Cacao Butter vs Cocoa Butter


(Ashley Haddock) #1

This is probably a dumb question but before keto I had never even heard of either of these things so I’m going to ask anyway. What is the difference in these? I have been using cacao butter (I love it in my BPC!). I used some tonight to make some 'white chocolate" fat bombs via recipe I found online (https://lowcarbyum.com/white-chocolate-fat-bombs/). It was basically cacao butter mixed with coconut oil and sweetener. I realized after melting the ingredients together that the recipe actually called for cocoa butter. I just tasted one and they don’t taste anything like white chocolate, so I’m wondering if cocoa butter would make it taste more chocolatey? I remember @richard making white chocolate with cacao butter (http://easylocarb.azurewebsites.net/recipe/white-chocolate-drop/) but used milk powder, which I didn’t do.

I would really like to know the difference in these so I know how to better use them in the future.


(eat more) #2

i think cacao butter is raw and cocoa butter isn’t

i like the new pic :blush:


(Ashley Haddock) #3

Thanks! :slight_smile:


#4

I thought they were the same product. Just different spelling.


(roxanna) #5

I was always under the impression (like Fiorella) that they were the same product and used interchangeably. I do, however, know that cacao is different from cocoa powder so maybe…? I just presumed cacao indicated raw and organic.


(Jennifer) #6

I saw a similar recipe that had whole fat dry milk power. Said it adds some creaminess to the white chocolate.

Wiki says that white chocolate is just cocoa butter, sugar, and milk solids. This is on my list - I love the damn white Reese’s peanut butter eggs (crack). Want to try and make a smart replacement.


(Tom) #7

No kidding. What’s worse, they generally don’t take you as serious when that’s your drug of choice.


(Alex Dipego) #8

To my understanding Cacao is raw and powdered where as cocoa is roasted then powdered.


(John Cotter) #9

One of the recent 2KetoDudes (end of jan I think) Richard mentions about the using Cacao and the difference. If memory serves me right Cacao is unprocessed and if you are going to use Cocoa you need to be careful what you are using (especially if it’s the butter) because certain brands add carbage into their products.


(Ashley Haddock) #10

Oh thanks. I think I remember that now that you mention it. I’ll have to find the epi again. I noticed some of the cocoa butters I was looking at had carbs, while others had the same macros as cacao butter so that added carbage must be what that is.


(John Cotter) #11

I know I just listened to it recently and I’m pretty sure it was one of the episodes in Jan, should have been during the recipes section of the podcast too.

If I had to guess it would be ep 51, http://2ketodudes.com/show.aspx?episode=51


#12

From what I’m aware, this also somewhat depends on where you are. Cacao and Cocoa in some contexts actually do mean the same thing, or are just what different regions use for the same thing. But, some places distinguish between the two.

As for the butter, I’d expect them to be the same (the butter is the result of separating the solids from the fat, so it’s not going to really be raw ever, even if labeled as such).


(Ashley Haddock) #13

Thanks! I think the problem is I binge-listened to all the episodes in a short amount of time so I have a hard time remembering where they talked about certain things. LOL


(eat more) #14

this is talking specifically about powder but i’m sure it’s true for any cacao/cocoa derivative

https://iquitsugar.com/raw-cacao-vs-cocoa-whats-the-difference/

[quote]Raw cacao powder is made by cold-pressing unroasted cocoa beans. The process keeps the living enzymes in the cocoa and removes the fat (cacao butter).

Cocoa looks the same but it’s not. Cocoa powder is raw cacao that’s been roasted at high temperatures. Sadly, roasting changes the molecular structure of the cocoa bean, reducing the enzyme content and lowering the overall nutritional value.[/quote]


(Ashley Haddock) #15

Thank you!! That helped a ton! I googled and couldn’t find anything, not sure why that one didn’t pop up for me.


(Jason Walter) #16

I realize this is an old post…
Cacao is the bean that chocolate and cocoa powder is made from.
Its a pretty cool looking bean. Google image it.
They remove the pod from the tree and remove the cacao beans. They ferment them on the farm before they are shipped to the the company which roasts them and eventually process them into the final product.
To call it cocoa or cacao is more of a marketing thing where cacao is usually referencing a less processed product. For example, most cocoa powders are alkalized because raw powder is very bitter and astringent. You’ll notice some ingredients say cocoa powder(dutch processed) or (alkalized).
More recently, formulators such as myself, are looking for healthier ingredients so we are working with raw cacao powder which preserves some of the nutrients, but is harder to work with.
The use of that term is sometimes used with cocoa butter, although there isnt the same processing concerns with that.
Hope that helps
Jason
YUMtrition