When it comes to dessert, we believe that a frosting can make it or break it. Traditional ganache is made from two primary ingredients: dark chocolate and dairy cream. It’s made by heating the cream, then pouring it oven chopped chocolate so that it melts. Any additives, like liqueurs, sweeteners, or butter, to make the ganache shiny, are also added at this point. Luckily for all us chocolate lovers out there, ganache is easy to make dairy-ree. This Chocolate Coconut Cake uses coconut oil and cacao powder, but you could easily swap out the powder for chopped chocolate to make the process more traditional. Maple syrup is added as a sweetener.

Now that you know more about what ganache is and how it’s made, it’s time to roll out the recipes. Each of these 15 desserts uses dairy-free chocolate ganache to make things extra special.

1. Raw Raspberry and Chocolate Ganache Cheesecake

Sweet, juicy raspberries are the star of this Raw Raspberry and Chocolate Ganache Cheesecake. The chocolate ganache, made creamy like milk chocolate by using almond milk, is a delicious addition to the top of the cake. The combination of creamy cashew cheesecake filling speckled with raspberries, the chocolate ganache topped with even more raspberries, and the crumbly date and oat base is something you’ll dream about.

2. Chocolate Ganache Mousse Pie

Is there a better combination than chocolate on chocolate? This amazing Chocolate Ganache Mousse Pie has an easy cookie crust and a light, fluffy chocolate mousse filling. Then, it’s all topped with a smooth dark chocolate ganache. Even though this pie is light, it still tastes decadent, so it’s a real treat for any chocolate lover.

3. Orange Cake With Chocolate Ganache

4. Paleo Banana Bread Cake With Dark Chocolate Ganache

This Paleo Banana Bread Cake With Dark Chocolate Ganache is a showstopper! The sponge is made with almond flour and creamy bananas, sweetened with coconut sugar, and studded with cacao nibs. Once the layers are stacked up, the cake is coated in a rich, creamy almond butter chocolate ganache. Your taste buds will be swooning for days.

5. Bittersweet Chocolate Truffles

These classic Bittersweet Chocolate Truffles are sinfully indulgent, melt-in-your-mouth, bite-sized confections made from ganache. They are just as luxurious, velvety smooth, and indulgent as their dairy counterparts. In this recipe, a variety of non-dairy milks replace the heavy cream and no butter is added. And here is the best part: they taste more intensely chocolaty than their heavy cream–based cousins.

6. Lemon Cake With Dark Chocolate Ganache

Orange and chocolate is a pretty well-known flavor combination, but lemon and chocolate work just as well together, like in this Lemon Cake With Dark Chocolate Ganache. It’s four layers of moist lemon cake separated by a wonderfully decadent ganache. The tanginess of the lemon complements the rich, smooth chocolate perfectly – the darker, the better!

7. Pecan Walnut Ganache Tart

These chocolatey Pecan Walnut Ganache Tarts are a great dessert for a dinner party or get together. The gluten-free crust is made from walnuts, dates, and oats while the rich chocolate ganache filling is simply made from dairy-free chocolate chips and coconut milk, sweetned by vanilla extract. A single pecan in each tart adds the perfect “crunch” to eat mini tart.

8. Hearty Raw Chocolate Ganache 

If you’re a chocolate lover, then this is your kind of recipe. This Hearty Raw Chocolate Ganache is super easy to make and involves four ingredients — cashews, sweetener, orange, and chocolate. It melts in your mouth and makes you crave for more after every bite. Grab a spoonful before you use it to frost dessert. You won’t regret it.

9. Raw Peppermint Slice With Chocolate Ganache

What’s there not to love about chocolate and peppermint together? The sweet creaminess of the chocolate… The freshness of the mint… Well, these Raw Peppermint Slices With Chocolate Ganache packages that amazing pairing in an incredibly simple, healthy, and delicious flavor power couple. A power couple that could be ready for the party in a blink of an eye. Just ten minutes, ten ingredients, and they’re all yours. Just be warned – they’re devastatingly delicious and ripe for disappearing from the dessert table in a matter of minutes.

10. No-Bake Almond Joy Bars With Chocolate Ganache

11. Shortbread Brownies With Chocolate Ganache

12. Vanilla Madeleines With Chocolate and Pistachio Ganache

These Vanilla Madeleines With Chocolate and Pistachio Ganache look sophisticated, but they really aren’t hard to make. Light and tender, these cookies are decorated with a rich chocolate pistachio ganache that’s so good, you’ll be tempted to just dunk the whole cookie in.

13. Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes

15. Sandwich Cookie Peanut Butter Pie

This Sandwich Cookie Peanut Butter Pie is like a big peanut butter cup, but better. A light and fluffy peanut butter filling is set over a chocolate sandwich cookie crust that requires no baking at all. It’s then covered with a smooth, rich chocolate peanut butter ganache and sprinkled with a topping of chopped peanuts. The textures all work together in harmony to create a decadent dessert that’ll have you dreaming about this pie.

Whether it’s the frosting on your cake or you’re eating it by the spoonful, chocolate ganache is one of the best ways to make frosting — and it’s so easy to make dairy-free.

Lead image source: Lemon Cake With Dark Chocolate Ganache