In this second chocolate how-to instalment, we're tackling How To Make Coloured Cocoa Butter using fat-soluble powder colours and two types of cocoa butter.
How To Make Coloured Cocoa Butter
In the last how-to post we talked about some of the more commonly used molds for making chocolate and how to prepare them for best results. Now that you have chosen your molds and buffed them to a shine, you're probably itching to add some colour! This is generally done with food-grade cocoa butter.
Cocoa butter is available for purchase in an array of colours and finishes (matte, pearl, shimmer, natural) from brands like Roxy & Rich (I have a soft spot for this brand, as it is made locally in Quebec), PCB Creation, Chef Rubber and IBC, to name a few. I've used all four of these brands and would recommend either. If you are selling your products, however, it's important to ensure the brand you use meets applicable food regulations in your location.
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What You'll Need To Make Coloured Cocoa Butter
You may not always find pre-made cocoa butter colours that match your needs; mixing two or more pre-made colours will produce custom colours of your choosing, with a little practice.
Perhaps pre-made colours aren't readily available where you are, in which case you can make your own colours with a few ingredients, namely cocoa butter, fat-soluble/oil-based powdered colours and titanium dioxide. All food-grade, of course.
Cocoa Butter: Deodorized or Natural?
When cocoa butter undergoes a process to neutralize its flavour, aroma and colour, it is then referred to as deodorized. This is done so that the natural cocoa butter flavour and aroma don't detract from the chocolate/bean. Although, deodorized cocoa butter sometimes develops a sharp smell, as a result of processing. If using deodorized cocoa butter, choose a reputable brand for best quality.
If you don't have access to deodorized cocoa butter, or prefer the resulting flavour complexity and naturally occurring antioxidants present in natural cocoa butter, then natural/unrefined may just be the way to go. Again, choose a reputable brand for consistency and quality.
Taste and aroma become more of a concern when I use the natural cocoa butter directly in recipes. Less so, for the purposes of making colours, which I usually applied in a very thin layer. Here, I used deodorized cocoa butter in both freeze-dried and buttons.
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Oil-Based/Fat-Soluble Colourants
Fat-soluble colours will provide the best results for your finished chocolates, aesthetically, but more importantly, shelf-life. These powders come in your standard colours and are concentrated, odour-free, tasteless and dissolve easily in fat. You can use them to add colour to cocoa butter, as I've done here, or to colour the chocolate itself. You can also get good results with natural colours like freeze-dried fruit and vegetable powders. Generally, lighter colours will work best with white chocolate, while black can be added to dark and milk chocolate.
If you find that your homemade coloured cocoa butter produces a translucent colour, adding food-grade titanium dioxide (where legally allowed), will help improve the opacity. If you don't have access (or not legally allowed) to titanium dioxide, another way to improve opacity, is to back spray your mold with white cocoa butter or brush on white tempered chocolate. We will explore using Power Flowers in a future post, but you can see how I use the product in my IG stories.
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Equipment You'll Need To Make Coloured Cocoa Butter
You'll need a few pieces of mostly standard equipment to make coloured cocoa butter at home. These include the following, for best results:
- Digital scale - If you do any baking or chocolate making, you really should own one. I really like this for its zero or tare function, which allows you to scale multiple ingredients in one dish. It also has a pull-out base to accommodate larger bowls/pots.
- Pocket scale - I added this to my kitchen arsenal a couple years ago, when I was having trouble getting an accurate read for lighter ingredients. It's perfect for scaling the coloured powder.
- Immersion Blender - To ensure the mixture is optimally emulsified, I highly recommended an immersion blender. I own three immersion blenders, one for savoury preparation and the other two for chocolate/ganache and pastries, because I am a little anal about cross-contamination and overall kitchen hygiene.
- Tall Containers - Whether this item, a drinking glass or measuring cup, you'll need something that can easily accommodate the blender for mixing.
- Fine Mesh Sieve/Strainer - to sift the powder colours.
With these items in hand, press play to see How To Make Coloured Cocoa Butter to add a little interest to your chocolate!
(Please note that the list above includes affiliate links. Purchasing items via these links provide a small commission that supports the running of my blog, I Sugar Coat It. I only recommend items I own and use.)
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Ingredients
- 120 grams cocoa butter
- 12 grams fat-soluble powder colour
Instructions
- Melt the cocoa butter in a small sauce pan over low heat. Remove from the heat when almost melted to avoid over-heating. Swirl the sauce pan to melt any remaining solids.
- Add the powder colour to the melted cocoa butter by passing through a sieve. Stir to combine, then use an immersion blender to emulsify the mixture. Pass the mixture through a clean sieve to remove any residual solids.
- Allow the mixture to cool and set, typically 12 hours. When ready to use, temper the cocoa butter and hold between 31°-33ºC for decorating. You can also simply heat the cocoa butter to 31ºC, but you will get better, more consistent results (shine) when you temper.
Brenda Mann says
Is tempering cocoa butter any different than tempering a dark, milk or white chocolate?
What would be the temp ranges for plain cocoa butter.
Great video by the way!
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
Thanks. I generally work with it between 31º-33ºC.
Nasser says
how i can temper the cocoa butter?
Linh says
I just found your site, thank you for this tutorial. I have a question. What do you store your color cocoa butter in? So to temper it, do you melt it again at a higher temperature like 40-45C and then cool it down to 31-33 C? Thank you.
Alpa says
If coloured cocoa butter is left after using it how do we store it .
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
Hi - I treat it the same as store-bought. I store it in little plastic bottle and warm and temper it when I need to use it. I make small batches that I use up fairly quickly.
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
Also, my apologies for the delayed response - your comment went to my spam folder.
Charlie says
Thank you very much for this great post!! Now I dare to try this myself. I wonder if the colored cocoa butter has to bee used up directly or is it possible to store it.
Greetings from Sweden
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
Hi - just seeing your note - a number of comments went to my spam folder. I store mine as I would the purchased cocoa butter - in an airtight bottle. I make small amounts that i know i will use within a couple weeks. It will harden like store-bought, just warm it and temper it, as you would normally. Hope that helps!
Maria says
HI-When you say tempering the cocoa butter, Is it the same method as tempering chocolate?
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
Missed this... Similar, in that you raise and then drop the temperature and work with the cb between 31-33 Celsius.
poornima says
great video. sir my color coca butter want give shine, for that what we have to do.
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
Ensure that you are using it at between 31-33 degrees Celsius.
Devin Graham says
HI! Thanks for the great information! Can I paint directly on the chocolate instead of painting the mold?
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
Pleased you found it useful, Devin.You can use the cocoa butter in the same way you would use commercial cb. I have found however that you don't get the same shine painting on the chocolate, as you would when you paint on the mold. Hope that is helpful!
Benedict Lego says
Is it possible to mix and use a liquid oil based color with cocoa butter?
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
I have not tried the liquid fat-based colours, only powder, but it does not hurt to try! I've learned a great deal from trial and error. 🙂
Linh says
Great video. Thank you. Where do you get your fat soluble powdered color?
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
You should be able to find it at any chocolate/pastry supplier, locally or online. Not sure where you are located, but you can try Chef Rubber to start.
Ioana Ve says
Hello! i have a question regarding food colourings. On the package of my food colouring i see recommendations of how much to use. For example, 1,5 g per 1 kg. But if we use so to say 12 grams for 120, will the recommended dosage be exceeded?
I am new to this and i don't really understand how to work with colours without exceeding the "safe amount"
I hope you will answer <3
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
I don't know enough obout the products you are using to really comment - food and drug safety measures are very different from place to place. I would go by the manufacturer's directions to be safe.
cassie cowdrey says
Hi thank you 🙂 can you please tell me if any chocolate powdered colouring is fine to use please? Thanks
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
Hi there. It should fat-soluble.
Nasser says
hi,
After i coloured the cocoa butter and let it rest for 12 hours and i want to temper it, it's like to melt completely and cool it to 31-33 degree and hold it between this temperature? that's right?
and the 31-33 degree working temperature is for both: spraying by airbrush and by hand brushing ?
Thank you
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
Hi Nasser - I heat it to between 40-45ºC, then quickly lower it to between 31-33º and hold it at that temperature (I store them in a melter set at 32º) and spray within that range. Your molds and room temp should be around 18-21º for best results. Hope that is helpful - you may also need to adjust based on the conditions in your workspace.