Chocolate Lab Chocolate

I just ate a Chocolate Lab chocolate bar.

What the hell is that? It's custom-made milk chocolate I created in "Planet Chocolate," a hands-on Chocolate Lab workshop offered at The Hershey Story museum.

"Planet Chocolate" was highly entertaining. The session began with detailed information about where and how cacao beans are grown, as well as how they're processed and made into chocolate. (Carl miraculously refrained from asking a zillion questions, though I know it was killing him.) Then, we donned oh-so-fashionable aprons and hairnets and prepared to make our own chocolate bars.

We poured pre-melted Hershey's chocolate into individual three-by-five-inch plastic molds, and added our choice of cacao nibs (roasted pieces of hulled cacao beans), cinnamon, and/or crushed red pepper. (Cassie reluctantly refrained from licking the inside of the empty chocolate pitchers, though I know was killing her.) We each decided to add all three ingredients to our bars, which surprised me because I thought for sure the kids--especially picky Ellie--would skip the red pepper.

Why did I eat this? It was delicious! Hershey's chocolate is my all-time favorite - suck it, haters! - and as the base for this bar, it did not disappoint. I was a little skeptical about the crushed red pepper, but it was very subtle and added an interesting warm sensation to the bar's flavor. The cacao nibs tasted like crunchy bits of unsweetened chocolate and the cinnamon, while faint, provided an exotic hint.

We devoured our custom creations at a table in Café Zooka, a small eatery located just outside the Chocolate Lab.

Satisfaction rating: 10