I won the chocolate challenge...well, almost

15 years ago

I came in second...but first place was a nice restaurant with a pastry chef, so I feel pretty good.

I doated three items for an American Cancer Society chocolate fundraiser. One was my favorite brownie recipe topped with a bittersweet chocolate ganache, one was little cups of chocolate mousse, and one was a Kahlua cake with chocolate mousse and covered in edible flowers.

My Kahlua cake came in second overall, but came in first for most beautiful presentation!

I just used my favorite chocolate cake recipe, and instead of water, used 3/4 cup coffee and 1/2 cup Kahlua. then the mousse filling was my very favorite mousse recipe. It's not as light as most mousses, but it rich and has real depth of flavor. I planeed to top it with chocolate covered strawberries and whipping cream, but ran out of time, so I just added some edible flowers I had on hand...and it still won for prettiest presentation, LOL.

Now I am eager to make it again, for home, so I can taste it!

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Comments (15)

mustangs81
15 years ago
Yea Sherry!! It certainly sounds worthy of an award.

You didn't get to taste it? Okay, here's the plan, you replicate it, I'll come up and critique it with you for taste.
wizardnm
15 years ago
Sherry, your cake sounds yummy. I'm not surprised at all that you created a winner!

Just let me know when you need a taste tester....

Nancy
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Clax, pumpking cheesecake is one of my absolute favs. You will definately have to try it. It is delicious! IChick, I will be cutting and pasting and trying your award winning recipe. Raisin wives! Yup. That is what was posted. I live in the raisin capital of the universe. When I first moved here, they said they grew raisins. I said, grapes. They said, no raisins. I gave up after that. We supply about 1/3 of all the food for the US, within the borders of our county. BIG ag area. Lots of stone fruit, melons, nuts, grapes, raisins and wine! Not to mention turkeys, chickens, eggs, beef and milk. Recipes--BTW, although I submitted this pie crust recipe and this is the one I made (it is easy), I have moved on and have another favorite one that is far better than this one. Makes three pie crusts 1 ½ Cups Crisco (regular, not butter flavored) 3 Cups All Purpose Flour 1 Egg 5 Tablespoons cold water 1 Tablespoon white vinegar 1 Teaspoon salt In a large bowl, with a pastry cutter, gradually work the Crisco into the flour for about three or four minutes until it resembles a coarse meal. In a small bowl, beat an egg with a fork and then pour it into the flour/shortening mixture. Add up to five tablespoons ice cold water, 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir together gently until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Separate the dough into thirds. Form three even sized balls of dough and place each into a large Ziploc bag. Using a rolling pin, slightly flatten each ball of dough (about ½ inch thick) to make rolling easier later. Seal the bags and place them in the freezer until you need them. If needed immediately, put in freezer for 1520 minutes to chill. When ready to use the dough to make a crust, remove from freezer and thaw for 15 minutes. On a floured surface roll the dough, starting at the center and working your way to the end. Sprinkle some flour over the top of the dough if it gets sticky. If the dough is sticking to the counter top, use a metal spatula and carefully scrape it up and flip it over and continue rolling until it is about ½ inch larger than your pie pan. With a spatula, lift the dough carefully from the surface of the counter onto the pie pan. Gently press the dough against the corner of the pan. Go around the pie pan pinching and tucking the dough to make a clean edge. Pie crust is ready to bake or fill. Coconut Oatmeal Pie Heat oven to 350 degrees 2 Eggs 1 Cup sugar ¾ Cup oats ¾ Cup corn syrup ¾ Cup plus 1 tablespoon melted butter 1 Cup coconut 1 Tablespoon vanilla Pinch salt 1 9" unbaked pie shell Chocolate (optional) Beat eggs and sugar until thick (3 minutes). Add salt, syrup, butter and vanilla. Stir in coconut, oatmeal. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes. If desired, drizzle melted chocolate over the top of the pie. Best served warm with vanilla ice cream. Auntie Floras Raisin Pie (This truly was my Aunt Flora's recipe) Heat oven to 425 degrees 2 Cups raisins (I like to use the flame seedless raisins) 2 Cups water ½ Cup white or brown sugar 2 Tablespoons cornstarch ½ Cup finely chopped nuts 2 Teaspoons grated lemon peel (Meyer lemons are great) 34 Tablespoons lemon juice 1 Cup pineapple pieces (cut to small bite size) Sugar and cinnamon sprinkle (if desired) Heat raisins in water to boiling and cook five minutes. Stir together sugar and cornstarch. Stir into raisin mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir one minute. Remove from heat. Stir in nuts, pineapple, lemon peel and juice. Pour hot filling into pastry lined pie pan. Cover with top crust. Make slits in the top crust (or can do a lattice crust). Seal and flute. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture if desired. Place on cookie sheet to catch any spills! Cover edge with 23 inches of foil. Remove foil last 15 minutes of baking. Bake 3040 minutes at 425 degrees until brown and juice begins to bubble. Best served warm. Hopefully, the board police won't remove this! Enjoy!
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doucanoe
15 years ago
Oh YUM! I am pretty sure if I were entering a chocolate contest all of my entries would arrive with a bite out of them! LOL

Congratulations, Sherry! That's pretty cool you are second only to a fancy restaurant's pastry chef! WOW!

One question, tho. How in the world do you have edible flowers "on hand" in the middle of a Midwest winter???

Oh, and I'm all over that tasting party, too! You've got my number...

Linda
pkramer60
15 years ago
I have the most brillant idea. Make it in March, bring it to Chicago and we will "taste test" again!

Congratulations!
annie1992
15 years ago
Oh yeah, I agree with Peppi, I'd be happy to taste test in March.

Oh, and I want that mousse recipe too.

Annie
pat_t
15 years ago
Sherry, please, please, please post the mousse recipe! I have to turn in a decorated cake with a filling THIS COMING FRIDAY in my culinary practical exam class and I need a GREAT filling for my chocolate cake.

Oh yes, and congrats!
User
15 years ago
Congratulations Sherry.

Share those recipes.

Please.

Ann
loves2cook4six
15 years ago
Congratulations!!

But this thread is worthless without pictures!
compumom
15 years ago
Fantastic, congratulations! I can attest first hand after Canny Camp, that you're a great cook with a flair for presentation!
sheshebop
Original Author
15 years ago
This would be a very good filling for a cake, because it is stiffer than most mousses, so it should take the weight of a layer on top of it without it squishing out. I used a Maryann cake pan, with the recess in the top of the pan used for a filling.
Here is the mousse recipe:

Bittersweet Mousse

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped ( I used Scharffenberger)
2 egg yolks beaten
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1-1/2 cup whipping cream, separated

1. In a small sauce pan, combine chopped chocolate, egg yolks, sugar, water, and 1/2 cup of the whipping cream. Cook over medium heat until mixture starts to bubble around edges * I hate chopping chocolate, so I just melted the whole mess in a double boiler or it could scorch the milk before the 1 oz. chunks of chocolate melted. After it was melted, I removed the bottom of the double boiler and brought the top pan with the chocolate back to a light boil.
2. Remove the chocolate mix and set the whole pan into a large bowl of ice water. Cool, stirring frequently. This took about 10 minutes. Stir hard and often so it doesn't turn back into a hard mess. ( You could skip this step and just cool naturally, but it would take a lot longer)
3. In a chilled mixing bowl beat remaining 1 cup of whipping cream just until thickened. Do not beat to soft peaks or it will be too stiff. ** If using this for a filling on a layer cake, go ahead and whip until peaks form. It will stiffen the mousse up to hold a layer cake nicely. Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture. *** Normally this is a careful process of not overworking the mousse to keep it lighter. However, I love the thick, spongy-like density of the chocolate mixture from mixing it in well. Besides, the chocolate mixture is pretty thick, and you must beat hard to mix in the whipped cream.
Cover and chill 2-24 hours.

This is super super simple and very very tasty.

Sorry I did not have time to take pix. I am having a chocolate bar at my soup party on the 28th. I will try to take a picture then.

Linda, I had the edible flowers on hand cause I bought them for a french silk pie I was making for the neighbors, but ended up not making it, so they were on hand and needed to be used, LOL.
doucanoe
15 years ago
I third Peppi's idea!

Winning entry tasting party in Chicago...OH YEAH!

Linda
sheshebop
Original Author
15 years ago
I actually think I can do that. Pajama Party WITH chocolate.
annie1992
15 years ago
Oh yeah, I'm glad you're spending the night, Sherry. I'm still trying to arrange an overnight, it takes so long for me to arrange anything, LOL.

Annie
dixiedog_2007
15 years ago
Congrats to you Sherry and lucky for all the others if they get a chance to taste it in March! I'm envious.:)
sheshebop
Original Author
15 years ago
Annie, are you staying at Peppi's?

I won the chocolate challenge...well, almost

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