Wednesday, February 6, 2008

The Round-up & Top Three - Art You Eat #1 - CHOCOLATE CHALLENGE


Hello again! It is finally here and I am so excited to show you all the round-up for my very first event hosting - The "Art You Eat" challenge. I am so grateful to all of the wonderful bloggers who joined in this challenge. Obviously, I couldn't do it without your participation, so thank you, thank you, thank you!

Now, I know you didn't come here to here me on my chocolate box (errr... soapbox) so I will only pontificate for a second about the topic - and also because, well, what can I really say? It is CHOCOLATE for heaven's sake! It speaks so gloriously for itself - and apparently so can the web on this well beloved topic. My personal favorite for a bit on the subject and history though, if you are interested, can be found here. Besides, if you watched Food Network this weekend (and oh, I did) then you have already seen and heard about more chocolate than you can probably stand (unless you are me - they could have chocolate weekend every time and I wouldn't complain!). Sorry, I digress...so...

Now, I said that I was going to choose the top three. Frankly, it was really hard. So, please keep in mind that when I created the event I had a very specific idea in mind. Using chocolate not just as an ingredient, but to make your creation look fabulous. All of the entries brought this to the table. So, as for the top three, they are simply the three that I thought really exemplified the theme idea. You may agree. You may not. Either way, please vote for a winner from the three to be the next "host" for Art You Eat.

Without further ado, but lots of gilding the lily - here is the round-up and my personal favorite top three for voting at the bottom.

Please, please check out all the competitors below. The entries were all beautiful and absolutely worth trying out! Once again, thanks to all of you that entered for making this event happen!

THE ROUND-UP!


Since I figured I had to put something in too. My contribution was totally experimental and to be honest, I think it is cute and they taste good, but it could have been a lot better. I won't give up on this technique quite yet though. I made Dark Chocolate Truffles on a White Chocolate Plate. Enough about me... check these out!



Priya over at 365 Days of Pure Vegetarian brought these fun and beautiful Chocolate Cups to the party. I can see doing so many fabulous things with this idea!






Anke of Vegan Bounty gives us a lovely tofu-free alternative to typical chocolate mousse with her Chocolate Mousse on Caramel with Red Nettles that looks velvety light and smooth (and did I mention tofu free)!







Mansi of Fun and Food brought, in my opinion, a truly original (and gorgeous) idea on the "molten" theme with her Molten Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling.










Deeba who is Passionate About Baking...& beyond made shows us how to make a Chocolate Strawberry Cake which, as she says, is quite the Ultimate Combination.






Annina of Ann's Food gives us this Banana Chocolate Swirl Cake. She suggests that it would be great with a cup of coffee to impress a loved one.








Elle who says her blog is about Feeding My Enthusiasms
said that this Chocolate Turtle Fondue was so goo the first time around she has brought it back for this event. It looks absolutely decadent. I bet I'll keep bringing this one back too!








Emma, The Chef and The Photographer joins in the fun with her Peanut Butter Chocolate Mousse Torte which she says makes for a sweet ending. Seriously? I'll just skip the meal and take the whole torte please! Chocolate. And. Peanut Butter. Seriously. 'Nuff said.







Melissa, creator of The Mighty Muffin joins us for her very first event with this really fun and tasty looking Double Chocolate Peanut Brittle.




THE CONTENDERS
--- TOP THREE FOR VOTING!

Please choose your favorite from these top three. They were chosen for really making their creations look like works of art as well as look delicious. The other reason is because they got really creative working with the chocolate in its pure form. Not easy, but the results here are simply beautiful.
To vote just post a comment with your favorite. Voting will end on February 16th and I will post the winner who will "host" the next event!

Arfi, the author and culinary creator at HomeMadeS, brings us a beautiful creation suitable for decorating anything you want... cakes, mousse, my fireplace mantle (ok, the last is just me being obsessive - but seriously). Chocolate Lace. Pretty much speaks for itself.





African Vanielje of Vanielje Kitchen made some true edible art for all of us to wonder at with her Wildberry Dark Chocolate Mousse in a Bitter Chocolate Bramble Cage which are truly spectacular! I can't wait to impress with these beauties!




Linda is true to her blog's name and helps us all to make life sweeter! by teaching us how she made this Chocolate ganache covered orange sponge cakewith planetary chocolate decoration. Seriously cool, huh?!




Please remember to vote for your favorite and check back on the 16th to see who wins and gets to choose the theme for the next event!

Holly
Art You Eat

19 comments:

Annina said...

Hey...wow!!! They all look amazing and delicious! *want to try!!* ... so my favourite is:

Deeba - Passionate About Baking
with her
Chocolate Strawberry Cake!

greetings and looking forward to the next round

linda said...

My vote goes to African Vanielje with her Wildberry Dark Chocolate Mousse in a Bitter Chocolate Bramble Cage

Barbara Bakes said...

Chocolate ganache covered orange sponge cake with planetary chocolate decoration gets my vote. Definitely a work of art!

african vanielje said...

A great roundup and a really fun event. Thanks Holly. I can't wait to check out all the entries and thank you so much for choosing me for the final 3, I can see it was a difficult decision as they all look so yummy

Emma Nowell said...

my vote goes to the Dark Chocolate Mousse in a Bitter Chocolate Bramble Cage.

Deeba PAB said...

Hi Holly..great great round-up. My vote goes to the 'Wildberry Dark Chocolate Mousse in a Bitter Chocolate Bramble Cage'. I'm quite partial to dark bitter choc & this does look divine!! This is fun...LOL Deeba

Annina said...

oops.. sorry.. I didn't vote for one of the 3 nominates!

So my vote goes to: 'Wildberry Dark Chocolate Mousse in a Bitter Chocolate

:)

Melissa said...

Its hard to choose, but my vote is for the mousse in the bramble cage!! Looks amazing!

Mansi said...

wow, those entries look awesome, and the 3 finalists!! they are out of this world!:)

I think Linda and Vanielje have both come up with classics, but as Vanielje's version is nore artistic in terms of using chocolate, I'd vote for her:)

AYE Admin said...

Thanks all! It was so much fun to do this. It was really hard choosing believe me! I am so excited to continue though. I hope that once we announce the winner on the 16th and the theme after that that you'll be able to participate again. Thanks again!

Holly

Neha said...

My vote goes to African Vanielje! Her Wildberry Dark Chocolate Mousse in a Bitter Chocolate Bramble Cage is truly a delight to the eye, and am sure to the palette!! :)

Unknown said...

Holly, well done for the first challenge. Wonderful creations, lovely decorations and it looks that everyone is very enthusiastic on this event. I'll be well-waiting for the next task. Thank you for choosing me to be on one of the top three. Good job everyone!

glamah16 said...

I vote for African Vanielje. It was tough because there are so many good ones. I love Lindas cake too!

Elle said...

My vote goes to Vanielje...that is a spectacular dessert...very artful with the bramble made of chocolate.

Lisa said...

My vote goes to the bramble cage. Looks amazing!

דורית said...

Wow!!
What a difficult decision ...everyone did such fine work...
But my vote goes to Chocolate ganache covered orange sponge cake with planetary chocolate decoration gets my vote. I admired the cake from the moment I saw it on her blog

Ann said...

African Vanielje for sure!
Ann at Redacted Recipes

Anzj said...

Wow, my favorite definitely is "African Vanielje" of "Vanielje Kitchen". Look at that beautiful baroque chocolate. That must have taken a lot of time. Too bad though the 'mousse in cage' is only photographed in detail.

Chibog in Chief said...

my vote is for linda with her beautiful planetary cake :-)