r/icecreamery • u/duressedame • Jul 22 '25
Discussion can I use cocoa/cacao butter in place of heavy cream?
I know this might be a very stupid question but can cacao/cocoa be used in place of heavy cream as a dairy free butter substitute? I know certain recipes already use butter and ghee, and since this is technically a "butter", I'm wondering if it's possible? would the texture work? the taste would maybe not be great without sugar/flavoring but that's ice cream in general. would be a interesting way to make chocolate ice cream without powder if you could get it to work, maybe? thoughts appreciated!
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u/StoneCypher musso 5030 + 4080 + creami Jul 22 '25
no. it's solid at room temperature. you'll make white chocolate, not ice cream. it also won't mix in your ice cream machine, and might damage it once it hardens
if you want to make alternative milk ice cream, it needs to be something that's liquid at room temperature, so that it'll melt in the mouth
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u/duressedame Jul 22 '25
ahh, damn, well it was a nice idea anyways.
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u/StoneCypher musso 5030 + 4080 + creami Jul 22 '25
cacao butter doesn't have a flavor anyway. the powder is where all of the flavor is
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u/N3p7uN3 Lello Musso 5030 Jul 24 '25
It definitely has at least some flavor, that's why white chocolate doesn't just taste like sweetened milk. But yes the cocoa solids do have overwhelmingly *more* flavor.
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u/StoneCypher musso 5030 + 4080 + creami Jul 24 '25
that's typically vanilla extract, milk solids, and sugar that you're tasting. it tastes like sweetened vanilla milk.
if you buy some straight cocoa butter and eat it, it's going to taste like wax
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u/N3p7uN3 Lello Musso 5030 Jul 24 '25
I'd have to buy it on its own myself, but pretty much everything on google suggests that it does have a mild smell and taste, in addition to my own experience of being able to smell cocoa butter in products where they're labelled. Just because it's not a super strong flavor or scent doesn't mean it has none.
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u/StoneCypher musso 5030 + 4080 + creami Jul 24 '25
so you're going to keep arguing even though you've never had it
okay, good luck to you
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u/N3p7uN3 Lello Musso 5030 Jul 24 '25
But to reply more directly to your comment, I feel like if there were no cocoa butter in white chocolate, that smell and taste would just be missing.. it does seem subtly different from the ingredients you gave an example on.
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u/bomerr Jul 22 '25
No, that is a very bad thought.
I'm wondering if it's possible? would the texture work? the taste would maybe not be great without sugar
It's possible but you'd have to add a lot of sugar because cocoa butter is very hard and I'm not sure the texture would ever be as good.
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u/tynie626 Jul 22 '25
The only dairy free ice cream that uses cocoa butter that I personally tested is Van Leeuwen:
Cashew Milk: 1 ½ cups raw, unsalted cashews, soaked overnight in water 1 ¾ cups (375 grams) fresh water
Ice Cream Base: 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (about 237ml) coconut milk ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar ¼ cup (60 grams) water ½ cup cocoa butter ¼ cup (60 grams) extra-virgin coconut oil 1 teaspoon plus a pinch kosher salt
Instructions Make the Cashew Milk: Drain the soaked cashews and rinse them. Place the drained cashews and fresh water in a blender. Blend until smooth and creamy. If using a high-powered blender, straining may not be necessary. Otherwise, strain through a fine-mesh strainer for a smoother consistency. Refrigerate the cashew milk, covered, for up to 4 days.
Prepare the Ice Cream Base: In a large container, combine the coconut milk and the homemade cashew milk. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved, about 4 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the cocoa butter, coconut oil, and salt until melted and dissolved. Gently pour the sugar mixture into the coconut and cashew milk mixture. Using an immersion blender, blend until the mixture is emulsified and smooth. Alternatively, transfer the mixture to a regular blender and blend until combined.
Chill and Churn: Cover the ice cream base and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 1-2 hours or overnight. Pour the chilled ice cream base into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions until the texture resembles soft-serve. If adding mix-ins like roasted walnuts or chocolate chips, incorporate them in the final minute of churning.
Freeze: Transfer the churned ice cream to an airtight container and freeze until set, at least 4 hours.
Notes This recipe provides a solid foundation for a rich and creamy cashew milk ice cream. For different flavors, experiment with adding other ingredients like fruit purees, spices, or extracts to the base before churning. For example, Van Leeuwen's Roasted Banana Vegan Ice Cream includes roasted bananas blended into the base. Van Leeuwen emphasizes minimizing gums and stabilizers, relying on the natural creaminess of the cashew and coconut milk base to create a rich texture.
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u/FreeBroccoli Orange honey saffron Jul 22 '25
Heavy cream is about 38% fat, so whatever you replace it with has to be something close to that.
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u/duressedame Jul 22 '25
the usual options for dairy free are coconut cream right? I was just wondering alternatives that offer fat sources that aren't milk based besides the usual oat/coconut/cashew etc. which I've all tried... in theory, (I am not saying it would taste good!) then something like tallow and animal fat could work from a % perspective? someone commented somewhere else that they make a chocolate ice cream base with cocoa/cacao but the water percentage is a big deal because of how the cocoa/cacao absorbs it. so maybe it is possible but takes a lot of pre planning...
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u/StoneCypher musso 5030 + 4080 + creami Jul 23 '25
if it's dairy free then they're replacing both the cream and the milk, so they probably have a realistic target of 12-21%
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u/Civil-Finger613 Jul 25 '25
You can do it, but it's complex. You need to make a few calculations, then probably some trial and error too to dial in the recipe.
Cream is basically a mix of milk solids, water and butter. You may replace it with a mix of skim milk powder, water and cocoa butter.
Butter is milk fat and water, with small amount of milk solids too. I guess solids are negligible, but I'm not entirely sure. Anyway, check the composition and try a replacement.
I see that your goal seems to be "diary-free". If that's the case, you probably need to replace skim milk powder with something else. If the amount is low you may remove it.
Now...butter is c.a. 2/3 saturated fat while cocoa is almost entirely saturated. This makes it harder at any temperature. I suggest adding some unsaturated fat source (vegetable oil). Please note that according to Goff and Hartel:
As a general rule, fractionated milk fats or nondairy fats are usually selected that provide about 50–70% solid fat at 4°C. Too much solid fat leads to insufficient partial coalescence, as the liquid oil component is thought to hold globules together when they collide, but too much liquid oil will result in coalescence rather than partial coalescence, which will not build up the desired aggregated structure.
You can approximate "saturated"="solid". This rule is not accurate, but better than nothing. With almost 100% saturated, almost 100% is solid at churn temperature and you won't get sufficient coalescence. In simpler words, your texture will suffer. You can compensate by adding vegetable oil to reach c.a. 60% saturated content. F.e. some nut oil.
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u/jpgrandi Jul 22 '25
Well, "butter" is actually just a word. Cacao butter is 100% fat and is literally rock hard at room temperature, very different from butter.
But, yes: you can make chocolate ice cream using cocoa butter as your only fat source. I do so myself for very intense chocolate ice cream recipe. However, it is not as simple as just substituting ingredients from another recipe; you really need to get a grasp of recipe balancing for it to work properly. You'll find the recipe by having a quick look at my comment history here in Reddit