BY KAREN BOSSICK

The theme was Death by Chocolate. But a handful of College of Southern Idaho students turned their chocolate cookie into a health food with the addition of a purple yam that one of the students had eaten growing up in the Philippines.

Payton Anderson and her culinary mates combined ube, a water tuber, with matcha to create a most unusual purplish chocolate cookie for the annual Death by Chocolate fundraiser held in Twin Falls.

“The sweet potato is a starchy food—sweet but not overwhelming like sugar,” said Anderson.

“We went for healthy—our cookie is a little crunchy, a little healthy,” said J. Pierce. \

The students were among dozens of contestants in Twin Falls’ annual Death by Chocolate Fundraiser. Chefs and culinary students from St. Luke’s Magic Valley, Blue Lakes Country Club, Canyon Ridge High School and even a candy shop in Weiser known for its homemade fudge brought their best truffles, brownies, cakes, cookies, candies and unique desserts.

And it was game on as people circled the room to sample everything from a Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Ganache to a grasshopper cheesecake to Caramel Apple Chocolate Sourdough Bread Pudding with Chocolate Ganache.

Calories did not count but the ticket sales did, as the Rotary Club will use the money from the fundraiser to rebuild the restrooms at Twin Falls’ Frontier Park.

Check it all out in today’s Eye on Sun Valley video.