Ganache is the most technically reliable coating in professional cake design. But a poorly proportioned ganache in summer behaves like buttercream — it softens, it slides, it doesn't hold.

The problem isn't the ganache. It's the ratio.

Why ratios change with temperature

Ganache holds because of cocoa butter crystallisation. The higher the proportion of chocolate relative to cream, the firmer the structure at room temperature.

In winter, in a cool workspace, a standard ratio is sufficient. In summer, in a reception venue at 24°C, that same ratio produces a ganache that's too soft — one that gives way under ambient heat, spotlights, and the weight of fondant.

The solution is straightforward: increase the proportion of chocolate.

Chocolate:cream ratios by season

Dark chocolate

Summer example: 300g dark chocolate to 100-120g cream.

White chocolat...

A cake that holds is invisible. The client expected it, it's there, impeccable — that's normal.

A cake that melts is memorable. For the wrong reasons. The client remembers it. They talk about it. Sometimes they photograph it.

In summer, the difference between these two scenarios has nothing to do with your skill level. It comes down to one choice: your coating.

Buttercream in summer: a risk you're passing on to your reputation

Buttercream softens. That's its nature. Above 22°C — a common temperature in a reception venue in summer, under spotlights, with dozens of people — it no longer holds.

It slides. It sweats. Edges round off, sharp angles disappear, decorations shift.

Your client doesn't know why it happened. They just know the cake no longer looks like what they ordered. And it's your name they associate with that memory.

Ganache: the coating that protects your work

Ganache resists ambient heat because its structure is based on cocoa butter — a fat that crystallises as...