Abstract: A cocoa butter hard butter equivalent comprising a blend of (a) the solid fraction which is obtained from fractionation of crude or refined sal fat, and (b) a solid palm mid-fraction obtained from two-step fractionation of palm oil removing a liquid fraction in a first fractionation step and then a solid filter cake fraction in a second fractionation step.

Abstract: An inventive composition has a fat fraction comprising about 15-40 parts cocoa butter, about 0-25 parts butterfat, with the sum of the parts of cocoa butter and butterfat being not substantially in excess of about 40, and about 60-85 parts of a confectioner's hard butter. Such hard butter is essentially all 16-18 carbon atom triglycerides, is chemically quite dissimilar from cocoa butter, and has an SFI profile and melting characteristic somewhat higher than cocoa butter. Surprisingly, such hard butter is a fine replacement fat for cocoa butter, particularly when the composition contains some butterfat. The present invention is also directed to finished confectionery food compositions employing the subject inventive composition.