I should cocoa

Good Food Blog

What is RSS?

Posted at 5:16PM, 01 November 2010 by Carol Wilson - Food writer

Cocoa butter (also called cacao butter) is the cream coloured fat extracted from cocoa beans and is used to add flavour, aroma and that luscious 'melt-in-the-mouth' smoothness to chocolate.

I had never thought of using cocoa butter in cooking until I came across powdered cocoa butter in a chocolate shop in a tiny village in Scotland.

Chefs have used cocoa butter in this form for a while

Sold in a drum, the powder smells just like white chocolate. It's obtained through cryogenisation (in which liquid cocoa butter is frozen at very low temperature). Apparently chefs have used cocoa butter in this form for a while, for frying food and also instead of butter or oil in recipes. Pastry chefs use it to make mousses, pastry, gateaux, sugarpaste and also for thinning chocolate.

I couldn't wait to try it, although it seemed strange to use a powdered fat! It's great for frying though, as it resists high temperatures (up to 200C), doesn't spatter and isn't absorbed into the food. The best way of frying meat or fish is to coat the food with the powder and put it into a hot pan. During frying the powder forms a protective crust around the food and seals in all the juices, even with vegetables that easily lose their moisture such as mushrooms. You only need to use a little - about half as much as other fats. Food doesn't stick to the pan either - another bonus! I also tried mixing herbs with the powder before coating food, for extra flavour, and that worked well too. My fritters and doughnuts turned out crisper than usual, which is another advantage.

Cocoa butter is also good for sautéing, and grilling and for making cakes and biscuits instead of butter. I'm at the trial and error stages of recipe testing for the latter, as recipes are hard to find.

On the plus side, cocoa butter contains several natural antioxidants and has a shelf life of several years. It's dairy-free, so is suitable for vegetarians and vegans. The downside is that as it's a niche product at the moment, it's expensive. A 675g drum was £14 in the chocolate shop I mentioned!

Comments

Cassandra Amy Rose

1 November 2010, 8:17PM
Cassandra Amy Rose

Having just slathered myself in cocoa butter body cream it's quite hard to imagine frying meat in it, but it sounds interesting. A rather 'different' christmas present idea!

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
smitty

3 November 2010, 2:01PM
smitty

Its expensive, but I'd try it if it becomes cheaper. Could use it on my skin too!

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
sdfsdfas

24 January 2011, 1:57AM
sdfsdfas

Thank you for your sharing,The article is nice everybody, the good shoping place Welcome to: http://www.vipgoto.com >>>------I love you! ----> Believe you will love it. Accept paypal or credit card and free shipping.

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
LiesbethM

30 December 2012, 10:59PM
LiesbethM

I was surprised as well when I found out about cacao butter. My mum took some night classes to become a chef, just for fun, and they used it to cook mushrooms. It's simply delicious! You put the mushrooms you want to cook into a bowl, add some powder, toss it up, then bake the mushrooms in a hot pan. They will turn a lovely golden brown. I never thought anything could beat mushrooms in cream. I was wrong: this is waaaaaaaaay better!

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:

Your binder

Here are three other great reasons to sign up:

You get an online binder, where you can store all your favourite recipes and create menus.
You can add your own recipes to this site for others to try; plus, rate and make comments on recipes, and share your views on our blog.
You can sign up for our weekly newsletter (sent out on Wednesdays) - it's packed with recipes, special offers and competitions.