After months of anticipation, weeks of reviewing entries, and more than 900 inventive submissions from all over the country, it came down to this: four recipe testers, three judges, and a day-long marathon to cook up the 15 finalists' recipes in the Chocolate Adventure Contest.
People, it was fun. Serious fun.
Let's rewind. In September, we announced the contest. The mission: to invent a dish for any course using Scharffen Berger dark chocolate and an "adventure" ingredient from our list. (Examples: amchur powder, mastiha, wasabi. You know, the easy stuff.) Throughout the fall, the recipes rolled in.
In December, while you twirled dreidels, we pored over recipes.
And, after narrowing the field to fifteen, on Saturday we did the shopping—eight consecutive hours in search of about 90 ingredients from eight countries in ten stores. Even in the San Francisco Bay Area, where food is God (and goddess), we were challenged to come up with a few of the items. Vietnamese cinnamon? New to us.
On Sunday, we cooked. Or rather, we watched, salivating (drip, drip), as our testers whipped up all fifteen dishes. And, at 5:00 P.M., laid them before the judges in a tasting feast. (About which: mmmmmm.) The result: at long and delicious last, three winners, two Honorable Mentions—and seven additional finalists.
Wanna see who?
First Place: Scharffen Berger Chocolate Wasabi Pom-Poms
Second Place: Dark Chocolate Caramel Calzoni
Third Place: Grapefruit Madeleines with Rosemary-Infused Chocolate Drizzle
Honorable Mentions: Chocolate-Ginger Delight (Guinness, dark chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, and ginger. Seriously.) and Flavors of the World Flight (Hot-chocolate heaven). Both recipes will be coming your way soon.
Want to see the remaining finalists? Eat 'em up at
The Chocolate Adventure.