How sweet it is! Thanks in large part to the efforts of Kendall College students led by pastry instructor Siddarth Mangalore, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago’s World of Chocolate 2009, held at the Hilton Chicago on December 3 to commemorate World AIDS Day, netted nearly $200,000 to support HIV/AIDS public education, policy and grant-making programs.

Mangalore and more than 20 students enrolled in Kendall’s Baking & Pastry associate-degree and certificate programs prepared chocolate pastries, confections, candies and sculptures for the eighth-annual event, which was the first year Kendall participated. A focal centerpiece was a globe of the earth, made of chocolate and bearing ancient symbols alluding to love, life and perseverance. Single-origin-bean chocolate from Kendall College partner Barry Callebaut was the featured chocolate in every pastry and confection created by Kendall.

“I thought this would be a great event for Kendall—a kind of Who’s Who in chocolate manufacturing in Chicago,” Mangalore says. “I pushed for it because it’s a very noble cause, plus, it was good exposure of Kendall’s Baking & Pastry program to the public, and a valuable experience for students.”

World of Chocolate catered to nearly 1,500 guests, more than 30 vendors and several sponsors—a sell-out, according to Katie O’Malley, development coordinator for AIDS Foundation of Chicago, who asked each partner to provide at least 1,000 pieces of any delicacy to be served at the four-hour event.

“We originally thought 1,000 pastries and confections would be plenty, but because we made them smaller, we prepared 2,000,” Mangalore says. “They were consumed in an hour and a half! We will definitely make more next year.”

The next World of Chocolate will take place at the Hilton Chicago on World Aids Day, December 2, 2010, which also marks the AIDS Foundation of Chicago’s 25th commemorative year. For more information, visit www.aidschicago.org.