This vegan chocolate ganache frosting is the most silky smooth, velvety frosting ever. It’s so rich and decadent and really easy to make too!
Oh. My. Ganache! This vegan chocolate ganache frosting is soooo fab.
No wonder at all really considering the ingredients list.
With just 4-ingredients: dark chocolate, coconut cream, coconut oil and powdered sugar, this chocolate ganache frosting ticks all the boxes when it comes to rich, smooth, chocolate deliciousness.
You’ll love the way the dark chocolate richness comes through so decadently in this frosting and how it takes a chocolate cake from good to great.
I’ve made myself very popular by taking chocolate cake with this frosting to family occasions I can tell you.
What You’ll Need For This Recipe
How To Make Vegan Chocolate Ganache Frosting
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Break up the vegan chocolate into small pieces and place into a heat safe bowl.
- Place the coconut cream and coconut oil into a pot or saucepan and heat until it reaches a simmer. Don’t let it boil. Alternatively heat it in the microwave until just before it boils. Pour over the chocolate in the bowl, making sure that the chocolate is completely covered.
- Let it sit for a minute to let the chocolate melt and then whisk with a hand whisk until you have a completely smooth chocolate sauce.
- Add in 2 cups of powdered sugar and whisk it in with your electric mixer.
- Place into the refrigerator for an hour until completely cooled and thickened.
- Whisk again with the electric mixer.
- If the consistency is still a bit thin, add another ½ cup of powdered sugar and whisk again.
- It should be thick enough to spread on a cake without sliding.
- Perfect for use on cakes, cupcakes or cookies.
How Much Does It Make?
This recipe makes enough vegan chocolate ganache frosting to frost a 3-layer 7-inch cake, or do what I did and just frost a 2-layer 7-inch cake REALLY thick (better!).
It’s enough for a 2-layer 8-inch cake or a 2-layer 9-inch cake too, it will just be spread slightly thinner.
Storing and Freezing
This frosting keeps perfectly in the fridge for at least a week. It’s also freezer friendly if you’d like to freeze it. Thaw it in the fridge and then whisk it up again with your electric mixer to bring it back to perfect before using.
More Delicious Vegan Frosting Recipes
- Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
- Vegan Buttercream Frosting
- Vegan Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Vegan Vanilla Frosting
- Vegan Chocolate Frosting
- Vegan Lemon Buttercream Frosting
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Chocolate Ganache Frosting
Ingredients
- 10.5 ounces Vegan Chocolate (300g)
- 1 cup Canned Coconut Cream (240ml) Unsweetened
- 2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
- 2 ½ cups Powdered Sugar (300g) Divided
Instructions
- Break up the vegan chocolate into small pieces and place into a heat safe bowl.
- Place the coconut cream and coconut oil into a pot or saucepan and heat until it reaches a simmer. Don’t let it boil. Alternatively heat it in the microwave until just before it boils. Pour over the chocolate in the bowl, making sure that the chocolate is completely covered.
- Let it sit for a minute to let the chocolate melt and then whisk with a hand whisk until you have a completely smooth chocolate sauce.
- Add in 2 cups of powdered sugar and whisk it in with your electric mixer.
- Place into the refrigerator for an hour until completely cooled and thickened.
- Whisk again with the electric mixer.
- If the consistency is still a bit thin, add another ½ cup of powdered sugar and whisk again.
- It should be thick enough to spread on a cake without sliding.
- Perfect for use on cakes, cupcakes or cookies.
Notes
- You can use any vegan chocolate or good quality vegan chocolate chips.
- If you can’t get canned coconut cream then you can also use full fat, canned, unsweetened coconut milk.
- Prep time is for hands on time only and does not include time spent setting in the fridge.
Could I use sunflower oil instead of coconut?
I find it to be really expensive and I don’t use it for anything else!
Also, would it work with vegan white chocolate?
I can’t get vegan white chocolate here so have never tried it, but I can’t think of any reason why it wouldn’t work.
No, just leave it out in that case.
Hello, I plan on making this soon and i was just wondering, for the coconut cream, do you just scoop it from a can of coconut milk until you get to the liquid? Thank you!
Coconut cream is actually a thicker version of coconut milk, you can buy it usually right in the same section as coconut milk.
Oh, okay! Thank you for the quick response! 🙂
This is delicious!! I used Enjoy dairy free chips and it turned out great! I didn’t even chill it very long so that I could have more of a glaze/sauce than an icing and it was delectable!
Sounds wonderful! Thanks for posting! 🙂
Can I make this with semi sweet chocolate chips instead?
Do I still need to add powdered sugar? Is it going to be too sweet?
The chocolate I use is sweet, it’s probably sweeter than semi sweet chocolate chips (though I don’t know as I’ve never had those available), so I would imagine you would still want to use the powdered sugar. The powdered sugar is also what helps to thicken it up into a very thick and nicely textured frosting.
What other alternative can be used instead of normal powdered sugar? coconut powdered sugar maybe?
Maybe – I don’t have any experience with coconut powdered sugar, if you give it a try let us know how it works out! 🙂
Hi! does the ganache have a very coconuty taste ? im planning on making this for my friend but she does not like the coconuty taste.
I don’t think so, to me the overwhelming flavor is rich chocolate, but on the other hand I like coconut so it could be that I am just not noticing it as a prominent flavor.
Wondering about the thickness of my icing. It seemed really thick and hard to spread. Any suggestions? Tastes great tho!
Add a tiny amount of non-dairy milk in – just a few drops at a time and mix in until it’s more easily spreadable. Thick is good – you want it thick – but it should be spreadable. ?
Hi, can I use vegan carob chips instead of the chunks?. Also does the frosting on the cake melt easily while transporting it in warm weather?. Thx
Hi, you possibly can substitute carob, but I have never tried this so I don’t know. Due to the amount of powdered sugar added, it is not a ‘melty’ frosting at all, but still, depending on how hot the weather is, I would still probably advise to transport it in a cooler bag.
I just made this recipe and holy cow is it good!!! It thickens up perfectly in the fridge! How do you recommend I store the cupcakes? In the fridge?
Hey Kelly, you can keep them at room temperature in a covered container if you’re going to consume within a couple of days, but if you want them to stay fresh longer than keep them covered in the fridge, they don’t dry out and will usually last up to a week.
Does it taste like coconut?
I don’t think so – the taste is rich chocolate. Chocolate is the main flavor. But if you don’t like coconut then I guess there’s a chance that there is enough of a coconut flavor in there to possibly make it less enjoyable to you.
Tried this recipe for my mom’s bday cake and it’s AMAZING! I made some cupcakes and dipped them in it while it wasn’t set up fully and no one knew my cupcakes with the ganache were vegan they loved the ganache..Def saving this recipe!! So easy to follow as is and turned out finger licking good haha
Yay! That’s so fantastic Kayla! 🙂
Hi Alison,
Great recipe. Thanks for sharing. I have a question about the thickness of the ganache frosting before it sets in the fridge? After using an electric mixer it was still runny..I added a little more powdered sugar, and kept going for a while mixing..then it was runny again.. I used 500 grams powdered sugar or a little more. I stopped and put the whole thing in the fridge.. Hoping to have a consistency like your pictures. If not, what do you think went wrong and how to fix it?
Hi Burcu, the thickening happens in the fridge. Between the dark chocolate and the coconut cream, it gets very thick. The electric mixer is just to mix the powdered sugar in very well, not for thickening as such. Though of course the powdered sugar makes it thicker than it was before you added it. But it’s the cooling/fridge time where the main thickening happens. If yours by some chance didn’t thicken in the fridge, then I wouldn’t know what could’ve happened, other than perhaps your coconut cream was a dud can. But even then, the amount of dark chocolate in there along with the powdered sugar should thicken it up quite a lot on its own. But let me know how it turned out!
Hi
Can you use this ganache to crumb coat before putting fondant on?
thanks
Hi Anita, I assume so! I haven’t tried doing that but I really don’t see why not.
Thanks Alison I just wanted the recipe for the vegan chocolate cake and I finished making 3 more recipes. I’m looking forward to trying all of your recipes. Thank you they look great and I bet they taste great as well.
Hi there! So glad you’re liking the recipes! Thanks so much! 🙂
It isn’t too much sugar?