Butter in Chocolate Making

The butter in chocolate locks in all the delicate flavours and adds freshness in the mouth. Our chocolatier likes to use butter with 84% fat content, which has a higher melting point. This helps preserve delicate flavours in the chocolate because it absorbs them during the chocolate-making process and releases them as it melts in the mouth during tasting (the melting point of butter is around body temperature). Some fats, like lard, melt above body temperature and leave a fatty layer in the mouth, which is not desirable. In chocolate making, all recipes need an overall fat content of 10–15%, which can come from the butter or the cream. Chocolatiers often choose butter with a higher fat content, and consequently less water, to give more stability to their ganaches.