What Is Cacao Butter?

CHOC Chick organic cacao butter is as pure as you can get, it’s the natural fat from the cocoa bean. Cacao butter is high in Oelic Acid (otherwise known as Omega 9 found in avocado’s and extra virgin olive oil) and a great alternative to coconut oil.

We take organically grown raw cacao beans and extract the fat using a simple compressing process, at low temperatures, to ensure most of the nutritional properties and antioxidants are retained. Once in the UK we melt them again at room temperature and leave the cacao to set in our wonderful bespoke cocoa bean moulds, making it easy to use each 1g cacao butter bean for cooking, frying, baking and raw chocolate making.

All of our cacao is grown by farmers in Ecuador. We work directly with farmers and cooperatives, many of whom are Rainforest Alliance Fair Trade Certified and all our farmers use organic and ethical farming methods which are accredited by Ecocert and the UK Soil Association.  Having a direct link with our farmers and growers is incredibly important for us and it means we can ensure that CHOC Chick cacao is fully traceable and that every farmer we work with is paid fairly for their produce.

What does CHOC Chick Cacao Butter contain?

Our organic cacao butter only contains organic cacao butter – it’s non deodorised and minimally processed with no preservatives added. Cacao butter is free from dairy, gluten and sugar and suitable for vegetarians, vegans and coeliacs. It is the perfect base for raw chocolate making, giving a delicious creamy texture without the need for dairy or cream.

How to use CHOC Chick Organic Cacao Butter

CHOC Chick organic cacao butter comes in a re-sealable pack and has a shelf life of around 2 years.  The most common way to use cacao butter is to melt it in a bowl over hot water on a low heat, mixing in CHOC Chick Cacao Powder and sweetening to taste to make raw chocolates.  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). You will only need around 2g to fry an egg in and 4g for our super healthy frittata recipe! See our delicious Spring Vegetable Frittata recipe below as well as a few more of our CHOCtastic recipes using cacao butter, which you can also find on our website:

Why is Organic Cacao Butter considered to be healthy?

• Cacao butter is a heart healthy fat and has around 30% less saturated fat than coconut oil and unlike coconut oil also has a high percentage of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat – unsaturated fats may help lower your blood cholesterol level when used in place of saturated  fat in your diet (like avocado, olive, canola and peanut oils).*
• It’s a very stable compound so will not go rancid and has a long shelf life (around 2 years).
• A powerful source of antioxidant flavanols, oleic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, Magnesium, Iron and Vitamin E, cacao butter is known to reduce cholesterol and inflammation (particularly good for eczema, psoriasis, soothe burns, rashes, infections and other skin inflammation sufferers).
• Cacao beans are considered a high antioxidant  super-food containing high amounts of polyphenol and flavanoids which help your body fight the oxidation damage caused by free radicals, which can lead to many chronic diseases.
• Plant derived fats (such as cacao butter) are thought to be beneficial in reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

CHOC Chick cacao butter comes in a range of sizes from 100g to 1kg – the larger sizes are currently only available directly from us.

If you have any questions or queries about CHOC Chick Raw Organic Cacao butter please do get in touch. e-mail info@chocchick.com or call us on 01273 468613