Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil, is a pale-yellow, edible fat extracted from the cocoa bean. It is used to make chocolate, as well as some ointments, toiletries, and pharmaceuticals. Cocoa butter has a cocoa flavor and aroma. Its melting point is slightly below human body temperature. [read more]
Cocoa butter, also called cacao butter, has the flavor and aroma of cocoa and is considered a vegetable fat. Despite the use of the word “butter” in its name, it is vegan and contains no dairy products. [read more]
Cocoa butter is extracted from roasted fermented cocoa beans (and is therefore distinct from cacao butter, which is extracted from the unroasted cocoa beans). It is a scarcer product to process, and therefore commands a premium price. Because of its relative rarety on market, it is substitued by more common substitutes, namely margarine (a product of 20% animal fat, salts and vegetable fat) and shea butter, an vegetable extract from shea nut.
Cocoa butter possesses some rather awesome qualities over its substitutes. It packs five times more food energy (kiloJoules) and as much monounsaturated fatty acids (help protect your heart by maintaining levels of “good” HDL cholesterol while reducing levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol in your blood, which can lower your risk of heart disease and stroke).
It has a distinctly rich chocolatey flavor, and melts with a smooth consistency with no smoke (has a high smoking point) on heating, qualities that you may not find with the other cooking substitutes. Best of all, it is 100% natural vegan fat. Nothing beats nature in this game.
For your skin health, the fat in cocoa butter creates a protective barrier that holds in moisture and prevents your skin from drying. This quality makes cocoa butter one of the better ingredients in lotions and creams. And because of cocoa butter’s low melting point (a little above body temperature), it melts on application to your skin
