Last week Tutti Foodie, Scharffen Berger, and Marcia Gagliardi of Tablehopper joined forces and unveiled The Chocolate Adventure Recipe Contest with a number of events at local restaurants featuring pastry chefs and chocolate. On Monday August 13 I went to Campton Place to see what Boris Portnoy {pastry chef of Campton Place, the restaurant) might make and talk about. An innovative and forward thinking chef, Boris's desserts guarantee a challenge to the palate as well as mind.

Much to my delight there was more in store than the same old chocolate thang I, and other pastry chefs, often find ourselves at. The afternoon at Campton Place was spent in a small private room on the second floor with some of California's most dynamic food writers, bloggers, bakers and movers and shakers in the local chocolate scene.

Before we set about eating the arranged chocolate on our plates, John Scharffenberger gave a short but thorough history of cacao and chocolate. If you work for a school, or just love chocolate, give this semi-retired chocolate maker a call! His talk was engaging, funny, compassionate and delicious in every sense of the word. While leading us through the earth's best rain forests for cacao growing, harvesting and fermenting, he directed us to eat the disparate chocolate shapes on our plates, in the order his lesson informed.

Much to the surprise of many of our virgin mouths, we tasted a number of chocolate examples which were not chocolate in the truest sense of the word. We learned that when tasting chocolate in its pure form, tongues met with acidity and tannins most commonly found in wine and bitter edges associated with dark-roasted coffees.

After eating 8-9 versions of cacao and chocolate we listened to Boris talk excitedly about his love for cacao nibs; their texture, flavor and versatility tantalized his sweet imagination. And discovering how to make his own chocolate in a food processor appeared to have changed his life! Yes, he encouraged, go and try this at home. After a short demonstration he motioned with a regal flourish, and quiet waiters appeared with a three component cacao nib-themed plated dessert.

You'd think after three hours of smelling, tasting, eating, talking, inquiring, and listening to chocolate I would have left the hotel without a desire to ponder the chocolate contest... But the truth is that my friend and I discussed what we would do if we could enter the contest. {I cannot, but he can.}

I thought I would share a bit of our conversation. Think of these word formations the way you would poetry, a game, an interpretive dance or maybe like you were sitting near us on BART, overhearing our chocolate-meal fueled crazytalk.

Theme: Bacon & Chocolate

Render bacon fat brunoise or dice, caramelize crispy pork fat cubes and make chocolate with this in food processor with cacao nibs.
Pork cracklins (like the snack food found at gas stations) enrobed in bittersweet chocolate.
Bacon lardons half dipped in chocolate.
Fatback chocolate with quince paste.
Pork belly & rosemary infused chocolate pot de creme, quince paste (?) & sea salt garnish.

Don't worry, these ideas won't end up on a dessert of mine.....

The Chocolate Adventure Recipe Contest website. "You. Dark Chocolate. And A Special Ingredient."

The Rules are simple: pair a list of innovative/ aromatic spices and flavors with any of Scharffen Berger's exquisite dark chocolates. The prizes include both money and fame. If you don't want the Bacon & Chocolate dessert to win, enter soon.

And, as Jen Maiser said aptly, "What could be better than the opportunity to create an interesting recipe using chocolate?"

Related Links:
The Art of Tasting Chocolate
Jalapeno Girl
Ladle and Whisk

What could be better than the opportunity to create an interesting recipe using chocolate? TuttiFoodie has teamed up with Scharffen Berger to host an exciting recipe contest that will take place this fall.

THE GIST. Contestants create a recipe combining Scharffen Berger chocolate (cacao content 62% and above) and at least one "adventure ingredient," which can be chosen from a list of 20 ingredients including amchur powder (powder made from raw green mangoes), green tea, mastiha, quince, star anise, and wasabi. The recipe can be savory or sweet, and can be an appetizer, entree, dessert, or beverage.

THE PRIZES. The grand prize winner receives $5000 and will have their recipe featured at Scharffen Berger's Cafe Cacao for a month in 2008. Other prizes include cold hard cash, publicity for your recipe, and cookbooks.

MORE INFO. For more information, check out The Chocolate Adventure Recipe Contest site.

When I arrived at the San Francisco Chocolate Salon, I made a beeline for the Poco Dolce booth. Besides being madly in love with their salt-sprinkled burnt caramel and chocolate tiles, I wanted to say hi to chocolatier Kathy Wiley and her peeps since I'd recently written them up in Edible San Francisco. As I nibbled on a small bite of the aforementioned heaven, I decided to hit Kathy up for a recommendation on where to head next, since being caught in a large crowd that is slowly shuffling from side to side is my idea of hell. I wanted to get in, get the goods, and get out.

"Try the blue cheese truffles. They're in the back corner," she replied. My friend wrinkled her nose but I was off like a shot. (Or, given the thick swarms of humanity clustered around us, like a hippopotamus through mud. But a very fast and hungry hippopotamus on the scent of an unusual treat.) It wasn't that I thought the combination sounded good; the truth is, it sounded sort of horrible. But it also sounded interesting, and besides, if Kathy liked it, how bad could it be?

When I arrived at the Lillie Belle Farms stand it took me a minute for my eyes to focus amidst all the pretty truffles. But the second I spotted the shimmering silver-blue packaging, I knew I'd found what I was looking for. I quickly popped a sample in my mouth, half expecting to spit it out a moment later. Instead, my entire body began to slowly quiver, overcome with a taste that was positively angelic and a feeling that was stronger than happiness and more powerful than simple satisfaction.

This was an absolutely perfect chocolate.

The San Francisco Chocolate Salon agreed, and awarded it best new product at the show. The truffle is made by a small artisan chocolatier by the name of Jeff Shepherd, who is also the farmer/proprietor of Lillie Belle, an organic berry farm in southern Oregon. He got his start making truffles in the kitchen at home and selling them at the farmers' market. Today it's a full-time operation.

The Smokey Blue Truffles combine organic milk chocolate, local Oregonian cream, and toasted almonds with award-winning "Oregon Blue," an artisan cheese from The Rogue Creamery that is smoked over hazelnut shells. The result is a surprisingly mellow chocolate. The texture is smooth and silky, and the blue cheese and chocolate blend harmoniously into a flavor that is ethereal, and far more than the sum of its parts. Though both the sweet chocolate and the tangy cheese are clear and strong, neither overpowers the other.

According to Shepherd, "Many people are skeptical at the beginning but after the first bite peoples' faces light up and they are immediately reaching for another one." That's exactly what I did. I promptly bought a box, tossed it into my purse, and greedily devoured the five truffles nestled inside at home later that night. It's hard to believe, but in the right hands, blue cheese and chocolate are a match made in heaven.

Lillie Belle's Smokey Blue Truffles are available for purchase online. $11 per box.

I remember family car trips as a series of factory tours. Some were more interesting than others. The canned tuna tour was nightmare-inducing. The Hershey's tour was much better. In the East Bay there used to be just one chocolate facility you could tour, but now there are two factories within spitting distance of each other- Scharffenberger and Charles Chocolates.

Scharffenberger is really all about the transformation of the beans to the bar. To see how it happens, you make a reservation and then you sit through a presentation on how chocolate is made and finally see the factory itself. After the tour, you can head to the cafe or retail shop. There is also a virtual tour.

At Charles Chocolate, the factory is also attached to the retail shop and there are long glass windows that allow you a great view of the action. While not exactly a tour you can see chocolate confections being made by a team of candy makers. Any time the store is open, you can take a peek.

My suggestion? Make a reservation at Scharffenberger, take a break for lunch and then head over to Charles Chocolate. Both offer a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes. You won't have Willy Wonka as a guide, but the experience will be scrumpdiddleumptious nonetheless.

I was never a big fan of the game Monopoly. Somehow buying up hotels just didn't do it for me. But I like the idea of a game where you can go on an adventure and become a tycoon. So what if you added food to the mix instead of hotels? Would it be the perfect game for me? It might just be...

Chocolatier is a new game by PlayFirst the same company that published the game DinerDash. In the popular game DinerDash you follow the path of Flo, who leaves her office job to work in a restaurant and grows her diner into something finer--as in a fine dining establishment. Chocolatier takes you back to the turn of the century and sets you up as a budding chocolatier. You have to source products from all around the world, and make chocolate. You then sell the chocolate, buying factories and growing your business along the way. Little bits of chocolate trivia are interspersed throughout and the game is more about strategy than serious hand-to-eye coordination, although there is a bit of that too as you set up your factory operations.

If you've ever dreamt of becoming a chocolate baron and traveling the world, you'll find this to be a very entertaining game. The story line takes you from San Francisco to exotic ports of call like Merida, Trinidad and Istanbul. There are 130+ "quests" and 14 cities in all. On your quests you'll meet interesting characters, search for long lost recipes, make various chocolate confections, deliver special orders, buy factory equipment, follow the market trends and even haggle over the price of ingredients. I got sucked in and it was hard to pull myself away. A free 60 minute trial is available online. If you get hooked, don't blame me, everyone knows chocolate is highly addictive.

My favorite story illustrating the inventiveness of fans making requests comes from a Violent Femmes concert. The Violent Femmes made famous a number of songs suggestive or outright sexual in nature. But then they became Born Again Christians and had a hard time loosening up at the few shows they played since this transformation.

One night, after informing the crowd that they would not only not play said famous songs, but they would stop playing altogether if the crowd didn't quiet down, a paper cup landed on stage. Attached to the cup was a plain string.

Do you remember this sound science experiment from elementary school?

A fan deep within the crowd held the other cup. Into it they whispered a request. Through the string was sent the quietest of questions.

Flattered and wowed by the silly, practical, respectful inventiveness of the method, the Violent Femmes played a song they would never have otherwise.

To this end I bring you a recipe, at the bequest of one Eggbeater reader; a chocolate cake for all occasions. I think she was asking for the sister cake to the best yellow cake ever, but this one came to mind.

Devil's Food Cake relies on some very particular science for all that it is and will become. A chocolate cake of deep blackness, moist light crumb and chocolaty perfume, is actually devoid of chocolate proper. It is said that the infamous Red Velvet Cake is really Devil's Food Cake before cocoa was very good. *For this reason, and others soon to be explained, it is of utmost importance that you use alkalized, European cocoa when making this cake. The all natural stuff will produce something that will not be able to be called cake. (It will not rise.)

As I have explained before in other posts about particular recipes, baking is a science reliant upon knowing exactly what role each ingredient plays to create the outcome, the final performance. Devil's Food Cake is about the reaction between acid (cocoa, buttermilk, baking soda, coffee) leaveners (baking soda, baking powder) and heat (temp of the coffee and oven.) The structure, albeit bare and tender, comes from cake flour and the whites in the eggs. Richness is added to the cocoa with butter, a few extra yolks add fat without more butter, which would weigh down the rise.

A little known fact: cocoa has no flavor, no perfume, until introduced to a heat source.

And without further words I give you,

DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE

1 C Sugar
12 Tablespoons Cocoa*
3/4 Cup Cake flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 each Egg
2 each Egg Yolks
1/2 Cup Hot Coffee
1/2 Cup Buttermilk
5 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, cubed
Splash Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat oven to 350F Place oven rack in middle of oven.
2. Butter and flour 9" round cake pan or individual ramekins. If you have parchment paper, cut out a circle and place on bottom of buttered pan. Butter and flour over parchment, if using.
3. In one big bowl sift cocoa, sugar, cake flour, baking soda and baking powder. Add salt to this, whisk to achieve a uniform mixture, and create a "well" in center.
4. Brew coffee, measure and drop cubed butter in hot liquid, whisk to melt and combine. (Do not let mixture cool too much.)
5. Pour cracked egg and yolks into well, whisk briefly. Pour in coffee-melted butter mixture, whisk briefly, pour in buttermilk and then whisk thoroughly to incorporate all dries. Attempt to eliminate any lumps. Add splash of vanilla extract.
6. Batter will be very loose, pourable.
7. Pour batter into prepared baking vessel(s) and set on a baking pan. (This insures heat will be better distributed than if you just put the cake pan directly on the rack of the oven.) Set first timer for 20 minutes. At the 20 minute mark, turn pan around, and set timer for another 10-15 minutes. (If you choose not to turn pan around it will most probably rise lopsided.) **Cake is done when skewer or sharp knife inserted in middle comes out clean and/or when sides pull away from pan and middle bounces back to the touch.
8. Cool cake pan on cooling rack until room temperature. Turn cake out to cool more or serve.

**I don't like to say how long a cake will take to bake. It depends on your oven, how long it needs to preheat, how hot your kitchen is, and the weight/material of your cooking vessel(s).

Because Devil's Food Cake is very chocolatey, but almost as light as Angel Food Cake, it can stand to be served with much richer items like ice cream, ganache or mousse. For a foolproof chocolate frosting click here.

Devil's Food Cake tastes good the day it's made, but if you can muster the will power, this recipe tastes even better the next day or a few days later, refigerated. It's the only cake I know that gets better with cold and age. The crumb is denser after a few days in the icebox, but nonetheless delicious.

"Chemically speaking, chocolate really is the world's perfect food."

Michael Levine, nutrition researcher, as quoted in The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars

First up, save our chocolate! Did you know the FDA is considering changing the standards for what does and doesn't qualify as chocolate? Right now cocoa butter is required otherwise it's just not the real thing. Other fats are cheaper so of course chocolate manufacturers want to be able to replace the good stuff with other fats that don't belong in chocolate. The public has the right to weigh in on the subject, but you must submit your comments by April 25th. Hats of Guittard for hosting the Don't Mess with Our Chocolate campaign to keep chocolate, chocolate!

Over at Bittersweet Cafe you can try a really unusual chocolate beverage, champurrado but only for a few more days. What is champurrado? It's a Mexican delicacy called atole that uses masa and spices in addition to chocolate. It's only on the menu until April 8th so head over soon if you want to check it out.

In Emeryville Charles Chocolate has opened up a retail store and is carrying both Kosher chocolate goodies (though not certified Kosher for Passover) and also plenty of Easter treats. Choose from chocolate covered matzah or a selection of deluxe Easter baskets filled with chocolate almonds, orange twigs, jelly beans, cookies from Miette Patisserie and more.