How does one use cocoa butter in cooking?
I'm experimenting with different vegan solid fats for baked goods, like pancakes. This fat isn't only solid at room temperature, it's hard as a rock even on a warm summer day. For baked goods, do I need to do any adjustments to the recipe, or do I just microwave it until it melts and use it like butter?
Best Answer
Cocoa butter has an exceptionally high melting point for a vegan lipid.
For most baking applications, it probably not ideal; you would be better served with a liquid oil, or if you need something solid but malleable, a hydrogenated vegetable oil product like a vegan margarine.
The main culinary use (in general) is thinning chocolate in creating chocolate coated candies or similar, which makes sense as cocoa butter is one of the primary components in chocolate. Of course, when it is hardens and is in temper, it is literally as hard as chocolate.
Otherwise, you can fry or saute with it, although it would be easier to do so if you purchase cocoa butter grated as it is normally too hard to scoop at room temperature.
If you melt it (and it will melt just below body temperature), you could bake with it, but you may get a different texture than you expect, as when cool, it is much harder than other typical culinary fats. You will have to experiment and see what the results are like.
It will be too hard to use with creaming method recipes.
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Quick Answer about "How does one use cocoa butter in cooking?"
Use it in place of coconut butter or oil and as a substitute for butter in vegan or dairy-free recipes. Because of its high smoke point, cocoa butter is ideal when cooking at high temperatures as it won't burn easily; it's also not necessary to use as much as other fats.What is cocoa butter best for?
Cocoa butter is a decent source of vitamin E, which benefits your body in many ways. Vitamin E supports vision, reproduction, and the health of your brain, skin, and blood. Cocoa butter contains a high amount of fatty acids, which make it well-suited as a primary ingredient in skin cream.Can you fry things in cocoa butter?
It can also be used to fry with and is a great substitute for coconut oil and other fats. Frying foods in cacao butter adds a scrumptious richness and the amounts of fat you need are fairly low (especially if you use a non stick frying pan).Is cocoa butter good for baking?
Cocoa butter is used for thinning chocolate and making chocolate coatings. It is seldom used in baking applications because it hardens at room temperature, making it less than ideal for creaming methods unless combined with other liquid fats.Using Cocoa (Cacao) Butter as an Ingredient in Food - Baker's Tip
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Answer 2
mix cacao butter with coconut butter - just as you would for making raw chocolate. makes a great spread for toast etc and is fine for baking, especially cookies, but you might need to keep mixing to keep it warm and pliable.
coconut butter makes the best butter substitute
For goodness sake don't use margarine or hydrogenated oil - that stuff is just a few molecules away from being the tub it comes in - it's certainly not food!
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