chocouture
a chocolatier turns miss dc 2009 into a sweet version of cruella de vil
This month-long assignment for Worn Magazine in June 2010 involved shadowing Katie Musser as she prepared for Sweet Charity, an annual chocolate fashion show and charity event at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, DC. Fitted for Jen Corey, Miss DC 2009, her dress was in theme with 101 Dalmatians villainess Cruella de Vil and involved a cocoa butter-sprayed wig, sugar necklace, pastillage dog bone hosiery, molded chocolate for a gold-dusted belt and numerous other accents (not to mention a live dalmatian). As Maura Judkis began the article [pdf, 2mb]:
Katie Musser is a little too cavalier with her blowtorch. Usually, the 27-year-old Co Co. Sala chocolatier uses it to melt the inevitable smears of chocolate off of the marble slab that comprises her workspace, walled in behind the glass like a fishbowl. And since customers are always watching her work, she shows off a bit. That's what the blue flame is for. "The servers think it's badass," she said. "Damn right it is."
Competiting against 12 other chefs, who, for example, created a chocolate Spartacus, Katie won first prize and plans to defend her title in April 2011.