Chocolate

[manitoban]

I would like to do that recipe but unfortunately i just can not find pure cocoa butter.

I have tried all kind of food stores and even some places where they make chocolate and nobody is using cocoa butter.

The health food store told me to give them the name of some companies that produce cocoa butter and they will try to command it.

So can someone give me the name of some companies that produces cocoa butter please.

Hi Gandalf,

Well, I buy oils and butters (including cocoa butter) that I use in skin products here:
_http://www.canwax.com/catalog/item/1339873/1269419.htm

 

[Jacques]

Hi Gandalf,

I found this ad:
_http://boutique.annoncextra.com/naturosources/services/annonce-beaute-sante-196091.html

This French site sells it (shipping worldwide):
_http://www.aroma-zone.com/aroma/beurres.asp#cacao

I think cocoa butter is mostly sold as a cosmetic (as a body balm, for ex.) so you'll have better chance finding it in natural cosmetic shops/websites.

I would have never found that.

Thank you for the info. I will try in the natural cosmetic shops. ;)

 

[Lauranimal]

I will try in the natural cosmetic shops.

Make sure it is food grade. Otherwise, it will have been made on machinery and in an environment not intended to meet standards for consumption, and can have contaminants in it.

 

[Jacques]

I will try in the natural cosmetic shops.

Make sure it is food grade. Otherwise, it will have been made on machinery and in an environment not intended to meet standards for consumption, and can have contaminants in it.

Thank you Lauranimal for that info. I will be careful. ;)

 

[Oxajil]

Indeed, Nienna, that was odd. However, I'll try 100% cacao nibs next time.

Here's another news article:

Eating chocolate regularly may prevent strokes

A report just released by Canadian scientists from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and the University of Toronto provides evidence that consuming chocolate regularly significantly reduces the odds of having a stroke. What's more, if a person who eats chocolate does suffer a stroke, their risk of dying afterwards is almost half that of non-chocolate eaters.

[...]

Historically, traditional healers have long contended that chocolate is good for body and spirit. For example, the ancient Aztecs and Mayans are believed to be the first people who drank a chocolate drink to help matters of the heart. And in recent years, scientists have found that some phytochemicals in chocolate can alter a person's sense of well being, producing a lift similar to the feeling of being in love. As NaturalNews has previously reported, Harvard Medical School scientists have discovered that cocoa, which is the main component of chocolate, may literally be good for the heart -- their research shows it could reduce the risk of heart disease and also cancer.

 

[Nathan]

I found a few interesting, although anonymous, comments while researching whether caffeine is actually present in chocolate or not:

Caffeine and theobromine are both "xanthine alkaloids" - they have the same base structure (a non-aromatic carbon ring joined with a nitrogenous ring), but they differ in one of the side-groups that stick off the basic structure.

The simple test for "caffeine" is actually identifying *all* xanthine alkaloids - caffeine, theobromine, theophyline, etc. The sources that say that chocolate has anything more than a trace of caffeine, are using the simple test as their final answer.

But as anyone who's taken organic chemistry knows, there are ways to purify out the different XA's based on their side groups. When you do that with the 'caffeine' in chocolate, you find out that it's not actually 'caffeine' - it's theobromine. Theobromine is also a stimulant - its just a *very* mild one. But be careful, it's mild in humans. But it's very strong in some animals - most notably, dogs. Too much chocolate, especially dark chocolate, will kill a dog...

Another anonymous comment:

From my understanding, caffeine is an efficient pesticide which is used on the cocoa plant due to it's relative safety when compared to other chemical pesticides. The roasting process removes much of the caffeine but some still remains albeit in very low doses.

Wikipedia tells us that "caffeine is found in varying quantities in the beans, leaves, and fruit of some plants, where it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain insects feeding on the plants."

Wikipedia's source for caffeine in cocoa is here:

_http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=2861730

Titre du document / Document title
Evaluation of xanthine derivatives in chocolate : nutritional and chemical aspects
Auteur(s) / Author(s)
MATISSEK R. (1) ;
Affiliation(s) du ou des auteurs / Author(s) Affiliation(s)
(1) Food Chemistry Institute (Lebensmittelchemisches Institut, LCI) of the Association of German Confectionery Industries, Adamsstrasse 52-54, 51063 Köln, ALLEMAGNE
Résumé / Abstract
Organic substances containing nitrogen are widespread throughout the whole of the natural world. Also included amongst these are the methylxanthine derivatives caffeine, theobromine and theophylline. These are very closely related and are to be found in extremely varying contents in different plants. Because of their pharmacological effect, which is fundamentally of a stimulative nature, methylxanthines have been significant since time immemorial as luxury, non-essential foodstuffs and as medication. These substances are often referred to as alkaloids. Theobromine is the major alkaloid in cacao (Theobroma cacao). Caffeine, on the other hand, is only to be found in cacao in very small quantities and theophylline only in trace amounts. Methylxanthines are said to contribute towards the typically bitter taste of cacao. In addition they represent important analytical parameters with regard to the evaluation of the quality of cacao-containing and chocolate products. The amount of methylxanthines in cacao depends on various influencing factors, the most essential ones being processing procedures, genotype, geographical origin and cacao bean weight. By determining the amount of theobromine and caffeine in cacao and/or cacao products, the amount of fat-free dry cacao can also be estimated. There are various methods available for the detection and determination of methylxanthines. UV-spectrophotometric determination and analysis using HPLC have attained major significance here. With regard to human nutrition, cacao and cacao products are the main natural sources of theobromine, but significantly less so with regard to caffeine. ...
Revue / Journal Title
Zeitschrift fur Lebensmittel-Untersuchung und -Forschung. A, European food research and technology ISSN 1431-4630
Source / Source
Congrès
International Symposium on Chocolate and Cacao Nutrition, Tokyo , JAPON (27/09/1995)
1997, vol. 205, no3, pp. 175-184 (48 ref.)

There are quite a few scientific journals out there that seem to cite caffeine present in cocoa, but are they testing organic cocoa or are they testing pesticide-sprayed cocoa? And are their tests accurate?

When healthy and high-quality natural ingredients are used, it is possible to make a truly "healthy chocolate" from organically-grown, unprocessed, unroasted, raw cocoa/cacao beans that has no pesticide residue and little loss of the natural nutrients.

Next to organic raw cocoa/cacao beans or cocoa powder, unsweetened and dairy-free dark chocolate is the healthiest chocolate; while the LEAST healthy chocolate is milk chocolate which includes dairy products and milk fats, refined sugar, and possibly hydrogenated oils or lard.

_http://www.astrologyzine.com/healthy-chocolate.shtml

If the caffeine comes only from a pesticide, then organically-grown cocoa beans would not contain caffeine.

For example, Teeccino products use organic ingredients only and sometimes include cocoa. On their website they say:

Cocoa contains a small amount of caffeine. However, since cocoa is used as a flavouring in
Teeccino in very small quantities, no detectable level of caffeine has been found in a cup of
Teeccino Mocha or Chocolate Mint when tested by independent laboratories.

_http://www.teeccino.com.au/TEECCINO_FAQ.pdf

I wonder if this is because the amount is too small to detect or that there is no caffeine in their organic cocoa in the first place.

And then we have this interesting page on a chocolate lover's website:

_http://www.xocoatl.org/caffeine.htm

There is a persistent urban legend that Chocolate contains caffeine. It would seem that this rumor is based primarily on a confusion between two similar alkaloids: caffeine and Theobromine. Theobromine is the active ingredient in Chocolate and it occurs only in Cacao. The two stimulants are related and have a similar structures, but are very different chemicals with different properties, effects and origins. There are of course, some Chocolate products that have added caffeine, but it does not occur naturally in Chocolate.

This rumor seems to have a life of its own; it won't go away and yet most references to it are references to the urban legend itself! Amusingly, almost all of the Chocolate & caffeine references on the Internet are circular. (Follow the references through a few links sometime -- you often wind up back at the page where you began!!) It is actually quite common to see references that confuse Caffeine and Theobromine. Many people and some semi-scientific sources confuse the two. Stollwerck, for example, says in one place Chocolate contains 1.2% Theobromine and 0.2% Caffeine, but in another place it says just 1.4% Caffeine and doesn't mention Theobromine, which is obviously wrong.

There is no scientific substantiation that Chocolate contains caffeine, and a great deal of evidence that it does not. The Biochemist, (Apr/May 1993, p 15) did chemical composition tests where they specifically distinguished between Caffeine and Theobromine. They found regularly up to 1.3% by weight Theobromine in Chocolate. They also found other pharmacologically active compounds including up to 2.20% Phenylethylamine up to 1.54% Tele- methylhistamine and occasionally up to 5.82% Serotonin. They could not detect any Caffeine at all. (Full results are on the Science Page.) I have yet to see a dependable chemical reference that includes Caffeine in Chocolate. (The Merck Index, 12th Edition says that a very small amount of Caffeine is found in the hulls of of the Cacao seeds, the hulls are discarded before processing.)

People seem to assume that caffeine is the only stimulant. Theobromine clearly has stimulant properties, so people reflexively attribute those effects to caffeine -- even though many of the effects are fundamentally different from caffeine. I guess they think it is easier to just say it is caffeine. I believe that many people casually refer to caffeine, when they really mean a whole class of chemicals called xanthines, of which caffeine is but one example. This is roughly equivalent to calling apes, human, because both are primates and humans are the more familiar type primate. Both are primates, but the differences are pretty obvious.

There is a similar confusion with the Andean tea Maté. Like Chocolate, Maté clearly has stimulant properties, which are obviously very different from caffeine's effects; however many people say it contains caffeine simply because because it is a stimulant. Yerba Maté contains Mateine, a xanthine even more closely related to Caffeine than Theobromine. It is a simple stereo-isomer of caffeine. Mateine, like Theobromine, is not addictive.


Two structurally related methylxanthines.
Theobromine & Caffeine

The name of this chemical, Theobromine, is derived from the genus name of the Cacao tree (Theobroma cacao. You will sometimes see a reference to Theobromide, this doesn't exist - it is an incorrect reference to Theobromine.

The ine ending indicates the "free base" nature of the molecule, like caffeine. Compare theobroma & theobromine; caffea & caffeine; coca and cocaine; in each case the portion of the plant name turned into a name ending with -ine, this is for the amine funcitonality with in the molecule (the alkaloid).
The Theobromide usage is probably a mistake arising from the element bromine and ion bromide. The ion bromide is common while the element bromine is not found in nature. There is no entry for Theobromide in the Merck Index, Theobromine is listed as entry 9353 on pg 1653 in the 13th edition. -Assistant Professor Robert M. Burns, Department Of Chemistry, Alma College

Theobromine and caffeine are similarly constructed types of pharmacologically active chemicals metabolized by the liver. Both are stimulants but with very noticeably different effects.

In both cases, smoking cigarettes accelerates the dissipation from the system.

Theobromine is a strong stimulant and was used by the Spanish to keep their armies going while conquering Central and South America. Chocolate (real Chocolate, not candy) can keep you up at night -- especially very young children (but that doesn't mean that it is caffeine). Nursing mothers who eat pure chocolate will find their children happy and wide awake several hours later.

Chocolate does not trigger Caffeine allergies. (Caffeine causes me an almost immediate migraine, while Theobromine, i have discovered eases (but doesn't eliminate, unfortunately) my migraines.) I have found that when i have tasted portions of a pure (70% or greater Cacao) Chocolate bar that is 100% from the Crillo variety i have had immediate, sharp headaches

There are a number of serious health problems associated with caffeine, most of which have not been associated with Theobromine:

* Large quantities of Caffeine have shown decreased sperm counts in rats.
* Well controlled studies have suggested that 2% of miscarriages could be due to Caffeine in coffee.
* Dehydration headaches -- Most headaches (estimates range from 50% to 90%) are caused by dehydration, and one of the primary causes of dehydration in the USA is the large quantity of Caffeine that most people consume. (Caffeine laden drinks like CocaCola and Coffee don't quench your thirst, they actually increase it!)
* Heart trouble
* Stress

There are several minor psycoactive chemicals in Chocolate as well as Theobromine: Phenylethylamine, Theophylline, Tele-methylhistamine Phenyethylamine, affects mood swings by causing an initial emotional high then a short time later an emotional low. It causes blood pressure and blood-sugar levels to rise, resulting in a feeling of alertness and contentment.

It was once thought that Tea contained large amounts of Theophylline, however it turns out that Tea contains significantly more amounts of caffeine than theophylline.

 

[Alma.Innovadora]

I like chocolate, i bought lately, pure 70% cacao chocolate and dark chocolate.

Ingredients:

Grease - 36gr.
Carbohydrates - 53gr.
Proteins - 9gr.

Daily requirements:

Grease - 55%
Carbohydrates - 15%
Proteins - 20%


Another brand of chocolate, contains:

Cocoa Liquor
sugar
cocoa butter
soy lecithin - (emulsifier)


I have pure cocoa, for drink in cup, but pure, is disgusting XD. whole milk is Parmalat. The only option is the chocolate that has no soy. I can't do a good diet, so I've been incorporating foods from the list "Ultra basic diet" to my daily food. What is not in the list, i not eat it.

 

[Niall]

Anyone got any good "make your own sugar-free chocolate" recipes?

After several trials, we've come up with a pretty good recipe for gluten and dairy AND sugar-free chocolates!

I haven't perfected it yet, and sometimes the cocoa butter doesn't mix up very well with the cocoa powder, but you can try for yourselves and see!

Here's the recipe, but I never actually measure the ingredients, so the quantities may not be totally accurate:

- Melt 1/2 cup of pure cocoa butter in a pot, at low temperature. Do not let the butter boil. This seems to be one of the secrets for good ingredient mixing.

- Once it's melted, turn the fire off, and add about four heaping table spoons of cocoa powder (100% cocoa), and your preferred sweetener. If you are on a detox diet and can't have sugar, you can use two heaping table spoons of xylitol. Stevia tastes too strong, IMO. If you can have sugar, you can add the same amount of organic brown sugar or of maple syrup.

- Then add about a table spoon of rice milk to thicken the mix.

- Pour into a container. It could be a rectangular one if you want to make a tablet, or one of those trays specially designed for chocolates and cookies. Any shape you like.

- Put it in the freezer, and it will be done in about 15 minutes.

Optional: When pouring it into a container, you can add anything you like. Try some fresh or dry mint, or tangerine/orange zests, or cranberries, or cocoa nibs, or anything you want.

Depending on the proportions you use, you may get a more or less creamy chocolate. With the recipe above, you get solid chocolate. But it can be modified to make pudding or anything else.

I have to say it's tricky, but you CAN have yummy chocolate once in a while! :P

Thank you, Ailén, for this chocolate recipe! I have copied it and added the recipe to my personal cookbook. I'll be making this soon!

Hooray, I finally found pure cocoa butter in a healthfood store! I made delicious chocolate today and added blueberries just before it set :)

(It didn't set too well though; the result was a bit soft to count as a chocolate "bar". I found that I needed more than a tablespoon of rice milk, but the half cup or so that I put in the mix was too much.)

 

[Mrs.Tigersoap]

Hooray, I finally found pure cocoa butter in a healthfood store!

Hi Kniall,

I'm interested! May I ask you where you found it? If it's not far from your place, it's probably not far from mine :D

 

[Niall]

Hooray, I finally found pure cocoa butter in a healthfood store!

Hi Kniall,

I'm interested! May I ask you where you found it? If it's not far from your place, it's probably not far from mine :D

Sure, I'll PM you with details

 

[anart]

Hooray, I finally found pure cocoa butter in a healthfood store!

Hi Kniall,

I'm interested! May I ask you where you found it? If it's not far from your place, it's probably not far from mine :D

Sure, I'll PM you with details

Why not just write where you found it so others reading the forum, who might be in the same general area, might benefit?

 

[Niall]

Sure :)

The brand is called Saveurs & Nature. It specialises in soya-free chocolate and I bought it in Sequioa at Stockel, East Brussels. S & N have a range of chocolates and this one is called "100% CACAO / pur beurre de CACAO / NOIR / "

They don't sell it in large quantities and it's kinda pricey (I think it was €4 per 100g), but that's because it's been marketed as chocolate in itself i.e. it's sold as a finished bar of raw organic cocoa butter! I tasted it before cooking with it... wow, very bitter!

But at least you can experiment with it a couple of times until another source of cocoa butter turns up.

I'm about to go watch the third in the triology of Lord of the Rings and have some homemade blueberry Belgian chocolate

 

[anart]

Now I'm hungry!!

 

[Mrs.Tigersoap]

Thanks Kniall! It's just time for a "quatre heures" here (afternoon snack) and now I want some!

 

[Odysseus]

The entire thread made me scream for (healthy) chocolate, so I searched where to get cocoa butter from to try out Ailén's recipe (thanks a lot Ailén )

I ran across the provider below. It's in german language, but if that's no issue to you they deliver also to EU countries (switzerland too). The prices seem more than reasonable to me:
_http://www.sheabutter-naturcreme-shop.de/shop/product_info.php?products_id=11

I will definitely order some and experiment a little bit with chocolate crafting (this will take a while though, I'm in vacation soon for several weeks).