Chocolate
Quick answer
Dark chocolate ganache for a drip is 1 part chocolate to 1 part cream by weight, so 400 g of chocolate takes 400 g of cream. Milk chocolate needs roughly twice the chocolate of dark for the same set, and white about three times, because it has no cocoa solids at all.
Updated 2026. Worked from published standards and trade convention; researched, not professional advice.
Published couverture ratios for dark, milk and white chocolate across five uses, scaled to your quantity.
cream = chocolate x (cream parts / chocolate parts), by weight
Ganache sets on cocoa butter and cocoa solids, and the three chocolate types carry very different amounts of both. Dark chocolate is mostly cocoa. Milk chocolate replaces much of that with milk solids and sugar. White chocolate has no cocoa solids whatsoever and sets purely on its cocoa butter.
That is why substituting white for dark at the same ratio gives you a sauce rather than a ganache, which is the commonest way this goes wrong.
Always weigh. Chocolate callets pack differently depending on their shape and how you pour them, so a cup of chocolate can vary by a third in weight between two fills of the same jug.
Derived, published or convention?
These ratios are PUBLISHED figures from couverture manufacturer charts. Which firmness suits which job is TRADE CONVENTION. The bag in front of you beats any chart, because makers print ratios for their own recipes.
| Use | Dark | Milk | White | Cream for 400 g dark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pourable glaze, still fluid when it sets | 1:2 | 2:2 | 2.5:2 | 800 g |
| Drip cake, thick enough to stop partway down the side | 1:1 | 2:1 | 3:1 | 400 g |
| Soft filling, spoonable at room temperature | 1:1 | 2:1 | 3:1 | 400 g |
| Whipped frosting, holds a piped shape once beaten | 3:2 | 5:2 | 7:2 | 267 g |
| Truffle centres and firm panels, cuts cleanly | 2:1 | 3:1 | 4:1 | 200 g |
These are rendered from the verified catalog and re-ordered against your numbers once you calculate.
The reference dark couverture at about 54 percent, in callets that melt evenly, which is what the published tempering ranges on this site assume.
Best for: ganache, tempering and drips
Check price on AmazonAmazon prices move often, so check before you buy.
At 70 percent it sets harder for the same cream than a 54 percent does, so a ganache recipe written for Callebaut 811 needs more cream if you swap to this.
Best for: firm ganache and a more bitter finish
Check price on AmazonAmazon prices move often, so check before you buy.
A tenth of a gram matters for baking powder and salt, where a 1 gram scale rounds an ingredient that is measured in single grams.
Best for: weighing leavening and salt accurately
Check price on AmazonAmazon prices move often, so check before you buy.
A note on what this can and cannot tell you
This calculator does arithmetic on the numbers you give it. It does not know your oven, your recipe or your altitude. Figures are labelled as derived, published or trade convention, and where no honest figure exists the calculator says so instead of producing one. Researched guidance, not professional advice.
