I had the great pleasure to attend an event showcasing the lovely Green & Black’s brand of chocolate, which is completely organic. Before this, I hadn’t much experience with the chocolate, but I got to sample many different kinds over the course of the evening.
Even more fun? We each sat down in front of these trays and were then informed… it was a quickfire challenge! I don’t watch Top Chef or those types of cooking reality shows, but the gist was that we had 7 minutes to create a unique tiramisu from what was in front of us: sugar, madeira wine, mascarpone, unsweetened whipped cream, espresso, and lady fingers. Regular readers of the blog might remember how much I adore tiramisu; it’s my second favorite dessert in the world after panna cotta. However, I’ve never actually made tiramisu… only thought about it a lot and never executed. In any case, I quickly started assembling and making things up as I went. The mise en place really helped with the process.
I wound up layering espresso soaked lady fingers on the bottom, topped with lightly sweetened mascarpone blended with madeira, a bit more lady fingers (not soaked this time, to help retain some texture), then whipped cream blended with sugar and espresso. On top of all of that, I shaved espresso chocolate on top, then added more lady fingers around it for aesthetics.
Judging began by aesthetics alone; three finalists were chosen. I actually only took photos of mine (right), Sarah‘s (middle), and Justin‘s (left), because the third finalist was sitting far away from me. Sarah and I made it past the first round of judging, which shocked me as I was in a particularly boisterous mood and kept trash talking her the entire 7 minutes – within earshot of the judges. Maybe they thought I was amusing? because it was definitely not sporting!
Then a final winner was picked based on taste. Shockingly… I won. I mean, I wasn’t particularly creative with my entry – everything was very straightforward, using classic flavors. Sarah went with the “gold” chocolate, which was different at least – though I didn’t get a chance to try hers, so I’m not sure how it tasted. I did eat some of mine and thought yes, this is tiramisu… IN ANY CASE, enough of the humility, I was thrilled that I was picked because now I can say I have award-winning tiramisu. 😉
Afterwards, we mingled for a bit, eating our way through chocolate and more chocolate, and then some more chocolate. Had a lovely time learning more about the Green & Black’s brand and their mission to be completely organic and fair trade in all aspects. Thank you for having me at this great event!!!
Please note that I attended this event courtesy of the Green & Black’s PR, though I received no monetary compensation and was under no obligation to post about this event positively or negatively.
Cat @Breakfast to Bed says
How killer is it that Green+Black’s was a sponsor of the AMNH halloween dohickey and we ended up with a shitton of their mini bars? I STILL HAVE SOME! Isn’t that awesome?!?
BTW, I’d have voted for yours too, as I prefer the classic flavored tiramisu.
Feisty Foodie says
Ooh, that is pretty awesome!!! I have some mini bars too… yum!
Hungry says
Do your prefer Green & Black’s when you bake?
Feisty Foodie says
I actually haven’t had the pleasure of baking with it – haven’t seen it in chunk/chip form for baking. I generally have used Scharffen Berger, though I find it a bit cost prohibitive given how much holiday baking I do – this season, I used Ghirardelli chips since Costco had it for 3lbs/$9, hahaha.
Hungry says
I prefer Ghirardelli bars over chips. They just don’t work the same.
justcooknyc says
funny, i was just looking at those mini bars and recalling the event. i can honestly say, you deserved to win.
Feisty Foodie says
I’m really flattered by the compliment! Thanks Justin!!!
T.C. says
Cool. I haven’t had tiramisu in a while. Way to kick arse.
And yes, the chocolate lover in me has not failed me and gotten me right for a change – Organic!!!!!! 🙂
Feisty Foodie says
Haha, I should have known better than to argue about chocolate with you 😛