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

[vanityclear]

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

[maria lorraine]

I may not be understanding. What is your goal in doing this?

From your recipe above, all you're doing is taking processed chocolate components and re-combining them. That's not chocolate.

Cocoa and cocao butter are two chocolate components that are intensely processed and exposed to intense heat. Exactly the opposite of raw.

Why not start with a high quality raw or almost-raw product?

It would be far easier to buy a high-quality estate chocolate, grown organically and fermented conscientiously, and use that.

Or purchase cacao beans and ferment them yourself, or buy recently fermented cacoa and make chocolate yourself, or buy chocolate nibs.

[vanityclear]

I'm not interested in raw chocolate; I said that. Those just happen to be the only kinds of recipes I found online, since I was looking for an example of what kind of ratio to follow. I agree that the idea of making 'raw' chocolate using cacao butter is both pointless and incorrect, since it isn't raw. What I'm interested in making my own kinds of chocolate and controlling the sweetener and flavorings more exactly.

[iluvcookies]

Here's a link to a not-"raw" method. I haven't tried it, but maybe it will be of some help. Variation using Cocoa powder is toward the bottom of the page.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Chocolate

[babette feasts]

That is the most ridiculous recipe I've seen in a long time.

[iluvcookies]

Seriously. I really like chocolate, but I can't imagine that I can make it as good as what I can buy. This should go on that thread about what people buy instead of make.

[babette feasts]

The bean-to-bar method they outline is fine. That is how you make chocolate and I think it would be fun to try sometime. The cocoa powder method, however...I can't believe that makes anything approaching a dark chocolate bar. Equal parts cocoa powder and liquid? Uncooked flour? Sounds pasty and gross. How about don't add all that water and you won't need to add flour to soak it up? And the claim that there is no right way to temper chocolate? There is more than one way, sure, but either it is in temper or not, no amount of personal preference is going to crystallize cocoa butter molecules just by force of will.

[vanityclear]

Yeah, I'm with you on that one. I think that all cocoa butter is a better way to go; this time I'll temper (the right way.)

Also, best part: "It is likely that a mess will be made when you grind the cocoa."

[salabinha]

Vanityclear,
How did your experiment go with tempering the chocolate afterwards? Were you able to achieve a good chocolate that doesn't melt as easily? Did you use the honey in the end?
Please let me know as I am trying to accomplish the same thing.

Thanks.

[salabinha]

What brands of chocolate sell good high-quality raw or almost raw products? Thanks.

[babette feasts]

You only need 30-40% fat. Why not use all cocoa butter? Other fats have a softening effect on cocoa butter when they are combined.

I'm not sure how honey would affect the texture, but it does attract moisture, which could be detrimental to the project. Powdered sugar would make more sense - I sometimes make gianduja with chocolate, nut paste, and powdered sugar. The powdered sugar is fine enough to dissolve on the tongue and not feel gritty. You do need to temper the cocoa butter if you want it to act like chocolate.

If you want to approximate 70% chocolate, you'd use about 30% sugar, 30% fat, and 40% cacao solids.

Are you hoping to use this in recipes, or snacking, or just seeing if its possible?

[vanityclear]

Thank you! I'm making it to eat plain--I've made my own chocolate truffles before and just wanted to take it another step further by seeing if this way I could control the sweetener. That and I enjoy needlessly deconstructing processes.

I'll definitely try all cocoa butter this time. I don't know why the other kind of fat is included in those recipes (most of which don't make any sense in the first place, since cocoa butter is hardly raw)--maybe economy?

I totally blanked on tempering. Again, stupid online raw recipes. I will update with how this round goes, with tempering and all cocoa butter!

I'm going to avoid using powdered sugar since that kind of defeats the purpose of using odd sweeteners. Thanks again!

[babette feasts]

The moisture from the honey could potentially interfere with tempering, can you get powdered honey? Not sure how fine that is.

Looking forward to your experiments!

[iluvcookies]

While I've never made chocolate from scratch (and not sure I would try to), I do know that to be firm at room temp it needs to be in temper.
Here's a link that explains it, basically cocoa butter needs to be heated and cooled to certain temperatures in order for the crystals to line up, otherwise they will melt at room temp.

http://candy.about.com/od/candybasics...

[vanityclear]

I'm a fool. I know about tempering chocolate, but for some reason I blanked on doing it here. Stupid raw recipes, not even raw, not even accurate....