Cocoa Butter

Name: Cocoa Butter
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h 10 min
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Yield: 1 serving
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 300 g raw cocoa beans; 800 ml water

Manteca de cacao made the old Mexican way: cocoa beans roasted on the comal, winnowed, ground to a dark paste and simmered in water so the pale-yellow fat floats up to be skimmed and set. What is left behind is cocoa solids for atole or drinking chocolate.

Breakfast Snacks Vegan Under 400 kcal 8g+ fibre

100 min30 prep · 70 cookMedium339 kcalper serving

Method

Set a comal or heavy dry frying pan over medium-low heat and roast 300 g of raw cocoa beans, turning them constantly with a wooden spoon, for 15-20 minutes. They are ready when the shells blister and crack, the beans darken and the kitchen smells strongly of chocolate; do not let them scorch or the fat will taste burnt. Tip onto a tray and cool for 10 minutes.
Crush the cooled beans lightly under a rolling pin or between your palms so the brittle shells split away from the kernels. Winnow outdoors or in front of a fan, pouring the crushed beans slowly from one bowl to another so the papery husks blow off, leaving about 250 g of clean nibs.
Grind the nibs to cocoa liquor: work them in batches down a metate warmed over low coals, passing them back and forth for 30-40 minutes, or run them in a powerful blender in 1-minute bursts for 10-15 minutes. Stop when the grit has gone and you have a glossy, dark, pourable paste that runs off the spoon.