Whipped Shea Butter
I tried a new method for making Whipped Shea Butter today – and it turned out so beautiful!! I’ve been making this product for at least four years with varying success. Seems like every time I change suppliers for the shea butter, something changes in the end product. This time I was having some issues with graininess – a fairly noticeable problem with the Lip Butter, and not so noticeable with the Whipped Shea Butter. I happened to be reading through some of my favorite blogs this morning, and came across some directions for whipping shea butter from the folks at From Nature With Love:
…melt and heat the Shea Butter to approximately 175 Degrees Fahrenheit. Holding the melted Shea Butter at this heat for twenty minutes will allow tiny crystals in the butter to fully melt, allowing a smooth, even texture to form when the butter has cooled.
This was my “ah ha” moment! After heating the shea butter, cocoa butter and jojoba oil in a pot, I poured it into my KitchenAid mixing bowl, placed it in an ice bath, and started whipping with my hand mixer to start out.
Shea Butter Setting Up
Once it was mostly set, I added some vitamin E and transferred the bowl into the stand to whip it good!
Whipping in the KitchenAid
It came out so creamy smooth, I had a brilliant idea to pipe it into the jars for a photo shoot. I got out my great-grandmother’s cake decorating tips. They are enormous for frosting, but perfect for whipped shea butter!
Grandma's Cake Decorating Tips
Final product:
Whipped Shea Butter by Great Cakes Soapworks
I like to call Whipped Shea Butter the dry skin remedy. It’s great for feet, knees, elbows, cracked knuckles – you name it! Get your Whipped Shea Butter at Greatcakessoapworks.com! Available in a 1.75 oz. jar for $5.00 or 3.25 oz. jar for $8.00. (Vanilla Hazelnut also available in the larger size.)
January 25th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
Gorgeous! I love how you piped it into the jar. Hopefully you figured out the grainy problem. Beautiful pictures as well!
.-= Holly´s last blog post ..Raspberry Vanilla and Chamomile Lavender Buttermilk =-.
January 25th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
That’s interesting…I did notice that my last container did seem a little grainy and not as creamy as the container before that but I just figured it was something that had happened during the shipping process.
It looks good enough to eat!!
.-= Helene´s last blog post ..There was a little girl…. =-.
January 26th, 2010 at 5:27 am
oh my word! i’ve been meaning to make some of this since anne-marie put it up.
my shea butter is on its way this week, so i’m gonna give it a whirl.
yours looks absolutely stunning…and edible!
January 26th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
This looks awesome! I should add this to my list of things I want to try!
January 26th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
Looks good enough to eat…and as beautiful as all your other products.
.-= Staci Marquez-Nichols´s last blog post ..How to Make a Soap Gift Basket =-.
January 26th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
I have to say that the whipped shea butter here actually looks creamy. I have tried two different batches of your whipped shea butter in the past and was disappointed that it was so hard and nearly impossible to use. “Whipped” shea butter should be like a whipped cream or a rich, creamy consistency and not hard like they have been in the past. Glad to see the texture has changed.
January 26th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
That looks just beautiful!!!
I once used straight shea butter to rub on my baby bump…it was BAD. I didn’t know any better!
.-= Muthering Heights´s last blog post ..In Morning =-.
January 28th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
That’s so funny….I got the same idea to use the cake tips to put them in jars and it looks so fluffy I just giggled.
I bought great quality shea butter from shea butter hut. It really fluffed up when I whipped it but no matter how much EO I put in it… it, still smells like shea butter not my fragrance….any suggestions?
January 28th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
That’s a tough one, Izze. Vanilla Hazelnut is the only fragrance I use because it smells somewhat similar to this shea butter and seems to work well with it. I tried to add lavender to some shea butter from a different supplier to improve the scent, and it wasn’t good either! Perhaps a good coffee scent would do the trick? The stronger the better!
April 4th, 2011 at 11:36 am
I’m going to try whipping some shea butter pretty soon. I’ve never done it before. I’m thinking of leaving it plain or adding sandalwood oil to it. How much should I add to a pound of shea butter?
Also, how much tea tree oil should I add as a preservative?
Will heating the shea butter for that long at that temp degenerate the nutrition?
(Any other sent suggestions for us dudes?)
Thanks!
April 4th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
@Joe – You will need to add a bit of liquid oil to the shea in order for it to whip. I recommend something light such as jojoba, almond oil, apricot kernel, avocado, etc. You won’t need much fragrance. I would add several drops at a time until you like how it smells. And I would NOT add tea tree, unless you want the shea butter to smell like tea tree. Just a few drops of vitamin E will help keep it from oxidizing. Oh, and you will have to heat the shea butter that long to keep it from developing grains. No other way around it. Have fun!
May 26th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
Amy, this is just brill! I really need some more info from you on the shea butter…I’m a bit of a novice in this… Where do I beginning?… I have a parchment-like skin (that dry!) and it recently developed into this wretched dermatitis, from either stress or some sort of allergy. I used the several creams prescribed by dermatologists, but they just don’t provide as much hydration as needed. Now I read loads on the raw bio shea butter. I intend to make my own cream with jojoba oil too, a couple of pure essential oils to give fragrance and to alleviate the itching, and vitamin A (I understood the shea butter already has vitamins E, F and D). Your method of giving it a bit of creaminess is just fantastic! I would really appreciate it if you could let me know what type of essential oils to use with the shea apart from vanilla and coffee, sth for the itching as well, as it inevitably comes with dermatitis. They say myrtle and frankincense should do… sounds heavy as sin… Looking for sth a bit more cheerful and fresh. Then, I read it is recommended to melt the shea butter at a temperature of 35 to 50 degrees Celsius (95 to 120 Fahrenheit), otherwise when it cools, it tends to crystalize… is this.. BS? Finally, to obtain 250-300g of cream, how much shea butter and how much Jojoba oil should I use? Thanks a mill!