Cooking with chocolate - results FINALLY page 3!

[RikkuGirl]

D: Such a cool idea... isnt the chocolate hot? O_<

Id be too scared the baloon would pop an then there goes chocolate all over D:

That is so neat though.. ill have to try that some time. very cool.

[Pristine]

Chocolate actually melts at a very low temperature (I'm to understand milk and white chocolates are even quick to burn at low temperatures due to their high milk contents). Every time I've melted chocolate double-boiler-style, it's been cool enough that I could lick the spatula right after distributing the chocolate.

[Raitalle]

Haha, my roommates and I were afraid of the same thing! I dipped the first one holding it at arms length, leaning away from the pot, lol. The only one that popped was because I think it was too big, and I had to pull too hard to get it out of the chocolate and that popped it.

[Yuiven]

Mmm, chocolate... all of the entries so far look delectable, tantalizing my sweet tooth. <3 It is also inspirational to see each contestant's creativity as to how they utilized the main ingredient in their dishes.

This is my first time entering a cooking contest, and I have to admit, as I found out the hard way, to create a culinary treat that's as pleasing to the eye as to the palate is easier said than done. ^_^; Even so, I'm proud of my initial attempt to present as my official entry to the Sam community:

Keeping in mind Valentine's Day and the symbolism of the holiday, I had baked brownies and cut out hearts using a cookie cutter, then coated each one with a dark chocolate glaze and decorated with either heart-shaped sprinkles, icing, or both. And because this is Samanayrs, I had cut out another brownie in the outline of a horse, covered it with the same dark chocolate glaze and topped with rainbow sprinkles for colour.

[Seren]

Awesome! looks sooo good! XD and the return of the sparkly paper!

[oakleafwolf]

Chocolate Bacon Almond Bark

In an attempt to be creative... and to do something that could be managed in between bouts of grading (second to last week and it's conferences, so all grades have to be done like, tomorrow...), I decided to experiment with a tasty monstrosity. I love almond bark, and I've wanted to try bacon and chocolate together, so I decided to marry the two ideas!

Milk chocolate for richness and semi-sweet for deep chocolate flavor mixed together, roasted almonds for saltiness, and Iowa artisan-smoked heritage breed bacon. Only the best bacon for making candy!

I baked the bacon until it was crispy for easier chopping later...

Mmmmm sizzle.....

Melted some high-quality chocolate and mixed in bacon and almonds until it looked nice, then spread it out on a sheet pan and stuck it in the freezer to cool.


Voila!




It was sweet and salty, crunchy and just a bit chewy and meaty.
Happy belated valentines!

[Seren]

It looks so good oak!

The bacon... had me drooling... not going to lie XD

[Janalee]

All right, finished just in time! XD It's Chocolate Soup and Grilled Sweet Cheese Sandwich:



It's a combination of different (crazy?) recipes I was curious about, so the soup has vanilla and cinnamon in it, and the sandwich filling is cream cheese and mascarpone, with maple syrup and honey...and if heaven has a taste, it might very well be that filling. *pats stomach happily* The whole thing is kind of like korpia (cinnamon toast) and hot chocolate, but so, so much more deliciously rich. And here's the sandwich dipped, in case you wanted to see how that looks:



*so stuffed* ^_^ Thanks for the chance, and good luck with the judging!

[Delicious]

Alright - for this event, I decided to go with a chocolate classic, ze Red Velvet cake! I do love this cake, but I hate hate hate how much food coloring I always have to put in it to make it red - so instead, I found out how to NATURALLY color it, see if you can guess what I put in?

Here's the batter!


Mixed batter!


Iced cake!


The mid & finished 'woven' basket chocolate!

The pretty sam made of chocolate & all his decorations!


Here's the final cut cake! Complete with a Silk (my lovely Kodyla Lam) & chocolate roses made completely out of moldable chocolate that I made myself, and a red velvet cake iced with white-chocolate creamcheese icing & then decorated with woven white & semi-sweet moldable chocolate to look like a basket!

[RikkuGirl]

WOW O_O;;; this is intense! We have soooo many awesome creations! D: Im so excited to see who all wins!

Im so hungry now.... *wanders off to find sustinance*

[amazondreamer]

Mmm... Janalee? Could you post a recipe? That sounds so.... Yum.

And that is an amazing cake, Del! I love the modeling chocolate decorations. And I'm gonna guess beet juice for the pigment

[LvSoulFriend]

So cool!

Del, I totally thought that was a llama at first XD

[Sushidragon]

The cooking contest is officially over, and.. holy smokes, I'm going to have my work cut out for me with the judging @____@ So many yummy treats! I should have the results in the next day or two, and in the meantime I think I need to grab some chocolate to help me with the judging XD

[Seren]

Way to blow away the competition Del! XD Thats awesome! You obviously put a ton of work in!

[amazondreamer]

Heh! Good luck judging Sushi, I know I wouldn't want to have to make this call. So many talented and creative people in this community!

[Janalee]

@amazondreamer: Sure! ^_^ With so many fantastic desserts here (and your sushi is gorgeous, by the way), I wasn't sure anyone would want to know more about mine; I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought it sounded good though!

It's really just a mixture of these two recipes:
Chocolate Soup and "Grilled Cheese" Sandwich
Liquid Chocolate

The only thing I changed about the sandwich was the bread, and that was just from necessity. In retrospect, I wish I'd chosen one that was a little more porous than I did, since the filling is a bit towards the runny side; the French bread still tasted delicious though.
The soup I ended up with was pretty solidly between the two recipes, except for the amounts of vanilla and cinnamon I added. I am kind of known for abusing the 'to taste' instruction in soup recipes... *grins* I thought it was better with more though.

[Delicious]

And that is an amazing cake, Del! I love the modeling chocolate decorations. And I'm gonna guess beet juice for the pigment

Thank you And yes! Modeling with chocolate was awesome! I had never done it before! I think I might play around and make some more chocolate roses & freeze them. Just 'cause it seems like a useful thing to have on hand (and I have a -lot- of extra modeling chocolate), tee hee hee. And ding, ding, ding! Beets! Everyone I fed the cake too said they couldn't taste them, but I still could a bit. XD But still, the slight tang was worth circumventing the like 6 bottles of food dye I always had to add before. I don't mind a little every now and again, but mannnnn.... that sort of amounts (especially in red!) always made me uncomfortable!

Del, I totally thought that was a llama at first XD

Ha! So did the rest of my family & friends (since none of them know what Sams are). They dubbed it a "llam-batt" because of the wings tho, hehe. I love him, I will admit, but that hair was a paaaaaaaaaaain to do! Couldn't roll it by hand 'cause it got too oily, so had to extrude it via a icing gun onto a marble slab, wait for it to cool, and then pull it off in pieces and stick it to my model.

(Here is the "hair" on the marble before I pulled it to pieces to stick it on him)


.... I may have gotten a bit carried away. I always do with baking. <.< >.> <.< Totally worth it tho, I had soooo much fun!

[Sushidragon]

Okay, I am having so much trouble deciding on a winner for the cooking contest @___@ I'm sorry to take so long, it's so hard to decide! In the meantime, here's a comment for every single entry, since they're all so delicious and I admire the effort everyone put into their creations

@SilverDapples - Those cookies are a classic! I loooove the peanut butter ones.

@BJJlilly - The thought of cream cheese mixed with chocolate with a chocolate coating makes me want to run out and get the supplies RIGHT NOW @___@ So yummy! I'm definitely going to have to try these with all dark chocolate, since I'm a dark chocolate fiend!

@Puuka - Oooh! I've never actually tried any of their cake pops, but your version sounds absolutely delicious

@Jennalyn - I've got to gush again about delicious rainbow cake It looks so gorgeous and sounds absolutely delish! I admire your patience for doing the 6-layer method instead of glorping all the colors together XD Now if only there was a way for me to get my hands on a slice..

@Echos - What an elegant entry, it all looks so good! Chocolate with raspberries and/or strawberries is mmmm. I'm very jealous of your roommates ;D

@Seren - That looks sooooo good, ice cream cakes are delicious and a peanut butter and chocolate one sounds amazing! I'm sure your taste-testing monkeys had a great treat XD I love the decorations too!

@silvermoondragon - Oooh, what a neat idea And looks so yummy too! Mmmm, fudge. I've heard fudge can be tricky so I'm glad to hear you figured out the method in the end!

@RikkuGirl - That's so cool! Functional and delicious And I didn't know chocolate paper exists, my mind is blown O_O

@Orasteele - Oh man, chocolate and toffee pie? I've never had that before but it sounds awesome And looks delicious too!

@amazondreamer - Glee! Sushi and dessert, two of my favorite things They look amazing and I love all the detail that went into everything, especially the filling on the rolls! I'd say your first attempt at making sushi was a success

@Pristine - Sorry to hear your pretzels didn't work out, but the resulting Insanity looks so diabetes-inducing delicious XD And chocolate whipped cream! Oh my!

@Raitalle - Quite a cool first cooking contest entry I love the idea of making edible bowls using balloons, that finished product looks awesome! If only all bowls could be made out of chocolate..

@Yuiven - Ooh, another delicious first time entry Those brownies look so yummy, and I love the little horse-shaped one too!

@oakleafwolf - YES! I was hoping there'd be a bacon-chocolate entry XD I think this is another one of those recipes that I'll have to try, the end result looks and sounds delicious!

@Janalee - The classic soup and sandwich - dessertified! I have to say that sounds absolutely divine XD Maybe for breakfast one of these days..

@Delicious - That natural 'food coloring' is awesome - and the finished cake is fantastic! I love the molded decorations and basket exterior, especially that delicious Silk ;D OM NOM NOM KODYLAS.

@CheshireSneer - Mmm, chocolate-covered donuts, sounds super yummy They look super yummy, too! And here you are claiming to have no baking skills >:[

@HybridSiren - Those are some delicious-looking muffins Yay double chocolate!

I think I got everyone, but if I missed you please let me know!

I'm also going to go and add the chocolates to everyone's inventories right now - and I guess you'd like to know what they do, eh? ;D

Heart chocolates - one-use item



When used in a breeding, the foal will have one of the following traits:

- Candy-coated scales (rainbow-colored scales)
- White chocolate wings (white feathered wings)
- Milk chocolate hooves (brown solid hooves)
- Dark chocolate horns (dark brown/black thick horns)
- Chocolate fancy feathers (white, brown, and black fancy feathers)
- Pudgy

Like the other one-use items, the chocolates will only be used up if the breeding is successful!

[RikkuGirl]

cocobutter paper is the best! very cool. It tastes like...lol nothing really D: lol its kinda like sugar paper, only waxier like, but it sure is pretty!!!!

I agree! That is a tough choice to make. Goooood luck!!!! :3


And omg!!!!! Im so excited for those candies!!!! Pudgy and scales?! Omg yay! Tytytyty sushi

[Seren]

Called in on the chocolates!


I love those traits! Can't wait to use all of mine. O.O <333 So much love for the traits!

Also, all of your comments are great! Thank you, I've actually been enjoying my cake still, its sooo good right out of the freezer. X3

[SilverDapples]

XD I honestly love the classic and simple style XD *whispers* Don't tell the chocolates but the peanut butter ones are my all time favorites!

[Sushidragon]

Agh, I'm so sorry this is taking me so long @___@ We were out of town and just got back yesterday, but I've been thinking about the contest in the meantime.. I'm definitely going to need to enlist Mr Sushi's help to judge this one!

[Seren]

Take your time! Can't wait to see the breeding results/ custom tokens of the winners! :3

[SilverDapples]

yes sushi take your time!

[Sushidragon]

Thank you all SO MUCH for your patience while we judged the cooking contest! It took me ages to narrow it down to five, and then of course from five we had to get down to three, and then put those in the winning order @_____@ I'd still be hemming and hawing if it weren't for Mr Sushi's help! Your creations were all so creative and chocolatey and I'd like to thank you all again for all the yummy work you put into them

At long last, here are the results!

First place is Delicious with the Samanayr Basket Red Velvet Cake!
It looks absolutely divine, and I really wish I could have been there to share ;D I love all the details in the chocolate flowers and Sam too!

Second place is amazondreamer with Chocolate Sushi!
Not only do those combinations sound delicious, they look delicious too!

Third place is Seren with the Reeses Chocolate and Peanut Butter Ice Cream Valentine’s Cake with Chocolate Peanut Butter Icing!
Looking back at your description and photos made me drool XD Good thing Mr Sushi is coming home with ice cream soon!

Congrats, everyone Delicious, please let me know which prize you'd like!

Also, I realized that I had added the participation chocolates to everyone's inventories, but not the participation random modiem. I should get that done tonight or tomorrow!