Butter and margarine are different ingredients, although they are basically a source of fat for recipes. And depending on where you get the recipe, sometimes the terms are used synonymously (which shouldn’t happen).
According to Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA) with Ordinance 146/96: butter understand the fatty product obtained exclusively by beating and malaxing (with or without biological modification) of pasteurized cream derived exclusively from cow’s milk, by promise technologically suitable. A butter fat must be composed exclusively from dairy fat. In other words, to be called butter, the product needs to contain fat of dairy origin.
The definition is the same as Ordinance 146/96 and must contain at least 82% fat.
For the salted butter version, the fat content should be at least 80% fat e no maximum 2% salt.
He can. Ordinance 146/96 allows the use of dyes (low orelan, beta carotene and turmeric or curcumin), bleaches (chlorophyllin or cupric chlorophyllin) and supporting characters of neutralizing salts (sodium orthophosphate, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide).
THE MAP for Normative Instruction 66/2019 defines as: product with minimum fat content of 10% and maximum of 90%in the form of a stable plastic or fluid emulsion, mainly of water-in-oil type (W/O)composed of water, oils or fats of animal or vegetable originand may be added to other ingredients (…).
The American definition of margarine given by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is similar, but the big difference is in the fat content: the American one must have at least 80% fat.
Did you know that original margarine is a French creation? True!
There are several differences, but by legislation the main one is the type of fat. Butter can only have dairy animal fatwhile the margarine can have a mixture of fats and is generally made from vegetable fats.
Not to mention that margarine is a formulated productbutter is the separation of milk fat.
It may be, but it is not an obligation or certainty. As the legislation indicates, margarine may contain fats and other ingredients of animal origin. The most common ingredients of animal origin are: butter, cream, milk, whey and milk proteins. So, read the product listing to be sure.
Under current legislation, there is no official definition given by the competent bodies. However, from what exists today: the products that use the nomenclature of butter without containing exclusively dairy fat are violating the legislation. So, technically and current legislation should be called margarine or ready-to-eat foods or mixtures for preparing food (depending on the formulation according to RDC 723/2005). The use of the term in these products indicates a lack of knowledge of legislation and labeling.
There was RDC 264/2005 which cited and defined the item cocoa butter. However, the resolution was revoked by RDC 723/2022. In the new resolution, cocoa butter is still mentioned, but without a specific definition. What can be extrapolated, if an official document uses the term, it could be used.
He can. But you need to pay attention to which margarine to use. If it’s in a recipe, The recommendation is to use culinary margarine which, due to its formulation, will have a function closer to butter, and generally have 80% fat. Margarines spread on bread are too soft and may have a lower fat content. However, you may have differences in the final flavor of the preparationsince butter has its own very characteristic flavor.
For a cake and pie, you may not notice that much of a difference. But already I wouldn’t recommend using margarine to make buttercream which is basically a buttercream, the difference will be very noticeable.
And if the recipe calls for margarine, you can swap it for butter without any major problems. Unless the recipe indicates otherwise.
