Making Chocolate

For part of Holly's rainforest unit she learned about various products we consume from there. We looked at different foods, spices and medicines we all use. However one particular item was the most popular... chocolate! What seven year old wouldn't find chocolate to be the most exciting.

We started with a tasting of dark and milk chocolate to see if she preferred one over the other. Holly enjoyed both but preferred the milk chocolate. With that we used a kit I had ordered to make chocolate. She used a cocoa powder, sugar and cocoa butter to make the chocolate over the stove top, then had to temp it and make the little chocolates with treats in them (peanut butter, nuts, cranberry and marshmallows. They turned out fantastic!

The kit also included a few real cacao beans for her to explore - she rubbed them in her hands, smelled them, tasted them, cut them open and sampled it a bit more. She didn't like them at all - 'too bitter' for her. A good experience!