And the winners are . . .

Overall Judges Choice awarded to Brian Koster for Apple, Honey and Black Pepper Truffle (CY2)

Overall People's Choice awarded to Faith May for Triple Layer Brownie Cake (CA5)

Candy Category Winners:
Judges Choice: Brian Koster Apple, Honey and Black Pepper Truffle (CY2)
People's Choice: Brian Koster Apple, Honey and Black Pepper Truffle (CY2)

Cake Category Winners:
Judges' Choice: Molly Lawry White Chocolate Bread Pudding (CA4)
People's Choice: Faith May Triple Layer Brownie Cake (CA5)

Cheesecake Category Winners:
Judges' Choice: Joni Greiber Turtle Cheesecake(CH3)
People's Choice: Brian Koster Mulberry Chocolate Cheesecake (CH2)

Cookie Category Winners:
Judges' Choice: Pamela Lunder After Midnight (CK2)
People's Choice: Meli May Chocolate Truffle Cookies (CK4)

Brownie Category Winners:
Judges' Choice: Lori Rogich Beer Brownies (BR3)
People's Choice: Delores Kahl Chocolate Crunch Brownies (BR4)

Meet the Judges: David Bacco

David Bacco will be back again this year to judge the Death by Chocolate Bake Off! David is the owner and mastermind behind David Bacco Chocolats (which just so happens to share an acronym with Death by Chocolate--DBC!)

David began his chocolate career in 1994. He describes himself as self-taught, but he's studied with several world-class chefs in both the French Pastry School in Chicago, and the World Pastry Forum in Las Vegas. David has received received first place awards at the Capitol Confectioners Competition from 2001-2006 in each of the following categories: chocolates, small candies, candies, miniature pastries, fantasy dessert, showpiece and cheesecake. David was head pastry chef at Cocoliquot when they were named Best Restaurant for Dessert by Isthmus Magazine in 2007.

The chocolate creations in David's shop are a feast for the eye as well as the palate. In Business Magazine says, "Dark wooded walls showcase a simple display case along the back, where candies are displayed like jewels in a dizzying array of colors and geometric shapes."

David Bacco Chocolats website showcases the chocolates in a simple and elegant layout, which shines the spotlight on every creation and illuminates the concept behind it, as well as the rare and unusual ingredients used. David's Chakra bars include such exquisite ingredients as roiboos tea, honey powder, Madagascar vanilla beans, and violet petals.

Join us this Saturday night, where you'll have a chance to meet all the judges of Death by Chocolate! And have a peek at David Bacco Chocolats luscious website, where you can scope out which treasures you'd like to plunder from his shop in Hilldale Shopping Center!

Contact info:
David Bacco Chocolats | In the Hilldale Shopping Center | 550 N. Midvale Blvd., Madison, WI 53705 | p. 608.233.1600
Store Hours: Monday thru Thursday 10-9, Friday & Saturday 10-10 and Sunday 11-6

The Fifth Taste

For thousands of years, taste has been classified into four basic categories: sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Greek philosophers said that foods had various microscopic "shapes" (round for sweet, pointed for salty, etc.) that would allow the tastes to click into the properly-shaped receptors on our tongues, sort of like the games toddlers play when they fit variously shaped pegs into holes.

That theory wasn't so far off. Turns out there are various microscopic receptors on the tongue that react to chemical compounds in food, which we then classify as sweet, sour, salty and bitter.

In the late 1800's a chef named Auguste Escoffier in France, and a Chemist named Kikunae Ikeda in Japan, both came to the conclusion that there was another taste that was really, really good--but couldn't be classified as any of the accepted four tastes. Ikeda named it umami, which can be translated as many different things, among them, meaty, savory, brothy...or yummy!

It wasn't until 2002 that scientists verified a receptor from the chemical L-glutimate on the tongue, which conveys the taste of umami to the brain. The current view on tastebuds is that they sense five distinct flavors, rather than four.

I expect the main taste Saturday night to be that of sweetness. But you never know. Last year an intriguing sea-salt crusted cookie was among the offerings. And Mary's Coffee from Mount Horeb will be catering our favorite bitter beverage: coffee!

Source: Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter...and Umami from NPR

Are You a Supertaster?

Are you a supertaster -- faster than a speeding cookie, more powerful than peanut butter fudge, able to leap tall confections in a single bound? A friend of mine asserts that some people "taste more," when they eat, and those of us so blessed (or cursed) tend to put on weight because we simply enjoy food more. I've always thought it was wishful thinking on his part, but then I ran across an article on supertasters today, and I have to wonder if maybe he was on to something.

In 1931, a chemist at DuPont discovered a compound called PTC that some people found bitter, and others found tasteless. This led to studies that determined that some of us are tasting things that others are not, or perhaps just tasting certain things more intensely. There appears to be a genetic link. Most estimates suggest 25% of the population are nontasters, 50% are medium tasters, and 25% are supertasters. Women, Africans and Asians are more likely to be supertasters than the rest of the population.

There is a hole in my friend's theory. Supertasters tend to be finicky, and would be more likely to be fussy eaters than overeaters.

The BBC has a five-minute quiz that will help you determine if you're a supertaster.

Me? I haven't taken it yet. I may not want to know.

Tasters of every stripe should start gearing up for Saturday night, where deserts aplenty await your tasting. Super or otherwise.

Swiss Miss

The United States produces more chocolate than any other country but the Swiss consume the most, followed closely by the English. The average American eats 10 to 12 pounds of chocolate a year. The average Swiss eats 21 pounds a year. (from "Chocolate facts")

Good news! You can get a jump-start on the Swiss this year just by attending the bake off next Saturday, February 21st at 6:30 p.m!

The Pleasure of Measures

I'm one of those cooks who uses a pinch of this and a dash of that, and I tend to measure by eye. In cooking, that's not a bad thing. But cooking is more forgiving than baking, which depends on a precise combination of elements in a certain proportion to produce a pastry.

Remember those "For Dummies" books? They've got a website!

"Baking is a science, and when you mix together ingredients, you're creating chemistry, albeit edible chemistry, so being precise is important. There is balance between flour, leaveners, fats, and liquids."

Click here for a crash course in measuring various ingredients, from flour to shortening.

At our Chocolate-y Party this week, I helped kids create their own hot cocoa mix from scratch. They each filled out a recipe card, then followed the recipe themselves by measuring ingredients into a heart-shaped bag. Then they took home the bag and the card, so they could enjoy their hot chocolate with their families! This activity was loads of fun, and whether the kids were old hats at cooking or they'd never followed a recipe before, they really got into it!

Kyle, pictured above, is leveling out his tablespoon of cocoa powder by shaking off the excess! These kids were precise!

Chocolate Covered Things

Chocolate adds a new dimension to anything it covers: pretzels, peanut butter, cherries, almonds, marshmallows, caramel, figs, Clementines, orange peels, you name it, and someone has probably figured out the best way to coat it in chocolate, even bacon!

The folks at Vosges (http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/), a Haut-Chocolat confectionary in Chicago, concocted a bacon-chocolate bar, called Mo’s Bacon Bar, which combines applewood smoked bacon, alderwood smoked salt, and deep milk chocolate for a completely amazing sweet and savory chocolate experience. The best news, this culinary delight can be purchased at Sjolinds (219 E. Main, Mount Horeb).

Someday though, I hope a road-trip to Santa Cruz, California will afford me the opportunity to try the ice cream at Marini’s, (http://www.mariniscandies.com/ ) called Vegan’s Nightmare Ice Cream which boasts “delectable chunks of crispy chocolate covered bacon in maple syrup ice cream.” Wow. This sounds like Sunday brunch in a bowl!

Chocolate-covered Clementine slices from Italy sound particularly divine, as described at Zingerman’s web site, “…spectacular Calabrian oranges, soaked in a constantly refreshed bath of simple syrup for three weeks, cut in quarters, smothered in dark chocolate…. If you slide it in your mouth all at once, the luscious orange syrup won’t drip down your chin.” At nearly $2.00 a slice, you won’t want to waste a speck of this delectable treat! Check out http://www.zingermans.com/ for more chocolate covered things.

Best Part of Bridge Mix

Remember bridge mix? My favorite part is the malted milk balls, crunchy and tender and malty. Mmm. Then I like the chocolate-covered raisins. The round things with the jelly inside are good, too. The peanuts? Someone else can eat those.

Malted milk, the powder, was originally invented by Englishman James Horlick after he moved to Racine, Wisconsin! The original name was "Diastoid," but in a flash of marketing foresight, he trademarked the name "Malted Milk" in 1887. The powder was intended to be a non-perishable, high-calorie food supplement for infants and invalids. It gained popularity when arctic explorers began packing it on their trips, and was soon consumed for its taste rather than its nutritional qualities.

If I've rekindled a long lost taste in you for malted milk, maybe you'll want to try your hand at this recipe for Chocolate Malt Cake from thebakingpan.com!

More Digital Food

Another great web source for recipes are the websites of grocery markets and specialty stores. The frosted brownies above are Moist and Decadent Dark Chocolate Brownies from a recipe at the Whole Foods website. The ingredients look very simple, but in the comments, people who've made them rave, "They were gone in a day! Had to make a second batch, best brownies I or my husband have ever had."

Here are some more store sites with recipe sections:
Cub Foods

Trader Joe's

Piggly Wiggly

Sentry Foods

Willy Street Co-op

Copps

Brennan's Market (more of a blog than a recipe site)

Know of any others? Post them here in the comment section!

You Sure WE Didn't Invent That?

Chocolate and cheese sounds like a combo that could only have hailed from Wisconsin. Alas, no! This chocolate-flavored process cheese slice was actually developed in New Zealand to break into the lackluster dairy market of Taiwan! The Chesdale chocolate cheese proved so popular, that within months of its release, it cornered 10% of the Taiwanese cheese market.

A company spokesman said the cheese had, "a mild chocolate flavor, matched to a light Cadbury flavor - we backed off a little from Nutella."

Did someone say Nutella? Mmm. They have that over at Miller's, don't they?

Read more in the New Zealand Herald.

Chocolate Therapy

Chocolate is cheaper than therapy and you don't need an appointment.
--Unknown

Feeling blue? Is the weather getting you down? Is the economy worrying you? Is your love life sending you into the doldrums? Yes, Yes, Yes, and Yes? Then, may I suggest a hearty dose of chocolate?

As a remedy for the blues, I personally recommend molten chocolate cake. When I am down in the dumps nothing cheers me up like a warm, rich, and sinfully gooey cake (with ice cream). The added beauty of molten chocolate cake is how easy it is to make. Most recipes call for the batter to be placed in small ramekins or muffin tins, which is nice, because then they can be easily shared with friends. Or not. And since the cakes are small, so are the calories.

Here’s a delicious recipe from Epicurious, my favorite online recipe site: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Molten-Chocolate-Cakes-with-Cherries-104736

A Digital Cookbook?

While I don't think that online recipe sites will replace printed, bound cookbooks anytime soon, these Internet jewels are worth looking into if you haven't before. As with anything else online, approach internet recipe sites using discrimination and common-sense. Many recipes are user-submitted, and could possibly flop.

Online Recipe Cons
• Recipe could be untested
• Directions not professionally written; could be missing steps
• Annoying pop-ups
• You have to wade through advertising

Online Recipe Site Pros
• Searchable
• User reviews
• Scaleable
• Interactive

What online recipe sites offer that cookbooks cannot is the interactive quality of being able to submit, rate, search and comment on recipes. On a very active cooking site, members will chime in and talk about how the recipe turned out for them, what they substituted, and what they'd do differently if they made the dish again. It can be fascinating to read the string of comments attached to a particularly popular recipe.

Online recipes are infinitely more searchable than a physical cookbook. Not only can you search for recipes that have specific combinations of ingredients, but you can also specify things like a cooking method (baked, grilled, etc.) or other terms like "easy" or "low-fat." And if you don't have something specific to search, you can browse.

It's also easy to scale the recipe size, for either more or fewer portions, without doing any math! Let's say you have an oddball amount of a certain ingredient you're looking to get rid of. (Not that that's ever happened to me, mind you, because I'm such a precise planner...ha ha!) You can tinker with scaling the recipe up or down until it fits the amount of the ingredient you have on hand.

My personal favorite recipe site is allrecipes.com. They have an active membership who post very useful comments and critiques, and they have an online recipe box where you can sign up for a free membership and store your favorite recipes.

Click here for a fabulous chocolate article at allrecipes.com - 10 Best Chocolate Recipes!

Don't Get Cross!

I've always had a thing for cross-sections. I'm curious by nature, and what better way to learn about the inner workings of something than to crack it open and see it in action?

Several non-fiction series explore cross-sections of various things, from machinery to homes, to historical constructions, to the human body. Here are a few titles and series available at the library that you might enjoy:

• Inside a _____ - various titles in the Intermediate Nonfiction section. The photo above is from Inside a Stove by Claire Seymour.

• Coolest Cross Sections Ever by Stephen Biesty (Intermediate Nonfiction, 608 Bie)

• Star Wars, Revenge of the Sith by Curtis Saxton (Intermediate Nonfiction, 791.43 Sax)

• What's Inside _____? - various titles in the Intermediate Nonfiction section include What's Inside Plants, What's Inside Buildings, and What's Inside Airplanes.

Come ask a reference librarian about exploring something in cross-section today!

And how about cross-sections of candy bars? Here's an easy page. Piece of "cake?" Okay, try the harder page!

Chocolate Mascot?

Are you excited about the bake off? We are! In fact, we even had a chocolate pep assembly at our January staff meeting! While the staff chanted "Chocolate! Chocolate!" our Chocolate Mascot made an appearance. Bursting through a very tough paper banner and leaping over a giant Hershey kiss obstacle, Chocolate Man arrived. It was great!

We are excited for good reason! This year's event boasts the first ever DJ to MC the night while playing Big Band and Jazz music in between announcing door prize winners. Furthermore, the judges will be making a special appearance mid-way through the event that you won't want to miss. Last, but not least, the night ends with a prize give-away totaling over $350 plus trophies and ribbons. If that's not enough -- you actually get to sample the best chocolate desserts in the county for free. Hope to see you Saturday, Feb. 21st at 6:30 p.m.

Ganache with Panache

That rich, smooth, glossy coating that makes cakes and candies (nearly) too pretty to eat? That's ganache! Is it a frosting, or is it a candy? It's both! Ganache is two treats in one.

According to Wikipedia, the first ganache was a result of a happy accident, when an apprentice spilled cream on some chocolate he was chopping. Ganache means "fool" -- the epithet that the master chocolatier exclaimed!

For such a versatile compound, Ganache is made with relatively simple ingredients: hot cream and chocolate. The character of the ganache will depend on the type of chocolate used, the proportion of chocolate to cream, and how much the mixture is beaten.

Check out the Joy of Baking for an in-depth article that describes frosting a cake with ganache, as well as whipping the confection into truffle filling.

A Sophisticated Palate

A sophisticated palate, under the proper guidance, begins at a tender age. Amy Kalchik, the library’s Youth Services Assistant, recently introduced her seven-year old daughter to the wonders of Sjolind’s Chocolate House. As Amy described the intense, blissful look and the profound silence that came over Ella when she took her first bite into a truffle, I knew another chocolate aficionado had been created.

It began for me when I was six-years old and my family just happened to be in Brussels, Belgium. My father, gleeful, invited me to walk with him to purchase bread, cheese, and fruit. And then, a quick stop, at a little shop on the corner, changed my world forever. It was the fragrant chocolate air, the sparkling glass cases, the tiny, dark, artistic squares laid gleaming on trays, and then….a single bite of a buttercream praline made by Leonidas, the Belgian chocolatier, and I swooned. I understood nirvana. Carefully, I carried the small box to the hotel room where, a bittersweet lesson commenced; I had to share with my siblings.

And so, imprinted forever, like Ella's first real chocolate experience, I’ve never forgotten my initial, satisfyingly delicious, taste of some of the world’s finest decadence.

Forget Me Not

Do you like reminders? There's a certain sense of security that comes from knowing you'll be reminded about an upcoming event. It means you don't need to keep reminding yourself!

In the spirit of freeing up more of your mental space, the Mount Horeb Public Library is now offering an email reminder service called MHPL Library Update, where we'll send you a calendar of events each months, as well as notices about upcoming events and scheduled closings. You can sign up for MHPL Library Update through this link, or on the main page of www.mhpl.org.

And here's a reminder for today: There's less than one week left to get your early-bird entries in. Don't miss out on two-for-one entry fees, or $1-off library fine coupons. Sign up by Saturday, February 2 to take advantage of the early-bird special!

Final due date for all baker entries is February 14.

Mmmelty...

Anyone who's accidentally left a candy bar in their car in the summertime knows it's not exactly rocket science to melt chocolate.

Or is it? (Food science, at least.)

According to Godiva.com, chocolate that is overheated may scorch, lose flavor and turn coarse and grainy. Here are two methods Godiva Chocolates recommends for velvety smooth melted chocolate:

With Either Method
Stir melting chocolate after it has begun to liquefy. Because of the sensitivity of milk solids to heat, milk and white chocolates should be stirred almost constantly while dark chocolate need only be stirred frequently during melting.

In a Microwave Oven
Place coarsely chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe container and microwave at MEDIUM (50 percent power) for 1 1/2 to 4 minutes, until the chocolate turns shiny. Remove the container from the microwave and stir the chocolate until completely melted. Stir milk and white chocolates after about 1 1/2 minutes. Because of their milk proteins, they need to be stirred sooner than dark chocolate. (If overheated, these chocolates may become grainy.)

In a Double Boiler
Place coarsely chopped chocolate in the top of a double boiler over hot, not simmering, water. Melt the chocolate, stirring until smooth. Remove the top part of the double boiler from the bottom.

Check out Godiva.com for instructions on tempering chocolate!

Hungry Girl

Recently my health conscious sister clued me into a fabulous little website. Check it out: http://hungrygirl.com. Next, she bought me the Hungry Girl cookbook for Christmas. So, what's the deal? Hungry Girl has tons of recipes with a creative healthy twist. Who knew you could bake Death by Chocolate muffins with pumpkin and they taste GREAT! How fitting?! Need some inspiration to fire up that oven? Head on over to Hungry Girl!

Don't Bite Down on That!

Since I'm the one who manages the serials (magazine) collection at the library, I happen to know that Mount Horebites love CRAFTS! Our popular selection of crafting magazines slake the following craft urges:
Quilting - American Patchwork & Quilting, Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting
Scrapbooking - Paper Crafts, Simple Scrapbooks
Knitting - Vogue Knitting
Kids' Crafts - Family Fun
And for those unclassifiable crafting projects, there's always Crafts 'n Things.

For the crafters among us -- among whom I count myself in spirit, if not in actual time spent crafting -- I present the ultimate in no-calorie chocolate decadence. The chocolate bead!



Find more mouthwatering beads at dragonbeads.com

Singing with the Angels

Death by Chocolate. A fantastic concept, really. Think of all the ways you could go. That’s what I’m talking about. So, personally, I intend to say sayonara over a particularly decadent piece of chocolate cake. Just like my 94 year-old great-grandmother. She ordered chocolate cake for dessert and 20 minutes later she was with the angels in heaven.

Not that I’m ready to exit the planet just yet, but I am always on the lookout for the perfectly delicious bite of chocolate worthy enough to send me on my way. Besides the exquisite chocolates of David Bacco or Markus Candinas, I may have found just the dessert: A Mocha Layer Cake with Chocolate-Rum Cream Filling. I discovered it, several years ago, while drooling over the December 2001 issue of Bon Appétit magazine. I couldn’t resist serving this cake to usher in 2002. The dessert received rave reviews. What’s not to like about chocolate-rum cream filling?

I hope someone (since I can’t) will give this recipe a whirl for the Death By Chocolate Bake Off. You may find it at epicurious, the web site that hosts recipes from Bon Appétit and Gourmet magazines. Here’s the link: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Mocha-Layer-Cake-with-Chocolate-Rum-Cream-Filling-106023

The Candy Man Can

Homemade candy. You can always tell the difference, can't you? Candymaking involves many skills. Tempering chocolate. Watching the thermometer like a hawk. Keeping your family members from licking things until you're done. But the results are always worth it. And unless you bungle the job really badly, someone's always willing to eat your mistakes!

The Land O' Lakes website has over ninety candy recipes posted. Look at this amaretto truffle bar. Don't you want it? Right now? (Seriously, someone make this.) If you're thinking about entering the candy category this year, cruise on over to Land O' Lakes for some inspiration. (And if you happen to make a batch of mistakes, I know a group of people on Perimeter Road who would gladly take them off your hands.)

If you need a reason . . .

Alright. So I’ve started to notice a trend in responses when I begin encouraging people to participate in the annual bake off. Here are the top 3 responses:

1. “Yeah. Like that’s just what I need,” he or she states with a fierce glare shot in my direction.
2. “My New Year’s resolution is to lose weight,” stated with a grimace.
3. “That is so unhealthy. I could never come to something like that,” the person says while guiltily glancing around to see if anybody heard them even mention such a sinful thought aloud.

I think there is a misunderstanding going on here that I need to clear up.

Tasters: If you are a taster at the bake off, you are only tasting bite-sized pieces. By the end of the evening, you may have consumed the equivalent of one or two cookies. How bad is that? Not very! And, everything you try is guaranteed delicious so you’re not wasting calories.

Bakers: If you are a baker, you will be busy handing out your dessert all night rather than tasting (unless you actually make the time to taste – which, believe me, you should!) That said, you might actually burn calories and lose weight just by being here! ☺

So don’t let your fear of the calorie intimidate you from attending this fun event!

It's All in the Details

Talk about a well-accessorized cake! This beauty comes from the King Arthur Flour website, where you, too, can obtain the fixings to give your cake pizazz.

This heart-shaped cake was baked in a disposable paper pan. No flipping the cake out of the pan only to have it tear in half; no hunting down your pan when you've left it at your friend's house after a party. And look at those pearls. They're edible. And you can get them at the King Arthur Flour site, too!

Chocolate Raffle

Wouldn’t it be great if you could sample the judges’ delicious, handcrafted chocolates? Can you imagine how good the creations of the best of the best must taste? I drool just thinking about it. If you’re interested, we have just the deal for you!

Three lucky chocaholics will win chocolates valued at $15 or more from our illustrious judges’ shops: Candinas Chocolates, David Bacco Chocolats, and Sjolinds Chocolate House. Prizes will be drawn at the bake off. Winner need not be present at the drawing. Raffle tickets are on sale for $1 and can be purchased at the checkout desk.

Decadence

Death by Chocolate. The name of the game; a.k.a. Decadence. Pure, unadulterated decadence.

Are you man enough? Are you woman enough? To place your best chocolate recipe up against others; to test the outer limits of your baking skills; to locate the iron will needed to taste well over 90 desserts in an evening? These are the questions to ask yourself during the long, dark, and bitterly cold days of February. A Wisconsinite says, “YES”. A true chocolate aficionado says, “ABSOLUTELY”.

The 4th annual Death by Chocolate event is scheduled for Saturday evening, February 21st, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Bakers: begin selecting your favorite chocolate recipe now! Bakers must submit an entry form and $5.00 entry fee by the deadline: Saturday, February 14th, 5:00 p.m.

Tasters: begin a rigorous practice schedule starting NOW! I recommend a visit to Sjolinds, our local coffee and chocolate shop, if you need help getting started.

Happily, our slate of celebrity judges will be returning, apparently undaunted by the challenge of tasting ALL of the desserts submitted and deeming one, and only one, the Judges’ Choice Award.

Welcome back Markus Candinas of Candinas Chocolates (2435 Old PB, Verona WI and 11 W. Main St., Madison, WI), David Bacco of David Bacco Chocolates (550 N. Midvale Blvd., Madison, WI) and Mount Horeb’s own, Tracy Thompson of Sjolinds Chocolate House (219 E. Main St., Mount Horeb, WI).

New in 2009 will be music, Big Band and Jazz, provided by DJs T and Greg of Isthmus DJs, LLC, who will also MC the event.

Remember, this elegant event is for ADULTS only. Adults ages 16 and up are invited to participate as bakers and/or tasters. Please find childcare for your younger children; the library will not be providing childcare for the 2009 event.

Death by Chocolate presents a distinct opportunity to rebel against winter, and cabin fever, in particular. It’s also a fantastic way to reconnect with friends, neighbors, and family whom you may have only caught a glimpse of this winter, all bundled up, while shoveling snow.

Another batch of white stuff in the forecast? Think DECADENCE.