How to Make Chocolate Cupcake Fillings: Ganache, Whipped Ganache and Chocolate Cream

Short answer: the simplest chocolate filling for cupcakes is ganache, made by pouring hot 35% cream over chopped dark chocolate. Dairy Farmers of Canada's recipe uses 225 g (8 oz) of bittersweet chocolate for 250 mL (1 cup) of cream; cooled to room temperature it thickens into a spreadable filling, and chilled it can be whipped into a lighter one. Fill the cupcakes once they have cooled, either by cutting out the top or by piping the filling in through a long filling nozzle.

Quick answer: what you need

Step	Product	Price
Bake the cupcakes, small batches	Pavoni Cupcake Formaflex silicone mould FR029, 5 cavities	$23.50 CAD
Bake the cupcakes, production trays	Pavoni Big Muffin Pavoflex mould PX056, 24 cavities	$102.60 CAD
Chocolate for the ganache	FCH 55% dark chocolate minibars, 10 kg	$299.00 CAD
Pipe the filling inside the cupcake	Martellato BIM 340 filling nozzle, 4 mm	$47.99 CAD
Piping bags	Martellato GreenPoche disposable piping bags	from $7.95 CAD

Three chocolate cupcake fillings, compared

Ganache is the base: used at room temperature it is a dense, spreadable filling; whipped cold it becomes light; and a white chocolate cream folded with whipped cream gives the airiest result.

Filling	Texture	What it is
Chocolate ganache	Dense, spreadable	Dark chocolate and hot 35% cream, cooled to room temperature
Whipped ganache	Lighter, whipped	The same ganache, refrigerated and then whipped
White chocolate cream	Light and airy	White chocolate melted with cream, chilled, beaten, then folded with whipped cream

All three recipes come from Dairy Farmers of Canada, adapted here for filling cupcakes.

Recipe 1: chocolate ganache filling

Ganache is two ingredients, chocolate and cream; Dairy Farmers of Canada describes it as a glaze, icing, sauce or filling for pastries.

Ingredients

• 250 mL (1 cup) 35% cream
• 225 g (8 oz) bittersweet dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

Method

1. Gently heat the cream until it comes to a boil.
2. Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate.
3. Let it stand for 2 minutes.
4. Whisk until smooth and silky.

How to use it at each stage

• Warm and pourable: a glaze to pour over the top.
• Cooled to room temperature: it thickens into a spread, ready to fill the centre of a cupcake or to frost it.
• Refrigerated: firm enough to whip (Recipe 2) or to roll into truffles.

Recipe 2: whipped chocolate ganache filling

For a lighter filling, make the ganache above, refrigerate it, then whip it: Dairy Farmers of Canada notes that refrigerated ganache can be whipped for fillings and frostings.

Recipe 3: white chocolate cream filling

This is the white chocolate cream Dairy Farmers of Canada uses in its cream-filled pastries, used here as a cupcake filling.

Ingredients

• 170 g (5½ oz) white chocolate, chopped
• 310 mL (1¼ cups) 35% cream, divided: 125 mL (½ cup) and 180 mL (¾ cup)
• 1 mL (¼ tsp) vanilla extract

Method

1. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the white chocolate with 125 mL (½ cup) of the cream, stirring until smooth. Stir in the vanilla.
2. Transfer to a bowl and chill for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cool but not set.
3. Whip the remaining 180 mL (¾ cup) of cream until stiff peaks form.
4. Beat the chilled chocolate mixture until thick and fluffy, then fold in the whipped cream.

What about chocolate mousse?

A classic chocolate mousse also works as a filling, but many recipes use raw eggs. Dairy Farmers of Canada's own chocolate mousse calls for 5 egg yolks and 5 egg whites, and warns that raw or lightly cooked eggs may be unsafe for young children, older adults, pregnant people and anyone with a weakened immune system. If you sell your cupcakes, the egg-free fillings above avoid that question.

Which chocolate to use for a ganache filling

The Dairy Farmers of Canada ganache calls for bittersweet dark chocolate; with only two ingredients, the chocolate you choose sets the flavour of the filling.

Each of the dark chocolates we stock has a different job:

• FCH 55% dark chocolate minibars, 10 kg → $299.00 CAD. Venezuelan Trinitario cacao; FCH lists ganaches and mousse among its pastry uses. The box for a bakery that fills cupcakes every day.
• Bassan Sur del Lago 71%, 5 kg → $273.00 CAD. A single-origin 71% made in Canada, with notes of fruit, wood and nuts; Bassan names ganaches and truffles, mousses and crémeux among its applications. For a higher-cacao filling with a named origin.
• Organic dark chocolate chips 70%, 1 kg → $45.95 CAD. Small chips that melt smoothly, listed for cakes and muffins; the size for home bakers.

To compare percentages and formats for baking, see our guide to the best chocolate for baking.

How to fill cupcakes: two methods

Fill the cupcakes after they have cooled, either by cutting out the top or by piping the filling straight into the centre.

Method 1: cut out the top

This is the method Dairy Farmers of Canada uses for its cream-filled chocolate cupcakes: cut the tops out of the cupcakes, fill the holes with the filling, then put the tops back (in their recipe, each top is cut in half and the two halves are inserted like wings).

Method 2: pipe the filling inside

For a cupcake that looks untouched, fit a piping bag with a long filling nozzle, push it into the centre of the cupcake and squeeze gently while you pull it out. Martellato's BIM 340 filling nozzle has a 4 mm opening, so use a smooth filling such as ganache or whipped ganache. Pair it with GreenPoche disposable piping bags, whose multilayer structure Martellato designed to hold up with any filling, and a piping bag holder ($13.95 CAD) to keep filled bags upright while you work.

View pastry tools →

The cupcake moulds

Pavoni's platinum silicone moulds give clean release; pick the size by how many cupcakes you bake at once.

• Pavoni Cupcake Formaflex FR029: 5 cavities of Ø 80 × 35 mm, about 110 ml each, on a 300 × 175 mm tray; oven safe to 250°C (482°F), freezer safe to −40°C (−40°F), dishwasher safe, made in Italy.
• Pavoni Big Muffin Pavoflex PX056: 24 cavities of Ø 85 × 50 mm, about 235 ml each, platinum silicone from −40°C to +250°C, for production runs.
• Pavoni Muffin40time PX3221S by Antonio Bachour: 11 cavities of Ø 50 × 28 mm, about 40 ml each, for small cakes (view the mould, $40.50 CAD).

View multi-portion silicone moulds →

Storing filled cupcakes

All three fillings are made with 35% cream, so keep filled cupcakes in the refrigerator; Health Canada recommends setting the fridge at 4°C (40°F) or lower.

If you are thinking of freezing a mousse-type filling, read can you freeze chocolate mousse? first.

How AI can help your production

Give an AI assistant the ganache recipe above and the number of cupcakes you fill per batch, after weighing how much filling one cupcake takes in your own test. Ask it to scale the recipe in grams, to work out the cost of filling per cupcake from your chocolate and cream prices, and to write a production sheet: when to make the ganache, when to chill and whip it, and when to fill and refrigerate.

AI organises the information; tasting and the final decision stay with your chef.

Cupcake moulds, piping tools and chocolate at Zucchero Canada

We are an authorized distributor of Pavoni Italia, whose silicone moulds bake the cupcakes, and of Martellato, whose nozzles, piping bags and holders do the filling. For the ganache we stock FCH 55% from Venezuelan Trinitario cacao and Bassan Sur del Lago 71%, made in Canada and shipped across Canada from Calgary.

For the cupcake batter itself, we also stock Foricher's Terroir T55 pastry flour (Foricher's "Pâtissière"), which Foricher recommends for batters such as cakes, génoises, madeleines and pound cakes. View Foricher French flours →

For deeper technique, two books we stock cover fillings in detail:

• View Files by Ramon Morató → $150.00 CAD: 15 projects, including a file on ganache; 529 pages, English and Spanish.
• View Chocolate by Ramon Morató, 6th edition → $160.00 CAD: 416 pages, 200 recipes, with studies on mousses and fillings.

Orders over $500 CAD get 5% off automatically at checkout. Chocolate is not part of our free shipping offer, and food products ship within Canada only. Filling cupcakes for a bakery, café or hotel? Contact us for volume quantities, or call 587-774-8873 (toll free 877-741-8251).

Silicone moulds | Pastry tools | Dark couverture | Best chocolate for baking | Freezing chocolate mousse

This article is for information only. Every business is different: draw your own conclusions based on your own expectations, budget and goals, and talk to qualified experts before you decide or invest.

Sources: Dairy Farmers of Canada, "Ganache", "White Chocolate-Cream Filled Pastries", "Fruity Chocolate Mousse" and "Chocolate Angel Cakes with Candy Cane Cream" (dairyfarmersofcanada.ca, Canadian Goodness recipes); Health Canada, "Safe food storage" (modified 2024-04-11); Foricher, "Pâtissière" flour page (foricher.com); Pavoni Italia, Food Equipment catalogue 2026 (FR029, PX056, PX3221); Martellato, General Catalogue 2026 (BIM 340, GreenPoche); Zucchero Canada product data for FCH 55%, Bassan Sur del Lago 71%, organic dark chocolate chips 70%, the Pavoni moulds, the Martellato piping tools and Ramon Morató's books.