Organic raw cacao butter — the pale ivory fat cold-pressed from the cacao bean, in solid pieces. Smells unmistakably of chocolate; tastes of almost nothing.
What it is
A cacao bean is roughly half fat. Press it and you separate two things: the butter, which is the fat, and the solids, which are milled into cocoa powder. Chocolate is those two put back together with sugar.
Raw here means the beans were not roasted and the pressing was done without heat. In practice that gives a milder, fruitier aroma than the deep roasted note of conventional cocoa butter.
An honest correction
Cacao butter is often sold on cacao's reputation for antioxidants. It does not carry them. The flavanols and polyphenols that give cacao its antioxidant reputation live in the solids — the cocoa powder — not in the fat. Cacao butter is essentially pure fat: mostly stearic, palmitic and oleic acids, with a little vitamin E.
That is not a criticism. It is an excellent, stable, beautifully behaved fat, and it is the fat that makes chocolate work. But if antioxidants are what you are after, you want cocoa powder or nibs, and we stock both. There is no authorised EU health claim for cacao butter.
Why it behaves the way it does — and why you must temper it
This is the single most useful thing on the page for anyone making chocolate at home.
Cacao butter is polymorphic: it can set into six different crystal structures, and only one of them — Form V — gives chocolate its gloss, its clean snap and its resistance to melting in the hand. Melt cacao butter, pour it and let it set on its own, and you get the unstable forms instead: soft, dull, greasy, and covered within days in the pale streaks called bloom.
Tempering is the process of forcing it into Form V, and it is entirely doable in a domestic kitchen:
- Melt gently to about 45–50 °C — over a bain-marie, never over direct heat.
- Cool it, stirring, to about 27 °C. Adding a handful of already-tempered chocolate as “seed” makes this much easier.
- Warm it back to 31–32 °C for dark chocolate (a degree or two lower for milk) and use it there.
A cheap digital thermometer is the difference between chocolate that snaps and chocolate that smears. If you are making a raw, fridge-set dessert rather than a bar, you can skip all of this — just keep it cold.
Using it
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Homemade chocolate — cacao butter, cocoa powder and a sweetener. This is the main reason people buy it.
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Raw desserts, truffles and slices, where it sets the layer firm in the fridge.
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In place of butter or coconut oil in baking and no-bake bars, for a firmer set and a chocolate aroma.
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A spoonful in coffee or a smoothie, blended so it emulsifies rather than floating.
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Skincare — body butters, lip balms and hand balms. It is solid at room temperature and melts at body temperature, which is exactly the property a balm needs. If you are making cosmetics with it, keep a separate jar from the cooking one.
Melt it gently. It scorches over direct heat, and burnt cacao butter is unusable.
Two practical notes
It is very stable. Cacao butter resists rancidity better than almost any other natural fat, thanks to its saturated fatty acid profile and natural antioxidants. Kept properly it lasts a couple of years.
Dogs. Unlike cocoa powder or cacao nibs, cacao butter contains only traces of theobromine — that compound stays with the solids. It is not the hazard that chocolate is. Still not something to feed a dog: it is pure fat.
Storage
Cool, dry, airtight and away from anything aromatic. Fats absorb surrounding smells readily, and cacao butter is notorious for it — stored next to spices or coffee it will take on their scent. No need to refrigerate.
Iswari
Smart Organic
Iswari
Iswari
