Hutt Valley eateries are preparing for the annual Sweet As Hutt’s Hot Chocolate Challenge.
Video / Melissa Nightingale
Lower Hutt’s annual hot chocolate challenge has gone to the dogs - literally.
This year’s Sweet As Hutt’s Hot Chocolate Challenge, in which Hutt Valley eateries design extravagant hot chocolates for customers to vote on, has taken a fluffy turn, in the form of a pop up hot chocolate stop for dogs.
About 100 pooches were treated to dog-friendly hot chocolates at the Wainuiomata dog park on Sunday as part of the “Pup Pop Up” to promote the hot chocolate challenge and support the Lower Hutt Foodbank.
Owners were able to trade a can or koha in exchange for a chocolatey treat for their pets, made with carob so as to be safe for consumption.
Dogs enjoy a hot chocolate at the Sweet As Hutt's Hot Chocolate Challenge pop up at the Wainuiomata dog park. Photo / Supplied
While dogs happily slurped their beverages from bowls on the ground, humans will get a different experience when the challenge begins tomorrow.
Over at the Crooked Elm, the slurping continues, but this time out of a Nutella and white chocolate-lined doughnut topped with marshmallows and coffee-flavoured candy floss.
Chef patron Paul Rowan said he was inspired by a dish they had recently served at their restaurant called “bunny chow”, which involved hollowing out a bread roll and filling it with a curry. The dish was so popular he decided to replicate it for the hot chocolate challenge.
“Our bar manager came up with the idea of putting it in a doughnut,” he said.
“I can imagine people getting real grubby,” he laughed. “It’s not really a knife and fork thing or a spoon thing. It’s about stuffing it in your face.”
People will be provided with a spoon if desired, however.
Chef patron at the Crooked Elm, Paul Rowan, with their "chocky chow". Photo / Melissa Nightingale
Following the theme of serving hot chocolates in a non-traditional way, Buzz cafe owner Michael Gray will be serving drinks straight out of a flaming hot wok.
The “Hot Wok Choc” is a thick hot chocolate mixed with Nutella and topped with chocolate-dipped marshmallows.
After six years of involvement in the challenge, Gray said it was becoming more difficult to come up with ideas that hadn’t already been done. He searched for inspiration on Pinterest, YouTube and Google and eventually stumbled across a video from India where a street vendor was selling hot chocolates from a wok.
Buzz cafe owner Michael Gray serves up their "Hot Wok Choc". Photo / Melissa Nightingale
He was not the only one making a show out of this year’s offering, with Hudsons Queensgate buying a smoke bubble gun to add a hint of class to the hot chocolate experience.
Normally seen perched atop expensive cocktails, the bubble will be served on top of their “Smokey Apple”, a semicircle piece of chocolate filled with Belgian hot chocolate. Customers can then pour a light green, apple and black tea-flavoured milk concoction over their drink to melt the chocolate and pop the bubble.
Operations manager Mahi Chivukula said it was like a “laboratory experience”.
Over at Janus Bakkerij extravagance was key for their drink “I Want Moro That”, a hot chocolate topped with mousse, caramel, chocolate shavings and sauce, and chunks of Moro bar.
Owners Arna and Jason Wnek said they liked to go for something “crazier”, and asked themselves “what can people handle?”
“You do like to push the limits,” Arna Wnek said.
They liked to call it a breakfast in a cup - depending on the time of day.
Janus Bakkerij's "I Want Moro That". Photo / Melissa Nightingale
They were issuing a challenge of their own to customers. “Can you finish it?”
Arna Wnek said they liked to balance out the “sickly sweet” with a nice drink people could enjoy.
This year 20 hospitality operators will join in the challenge, which runs from June 29 to July 16.
For the first time, voting categories have been introduced in the challenge, so customers can now vote for best taste, best presentation, best customer service, and the overall winner.
Photo / Supplied
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice, and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.
