"Sweets for the Sweet" is a local restaurant dessert competition hosted by the Caritas House Inc., which assists people living in 25 counties of northern West Virginia who are living with HIV/AIDS. The Caritas (Latin for charity) House was created in 1994 and is one of three organizations in the state who assist these individuals.

The 18th annual event was held on Saturday at the WVU Alumni Center. It cost $20 and the proceeds benefited the Caritas House. The event featured the dessert tasting competition, the Fairmont State University Jazz Ensemble, door prizes and auctions. I luckily opted to be overdressed instead of under-dressed and went with a dress - I fit in just fine.

My starter plate - slide, corndog and some chips/guac. Tasty.

As soon as Heather and I walked in, there was a small buffet to the side. It featured some vegetables, sliders, pepperoni rolls, corndogs, chips and dip and drinks. That was nice, considering I thought it would be all chocolate.

Then, it was just circling the room, chocolate tasting from a bunch of local restaurants:

Ali Baba Restaurant
Atomic Grill
(Claudia Atkinson Catering - not present)
Cold Stone Creamery
The Cupcakerie
The Dancing Fig
Erickson Alumni Center
Jimmy's Diner
Lebanese Bistro
Morgantown Brewing Company
Noteworthy Sweets
Ramada - Heritage Grille
Rising Creek Bakery & Cafe
Table 9
Terra Cafe
Tutto Gelato Cafe

Ali Baba's baklava - pretty good; buttery and flakey.

Noteworthy Sweets - my first French macaroon! Super good, love the strawberry. Better than I expected.

The Cupc- akerie - raspberry champag- ne cupcake. Didn't taste too much like raspberry or champagne, but it was an OK cupcake overall. My favorite of the first three (Ali Baba's, the Cupcakerie and Noteworthy Sweets) would have to be the French macaroon. Maybe because it was my first, but it was also just delectable.

Northern Eagle Distributing had a few different dessert wines to choose from. I tried the chocolate red win - ChocoVine because YOLO. Eh, it's alright.

And yes, they gave these adorable mini stemless wine glasses (for the first time, I'm told) to drink the wine (and beer!) with. How thoughtful and fun. Plus you get a little souvenir to take home, in case you want tiny glasses of beer/wine in the future.

The Heritage Grille at the Ramada Inn had little plates of three desserts. I really didn't need three separate desserts, so I just stole a strawberry off one plate. It was good - and it was a nice change of pace to have white chocolate.

I didn't know the Ramada had a restaurant. I need to add that to my list of places to try. Has anyone been there?


Okay, Atomic Grill really went all out. This is what they had: lemon curd, almond genoise, smoked chocolate ganache, blood orange reduction, crystallized ginger scented mascarpone, pistacchio brittle. I gotta say, it was definitely different and creative. And it was tasty - but not my absolute fav.

Terra Cafe had a huge - not sample sized - chocolate cake with coconut. Chocolate cake isn't my most favorite, but kudos to them for seriously making huge portions and giving everybody their own mini cake. Holla.





















Rising Creek Bakery & Cafe had my absolute favorite dessert. Joel Brown actually crafted these babies: french lemon cake with raspberry and meringue.

I voted for them to be the overall winner - and surprise - they were. Joel was super creative with the delivery - so not only was this fun to eat, the flavors were just divine. The cake part was moist and not overly sweet so that the other sweet flavors shined through. Just very creative and very, very tasty. 





The Brew Pub brought their A game, for sure. Not only did they have beer on top to complement their dessert, they infused it into the actual dessert. It is a strawberry Alpha Blonde ale swirled Old Morgantown Amber Ale malt chocolate brownie with a coffee porter cream cheese frosting paired with an 80 Shilling Scotch Ale marshmallow fluff and Kettle Bottom Brown Ale candied almonds.

It was definitely different and had some fierce flavor. But I love the creativity and thought that went into this. It was a little heavy and strong for me, but I still am happy with it.

Oh, and I got a beer. So, yeah. That was a smart move.





Lebanese Bistro had baklava, but I already had baklava. I asked for the filo dough/strawberry concoction. They said I'd have to go to the restaurant for that. But the owner quickly said I could have it. He said he was saving it for those really interested. So, I did, and it wasn't bad. It was a bit more creative, not super sweet, but overall not bad.

After Lebanese, it was Tutto Gelato. Who actually did the ice cream right - by storing it in a freezer and scooping it as people come by. It was salted caramel stracciatella with whipped cream.

Table 9 - a citrus goat cheese cheesecake with strawberry rhubarb sauce and candied pecans. This was definitely my second runner up. I love love loved this.

Erickson Alumni Center - creme brulee. By the time I got here, it wasn't brittle at the top - it was just soft. So, meh.

Jimmy's Diner had this lemon cake that had cream and meringue, and it was tasty. And the owner was lovely.