Calling All Bakers to Enter Original Recipes in the Elevate a Classic Dessert With Scharffen Berger Chocolate Contest

HERSHEY, Pa., Oct. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Grandma's famous chocolate cake. Mom's to-die-for chocolate chip cookies. Your coveted chocolate pecan pie. Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker is now accepting entries into the Elevate a Classic Dessert with Scharffen Berger Chocolate Contest!  Scharffen Berger chocolate is encouraging bakers and chocolate enthusiasts to submit classic dessert recipes that are elevated or modernized with an original spin and use at least one Scharffen Berger® chocolate product — including bars, chunks and cocoa — as an ingredient. Each entry must include a short essay that shares why or how the recipe is elevated. Entries will be accepted now through January 2, 2012.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090805/NY57225LOGO)

"Just using Scharffen Berger chocolate to make your favorite desserts is enough to elevate them!" said Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker co-founder John Scharffenberger. "Scharffen Berger chocolate is made from a special blend of beans from up to nine different cacao-producing regions around the world, offering a different taste and experience with each bite. This is what makes our chocolate so special. With this contest, we want people to take their recipes a step further and give a new personality to their beloved classics."

Contest entries will be judged by a star panel consisting of some of the country's foremost baking and chocolate experts, including: Elizabeth Falkner, owner and executive chef of Orson and Citizen Cake, and a star on The Next Iron Chef; John Scharffenberger, co-founder of Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker; Alice Medrich, award-winning cookbook author and chocolate expert; Matt Armendariz, food photographer and food blogger of MattBites; and Babette Pepaj, founder of Bakespace.com and creator and producer of the traveling TECHmunch Food Blogger Conference.

"This is going to be a fun contest," said Elizabeth Falkner. "Take a classic dessert concept of yesterday and make it rock out for today and tomorrow. This could mean playing around with textures, temperatures and even dessert components to come up with something we may be familiar with but presented in a whole new light."

Recipes will be judged on creativity, ease of preparation and use of chocolate or cocoa to elevate or modernize a classic. Finalists will also be judged on taste and appearance, as well as on the quality of the essay accompanying the recipe. Winners will be announced in March 2012. The Grand Prize winner will receive $10,000, a custom selection of Scharffen Berger chocolate products and signed copies of Elizabeth Falkner's Demolition Desserts and Alice Medrich's Bittersweet, along with a copy of The Essence of Chocolate authored by co-founders John and Robert and signed by John Scharffenberger.  The second place prize winner will receive $7,000 and the third place prize winner will receive $3,000. Both runners up will also receive a custom selection of Scharffen Berger chocolate and signed copies of Elizabeth Falkner's Demolition Desserts and Alice Medrich's Bittersweet, along with a copy of The Essence of Chocolate authored by co-founders John and Robert and signed by John Scharffenberger.  All winning recipes will be featured on www.ScharffenBerger.com.

For additional information on the Elevate a Classic Dessert with Scharffen Berger Chocolate contest please visit www.ScharffenBerger.com.

Visit the Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker page on Facebook or follow @ScharffenBerger on Twitter to share ideas and engage with an active community of bakers and chocolate enthusiasts.

About Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker

Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker was established in 1997 in San Francisco, California, and first earned national recognition for its artisan-quality chocolate in 1998.  Producing bean to bar premium chocolates, Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker is one of the world's finest chocolate makers.  All Scharffen Berger chocolate is composed of proprietary bean blends from up to nine different cacao-growing regions throughout the world.  Scharffen Berger chocolate has received recognition throughout the U.S. for its high quality chocolate. Scharffen Berger products are sold by retailers nationwide, at Scharffen Berger chocolate's own retail location in San Francisco and through its website www.ScharffenBerger.com.  Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker is part of the Artisan Confections Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hershey Company.  For more information please visit www.ScharffenBerger.com.

Anna Lingeris
Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker
[email protected]
(717) 534-4874

Laura Giannatempo
RF|Binder Partners, Inc.
[email protected]
(212) 994-7543

SOURCE Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker