("The Chumps"). Both France and Switzerland claim the invention and the true origin is unknown, but a chocolate-and-cream mixture similar to ganache appears as far back as a 1693 reference to "crême de chocolat." A mixture born from a mistake is now a cornerstone of pastry technique.