It's Your Turn Cupcake Lovers! The Fourth Annual Chocolate Adventure Contest Wants Your Most Creative and Adventurous Cupcakes

HERSHEY, Pa., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Scharffen Berger® chocolate and TuttiFoodie.com announce the Fourth Annual Chocolate Adventure Contest® - Cupcake Edition 2010. With cupcake mania stronger than ever, this is the perfect chance for chocolate and cupcake enthusiasts to put their creativity to the test. As part of the contest, daring bakers are invited to develop an original cupcake recipe using Scharffen Berger chocolate and one or more of 14 "adventure ingredients." Entries are accepted from October 1, 2010 through January 2, 2011.

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Cupcakes entries will be judged by culinary icons including: Top Chef: Just Desserts guest judge and award-winning chef Elizabeth Falkner; Scharffen Berger chocolate co-founder John Scharffenberger; chocolate expert and award-winning cookbook author Alice Medrich; award-winning food blogger, photographer and art director Matt Armendariz of MattBites.com; and baking expert and blogger Angie Dudley of Bakerella.com.  Cupcake creations will be judged on creativity, ease of preparation and, of course, spirit of adventure. Finalists will also be judged on taste and appearance. Winners and finalists will be announced in March 2011.

"Experimenting with uncommon ingredients has led to the creation of some of my most memorable dishes - both sweet and savory," said Elizabeth Falkner, renowned for her daring culinary style as owner and executive chef of two of San Francisco's top restaurants, Orson and Citizen Cake. "The Chocolate Adventure Contest challenges chefs of all levels to think outside the box and make a cupcake that highlights the versatility of Scharffen Berger chocolate with depths of surprising flavor and texture."

Enticing adventure ingredients are chosen every year to inspire creativity and complement Scharffen Berger chocolate's unique blends of cacao beans. This year's list of sweet and savory ingredients is sure to inspire some serious cupcake adventure and include:

"A spirit of adventure has always been at the heart of Scharffen Berger chocolate. We travel the globe looking for great cacao beans, and each expedition is an adventure," said John Scharffenberger. "The contest mirrors this adventurous mindset, inviting bakers to put their creativity to work and explore combinations of Scharffen Berger chocolate and unexpected ingredients in cupcake form."

The Grand Prize winner will receive $10,000, a special collection of Scharffen Berger chocolate products and their Chocolate Adventure Contest cupcake recipe mentioned in a Spring 2011 issue of Food Network Magazine. In addition, the Grand Prize winner will have the opportunity to travel to New York City in Spring 2011 to sample their adventure cupcake on the popular Street Sweets™ truck, a mobile dessert truck catering to Manhattan's sweet-toothed consumers. 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 a signed copy of The Essence of Chocolate, the 2007 James Beard award-winning cookbook by co-founders John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg, Elizabeth Falkner's Demolition Desserts and Bittersweet, by Alice Medrich.

In addition, this year all bakers will have the opportunity to take advantage of a new online tool that will not only inspire them to create their own original cupcakes, but will also help them get acquainted with the adventure ingredients, thanks to helpful tips from Alice Medrich. Users can choose different adventure ingredients to add to base cupcakes and base frostings (chocolate and vanilla), and then use additional adventure ingredients as toppings to create a virtual adventure cupcake. Each adventure ingredient is described with usage, preparation and pairing tips. Virtual cupcakes may then be put to the test at home for contest entry.

To build a custom virtual cupcake using the online cupcake building tool, visit www.ScharffenBerger.com. For additional information on the Chocolate Adventure Contest and to see winning recipes from past years, visit www.ChocolateAdventureContest.com.

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.

About TuttiFoodie

TuttiFoodie is the guide for adventurous food and drink lovers nationwide who care about a sustainable world.  Each week, the site emails a brief, informative and witty tribute to an off-the-beaten-path food, drink, food-related book or blog, or culinary travel adventure.  TuttiFoodie has been featured on NPR's Splendid Table, on popular foodie sites such as epicurious.com, chow.com, yumsugar and elsewhere.  The blogosphere tipped its hat to the site early on, with one San Francisco food blogger naming TuttiFoodie, "the Daily Candy of food." For more information please visit www.TuttiFoodie.com.

SOURCE Scharffen Berger