West Coast Chocolate Festival

[canucklehead]

I've been hearing about this a little - the most intersting event seems to be a chocolate competition open to professionals and amateurs. I don't think I will be going (deepest, darkest POCO) - but the event seems well organized and sponsored.

Just curious to see if anyone is going and to fill us in on the going ons. Here is their webpage.

Edited October 16, 2005 by canucklehead (log)

[lemon curd]

Sorry to have delayed so long to post on the competition portion of the West Coast Chocolate Festival. A coworker of mine from Chocolate Arts (yes I'm back 'chocolatiering' at Chocolate Arts) competed in the bonbons category and I was her official chauffeur for the event as well as chief taster during recipe development and of course, a grateful recipient of all slightly imperfect chocolates . From memory there were 6 competitors in the bonbons category, 2 in the showpiece and around 4-5 for the plated dessert.

My apologies as my pictures are not the greatest and since the entries were only labelled by number I'm not able to identify all the entries by competitor. However this should give you a good overview of the bonbons and showpiece portion of the competition.

My coworker won first place in the bonbons category. Her chocolates were done using three different techniques: moulded, enrobed and hand-crafted and her descriptions were as follows:

Port & Raspberry: A Ten-year Tawny port is cradled by intense raspberry butter cream. A thin layer of fruity Manjari ganache stands up to both distinct flavours.

Chai & Pear: Oven roasted organic pear accented with Valencia orange zest and Madagascar vanilla. Warm chai tea spices are infused with cream and a hint of Nicola Valley honey. In blending Tanariva milk and Caraibe dark chocolates, a balance is met between the sweetness level and the soft creamy texture of the ganache.

Cashew & Caramel: A sea salted and roasted cashew tops bitter caramel moux. Three grains of Fleur de Sel bring out the richness of the cashew and dissipate the sweetness of the caramel. Intense Guanaja ganache melts easily, uniting the flavours.

Here's a picture of her bonbons displayed on a small chocolate showpiece

Bonbons and showpiece from ChocolaTas in Abbotsford.

From Lumiere.

From a chocolatier in Whistler.

And two more bonbons entries.

and last but not least

In the showpiece category:

From the pastry chef instructor at NorthWest (and my apologies as you will have to tilt your head to the left)

And from a past AI pastry student (note that piece is carved)

My pictures of the plated desserts did not turn out very well and many of the pastry chefs had not competed plating by the time I needed to leave the competitors room.

It was the first year a chocolate competition was held in conjunction with the festival. I believe that the competitors felt the competition was well run and hopefully next year will see many more entries.

[canucklehead]

Lemon - thanks for the pictures. It looks like it was a pretty serious competition - wow. It looks like something worth checking up on next year.

[Mooshmouse]

Damn, those are some fine photos of some outstanding chocolates. Thanks so much for posting them!

[Ling]

OMG! Thanks for the pictures!

I am tasting all of your coworker's creations in my mind, and they are fabulous. I like the idea of playing up the raspberry flavour inherent in the Manjari, and adding tawny port. I haven't thought of combining the Valrhona milk and the Caraibe chocolate together...I wonder how that would turn out? The pear/chai/honey combination sounds so good, and perfect for this dreary autumn weather. I think the combination that I would most enjoy, though, is the cashew (my favourite nut) and the caramel/dark chocolate/fleur de sel (my favourite flavour combination).

A pressing question--will her bonbons be available at Chocolate Arts? *crosses fingers*

Edited October 26, 2005 by Ling (log)

[*Deborah*]

Nice pics, Nicky! thankyou.

[makanmakan]

thanks for the pics!

mmmm....chocolate

i'm actually in the middle of a 2 day course with chef marco from northwest now. is that the pastry chef that you're talking about with the "tilted" entry?

[fud]

thanks for the pics! 

mmmm....chocolate

i'm actually in the middle of a 2 day course with chef marco from northwest now.  is that the pastry chef that you're talking about with the "tilted" entry?

←

For those of you who are in the NWCAV cooking class...now we know where all Chef Tony's liquer went

Great pics!

[Mooshmouse]

i'm actually in the middle of a 2 day course with chef marco from northwest now.

←

We're all anxiously awaiting your comments on the class in a new thread!

[lemon curd]

thanks for the pics! 

mmmm....chocolate

i'm actually in the middle of a 2 day course with chef marco from northwest now.  is that the pastry chef that you're talking about with the "tilted" entry?

←

I believe he is the pastry chef associated with the 'tilted entry'. I checked his picture out on the school website and I'm pretty sure it's the same person based on the picture. I know he was definately from NorthWest.

[makanmakan]

i'm actually in the middle of a 2 day course with chef marco from northwest now.

←

We're all anxiously awaiting your comments on the class in a new thread!

←

will do, as soon as i figure out how to off load the pics from the camera!

i think i'm still on a chocolate high

[makanmakan]

thanks for the pics! 

mmmm....chocolate

i'm actually in the middle of a 2 day course with chef marco from northwest now.  is that the pastry chef that you're talking about with the "tilted" entry?

←

I believe he is the pastry chef associated with the 'tilted entry'. I checked his picture out on the school website and I'm pretty sure it's the same person based on the picture. I know he was definately from NorthWest.

←

yup, asked last night and it was him. we apparently used some of the chocolate last night that he used for that piece!