We all know that cocoa beans are used to make chocolate, but they’re also a source of another valuable product, cocoa butter. This vegetable fat is a major ingredient in chocolate (especially white chocolate which contains no cocoa solids), but it is also widely used in the pharmaceutical industry, personal care and cooking. So how to use cocoa butter? Organic Store has a few tips.
Cocoa butter, also known as theobroma oil, is extracted from whole cocoa beans. It is mainly composed of stearic acid, palmitic acid and oleic acid, with a lower percentage of linoleic acid, arachidic acid, palmitoleic acid, and other fatty acids. Due to its high saturated fat content, cocoa butter is solid at room temperature. Its melting point is just below body temperature, which makes it an ideal base for creams, ointments and lotions.
How to Use Cocoa Butter in Cooking
Cocoa butter has a chocolate flavour and aroma, making it a great ingredient in desserts. Its chocolate flavour is very subtle though, so it mostly adds richness to the recipes, serving as a background flavour. Melted cocoa butter can be used to replace dairy butter, margarine, or vegetable fats in all kinds of desserts, including cookies, cakes, brownies, candies and confections, sweet sauces, frostings, etc.
If you want to try this exquisite ingredient, keep in mind that there are two types of cocoa butter, cosmetic and food-grade. Cosmetic butter is less pure and may contain additives that are safe for external use only.
Check this out: Food Grade Cocoa Butter by Aromatika
How to Use Cocoa Butter in Skincare
As we’ve already mentioned above, cocoa butter is rich in unsaturated fatty acids. Thanks to this, as well as the high content of natural antioxidants, velvety texture and emollient properties, cocoa butter is a popular ingredient in skincare products.
Cocoa butter is perfect for taking care of dry skin because it has pronounced nourishing and moisturising properties. It makes the skin softer and smoother, combats irritation and flaking, prevents stretch marks, and even slows down skin ageing. Cocoa butter is also a common ingredient in lip balms, especially those that don’t contain beeswax, because of its emollient and protective properties.
Check this out: Wax-Free Lip Balms
How to Use Cocoa Butter in Hair Care
Although cocoa butter isn’t the most popular carrier oil used in hair care, it’s a great product for people with dry, weak, dull, and damaged hair. It penetrates deep into the hair structure and repairs it from the inside, restoring the hair’s natural strength and healthy shine.
Check this out: How to Care for Dry Hair: 4 Simple Tips
