If you've ever tried to explain anything to kids, then you know how challenging it can be. You also know how rewarding it is when you are successful. Here is a short and sweet way to tell how chocolate is made to kids.

All chocolate comes from the cocoa tree. Cocoa trees only grow in a small number of countries that are near the equator. Cocoa Trees grow fruit (pods) that hold seeds (cocoa beans). The trees are grown by farmers. Cocoa beans are what the chocolate we eat is made from.

After the trees grow pods, they are removed when ripe. The pods are then fermented and dried. The following steps describe what happens after cocoa beans are ready.

Step 1: Cleaning the Pods
The Pods will be fed into a large machine that removes the beans. Anything else that isn't a cocoa bean will be thrown away.

Step 2: Roasting the Beans
The cleaned beans are then roasted to bring out the smell of Chocolate.

Step 3: Removing the shells from the beans
After Roasting, the shells are removed from the beans. The roasted beans without a shell are called nibs.

Step 4: Grinding
The Nibs are then ground in a big machine that squeezes the beans into a paste. The paste is then pressed again to create Cocoa butter.

Step 5: Separating Cocoa Butter from the Cocoa
The Cocoa Butter will then be pressed through a screen, and it will be separated from the cocoa.

Step 6: Creating the chocolate liquor
Chocolate liquor (cocoa liquor) is pure cocoa mass, this is the base ingredient for all chocolate recipes. It is very bitter as it doesn't yet have any cocoa butter or sugar.

Step 7: Conching
The Chocolate recipe is then blended together (Cocoa Butter, Chocolate liquor, sugar, etc.) Conching is a process of heavy mixing and airing, so any bad flavors, bitterness, and water evaporate, and smooth texture is made.

Step 8: Tempering the Chocolate
After conching, the chocolate is then tempered, which is a fancy word for making the chocolate hard and shiny. Tempered chocolate is then packaged and stored to be used later.

Now that you’ve read this post, you know exactly how to explain how chocolate is made to kids. Dr.Chockenstein aims to enlighten with engagement. 

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