Acquiring or making Black Cocoa Butter

[ptw1953]

I am wishing to purchase some black cocao butter, but it is scarcer than hobby-horse sh*te here in the UK. I do have some cocao butter, and some black fat-soluble powder. Tips and tricks for the making of black cocao butter at home would be most welcome...

 

ptw1953

[spennie]

9 hours ago, ptw1953 said:

I am wishing to purchase some black cocao butter, but it is scarcer than hobby-horse sh*te here in the UK. I do have some cocao butter, and some black fat-soluble powder. Tips and tricks for the making of black cocao butter at home would be most welcome...

 

ptw1953

 

I am from the U.K and get mine from Keylink . I  have some coming tomorrow 

[Racing_Chocs]

I am also based in the UK and although I have purchased the ready to go bottles of IBC black cocoa butter from Keylink, I now tend to purchase these from PCB Creation in France, as I find it is easier to work with and produces superior results when airbrushed. I assume the ratio of cocoa butter to colourant is different between the two brands which explains the differences I have experienced - https://www.pcb-creation.com/produit/1-beurre-de-cacao-colore-noir-200-g/

 

PCB Creation also have a natural black available for an extra 4EUR if you need/want that option - https://www.pcb-creation.com/produit/1-beurre-de-cacao-colore-noir-naturel-200-g/

 

I have only tried mixing my own colours a few times and found it too time consuming a process for my operation. I think the main thing is to make sure you emulsify the mixture together using a stick blender, otherwise the colour will not be equally dispersed within the cocoa butter. This un-emulsified colouring may end up blocking an airbrush and cause unfavourable decorative effects when applied.

 

Good luck with your efforts!

 

Matthew

[gfron1]

I'm curious why you found it time consuming? I make enough (normally 250ml) and it takes less than 5 minutes. For black I do a 5% and a 10% colorant to cocoa butter. Microwave. Stick blend. Strain through panty hose with a gloved hand. Voila!

[Racing_Chocs]

54 minutes ago, gfron1 said:

I'm curious why you found it time consuming? I make enough (normally 250ml) and it takes less than 5 minutes. For black I do a 5% and a 10% colorant to cocoa butter. Microwave. Stick blend. Strain through panty hose with a gloved hand. Voila!

Haha, if I was to revisit making my own it'd be so much faster now. Back then I purchased a 5kg tube of solid cocoa butter from Callebaut (not callets) and didn't have a straightforward way of melting it, so had to chip bits off, which took time. Then I didn't have a stick blender so my unemulsified mixtures wouldnt spray. Basically a catalogue of errors, or shall we call it opportunities for learning :)