chocolate madness.

Last Tuesday, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts hosted their annual Chocolate Madness event at The Cyclorama. I was invited to attend as a judge, which included a catered reception with plated appetizers and bottomless glasses of wine before diving headfirst into plates of chocolate everything. At assigned tables fellow judges and I rated eight entries, based on taste and creativity, before making the rounds to all (or as many as we could!) individual tables. We sampled from the wildly inventive treats to the standard but never disappointing confections from local restaurants, bakeries and chocolatiers who came out to support the cause.

My favorite? Definitely the Grand Cru Granada chocolate mousse with cookie crumbs, caramel, and meringue from Union Bar and Grille. Runner up was a tough call, but I gotta give it to the South End Buttery 's salted caramel chocolate cupcake.  Honorable mentions go out to the Taza chocolate bread pudding with salted caramel and toffee cream from The Fireplace, the peanut butter chocolate fudge brownies courtesy of Butter Girl Baking Co. and the French macaroons with Bergamot chocolate and salted toffee provided by Beacon Hill Bistro. Oh and then there was Foie Gras Cupcakes from Kickass Cupcakes, not for everyone, but definitely for me. As it turns out, you can have too much chocolate. But I wasn't complaining. It was such an honor to judge this event and I would do it again in a heartbeat!