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Home Cooking

How to Make Chocolate from Cacao Butter and Cocoa Powder from Scratch: your recipes/advice

vanityclear | Oct 21, 201209:30 PM     30

This is just about impossible to search for on the internet, in discussion boards, or just about anywhere. So I turn to you, Chowhounds, having created an account and joined the conversation after days of frustration.

It's a big thing in the raw/vegan community to make raw chocolate, but the 'raw' part is of very little importance to me. I'm using Dutched cocoa powder and cacao butter. I found a raw recipe online and subbed European butter (higher fat% than regular) for coconut oil, which I think is my problem. What I made is delicious, but closer to a ganache. I let it set in the freezer and then unmolded it, but it starts to soften as soon as I pick it up with my fingers. I think butter is the culprit, since it's not as solid as coconut butter at room temperature.

Here's the ratio I used:

2 oz butter
3 oz cacao butter
3 oz cacao powder
2 tbsp honey
dash of vanilla extract
salt & add-ins (lavender buds, cacao nibs, and demerara sugar for crunch)

Butters melted together in a double broiler, whisked, cacao powder slowly whisked in, then honey. Poured into mini muffin tins in 1/2 oz portions, put in freezer to set.

So my suspicions are that either the butter, the honey, or both are the culprits for the consistency issue. Or else the ratio is off and there needs to be more powder to butter(s). But I'd rather crowdsource an answer than squander precious dollars of cacao butter on delicious but not conservable at room temperature chocolate/ganache.

Thanks, team.
Stephanie

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