The Chocolate Adventure Recipe Contest Winners
 From September through November 2007, adventurous home cooks submitted close to 900 recipes, for everything from appetizers to entrees, desserts and drinks. Entrants were invited to begin with any Scharffen Berger chocolate with cacao content between 62% and 99% and pair it with one or more of twenty “adventure” ingredients in their original recipe: amchur powder, ancho chili powder, cacao nibs, cardamom, cloves, curry, ginger, green tea, grapefruit, lavender, lemongrass, lemon verbena, mastiha, quince or quince paste, pomegranate, rosemary, saffron, specialty salts (fleur de sel, Himalayan Pink, Hawaiian black sea salt or others), star anise, and wasabi. The judging panel consisted of Alice Medrich, author and founder of famed Berkeley boutique Cocolat, Scharffen Berger Master Chocolatier Brad Kintzer, and TuttiFoodie founder Lisa Schiffman.
 California’s Linda Nguyen took top honors with her recipe for Scharffen Berger Chocolate Wasabi Pom-Poms, made with Scharffen Berger 70% cacao bittersweet chocolate, earning the grand prize of $5,000 cash and a featured place on the February menu at Café Cacao, the chocolate-themed eatery adjacent to the Scharffen Berger chocolate factory in Berkeley, CA.
 Second prize was awarded to Vanessa Abadia of Texas, whose Dark Chocolate Caramel Calzone featured Scharffen Berger 62% cacao semi-sweet chocolate, soft caramel candy, cardamom and coriander. Ms. Abadia will receive $1,000 and her recipe will be featured in the Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker e-newsletter and on TuttiFoodie.com. Third place was awarded to Aimee Stout of California for her Grapefruit Madeleines with Rosemary-Infused Chocolate Drizzle.
(Click here for the recipes. Note: some of the contestant recipes have been modified slightly.)
All three winners received a signed copy of The Essence of Chocolate, the 2007 James Beard award-winning cookbook by company founders Robert Steinberg and John Scharffenberger, as well as a custom Scharffen Berger baking kit personally selected by John Scharffenberger. Over the next year, their recipes – along with the recipes of other finalists – will be featured on www.scharffenberger.com as well as in the Scharffen Berger email newsletter.
HONORABLE MENTION (Click the recipe title to view or print it)
Creator: Karen Ariele Imm, Maryland
Adventure Ingredient: Ginger
Creator: Trevor Hardwick, New York
Adventure Ingredients: Cardamom, Ginger, Lavender, Lemongrass, Pomegranate
RECIPE FINALISTS
Creator: Gary Exner, Colorado
Adventure Ingredients: Curry, Pomegranate, Sea Salt
Creator: Peter Halferty, Texas
Adventure Ingredient: Wasabi
Creator: Mary Bilyeu, Missouri
Adventure Ingredients: Cardamom, Ginger, Green Tea
Creator: Roxanne Chan, California
Adventure Ingredients: Ginger, Green Tea, Lemongrass, Saffron, Star Anise
Creator: Paul Heitzenrater, Colorado
Adventure Ingredients: Pomegranate, Rosemary
Creator: Shawn Mastrian, Texas
Adventure Ingredients: Ancho Chili Powder, Cardamom, Sea Salt
Creator: Amy Siegel, New Jersey
Adventure Ingredients: Lemon Verbena, Rosemary
Creator: Susan Scarborough, Florida
Adventure Ingredient: Wasabi
Creator: Michelle Anderson, Idaho
Adventure Ingredients: Ancho Chili Powder, Caco Nibs, Lemongrass, Sea Salt
Creator: Wingee Sin, California
Adventure Ingredient: Ancho Chili Powder
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