We took the students on a journey of the eight steps of how chocolate is made. First, we briefly talked about the cocoa belt where the cocoa trees grow. We then went through cleaning the pods, roasting the beans, removing the shell, grinding, separating cocoa butter from the cocoa, creating the chocolate liquor, conching, tempering the chocolate.

 When you think of an animal having a bad reaction to chocolate, it’s usually dogs not cats. However, when a cat consumes chocolates, the affects can be just as bad. Before you leave your cat around chocolate unsupervised thinking they won’t get into it, it’s important to know what could happen if they do in fact eat it.  

Couverture chocolate is what the professional chocolatier uses. It's formulated to contain higher cocoa butter and less sugar and dairy. Couverture chocolate's higher cocoa content helps the chocolatier create a shiny lustrous chocolates, bonbons, truffles and molds. Couverture chocolate is only made with cocoa butter and never with an alternative fat or oil.

In that case, it may not be necessary to use "real chocolate" that requires tempering. A compound coating or chocolate chips from the grocery store might be the perfect simple solution for your needs. After deciding which type of chocolate, you need here is How to melt chocolate: The best three ways

The term "white chocolate" is somewhat misleading. White chocolate is generally recognized as vanilla chocolate, as it has a sweet, creamy vanilla flavor. It's offered alongside other types of chocolate at most chocolate shops. But what is white chocolate? 

So as my grandmother would say, chocolate-covered strawberries are healthy in moderation. We would suggest dark chocolate-covered strawberries for the most health benefits. Enjoy as a special treat occasionally and get a little antioxidant boost as a bonus. Enjoy!