Chock Full of Chocolate

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

The most beloved food in the world is chocolate. In this scrumptious
book, Elizabeth MacLeod offers more than 45 kid-friendly recipes all
featuring chocolate.

The book begins with an introduction that gives a brief outline of
where chocolate comes from and goes over a few kitchen essentials, such
as allergy awareness, baking times, and how to dry measure with a cup.
The recipes are organized in five sections. The “All-Time Faves”
section offers recipes for the big hitters of the chocolate world:
brownies, chocolate chip cookies, milkshakes, fudge, creamy icing, and
hot-fudge pudding. “Make a Batch” helps a young chef turn out treats
for friends and family; recipes include muffins, crunch bars, and a
white-chocolate brownie called a Blondie. Recipes in the “Party”
section, for youngsters who entertain, include polka-dot pie,
candy-covered pizza, cheesecake, mud pie, and a chocolate sandwich.
“Great Gifts” has recipes for truffles, cocoa mix, banana loaf,
pecan caramel chews, and classic cookie mix. The final section features
recipes for quick treats.

Even novice chocolatiers will find that all the recipes are clearly
written and presented in easy-to-follow steps. Colourful illustrations
by June Bradford show readers what the finished product should look
like. In several recipes, MacLeod suggests that adults should be present
to supervise the more dangerous or difficult activities, such as melting
chocolate or handling hot pans. But that is not a bad thing: each of
these projects would make a super family activity. Highly recommended.