Cocoa butter is the fat which is removed from cocoa beans in order to produce cocoa powder. Cocoa butter is then added back at a later stage in the chocolate making process to enable moulding.
The soft, soothing properties of cocoa butter have been recognised for centuries. The Aztecs used it as an early sun cream and also to treat wounds and scratches. Even today, cocoa butter in cosmetics is enjoying somewhat of a revival. However, it is the use of cocoa butter in chocolate that most concerns us.
Also known as theobroma oil, cocoa butter is the edible, naturally occurring fat of the cocoa bean. In its natural state it is an ivory colour and has a very mild cocoa flavour and aroma.
It was a Dutchman called Coenraad Van Houten who revolutionised chocolate making in 1825. He invented a hydraulic press that could extract pure cocoa butter from the ground up cocoa bean mixture known as cocoa liquor and so paved the way for modern chocolate making techniques.
Cocoa butter has many unique properties, one of which is that it remains solid at room temperature, but starts to melt at around 34 to 38 degrees celsius - mouth temperature! This is why it plays an essential role in the making of real chocolate. When it is added back into the cocoa paste it gives the resulting chocolate a smooth, glossy appearance and that gorgeous melt in the mouth texture.
The presence of cocoa butter in the ingredients list is one of the indications you should look for in real chocolate. Unfortunately, because it is a relatively expensive commodity, many mass-producing chocolate companies substitute cocoa butter for vegetable fat. Needless to say, the resulting chocolate suffers from a cloying taste and a dull, sometimes crumbly appearance. |
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