(The following is from guest blogger Christine Bertelson, Deputy Managing Editor)

There’s something very yin and yang about the pairing of pomegranates and dark chocolate. Visually, they are as gorgeous as Rogers and Astaire, and taste-wise, just as smooth.

Bissinger’s used the two flavors, blended in various holiday confections, as an excuse to host an intimate “chocolate experience” at its Maryland Plaza store last week, where baker and cookbook author DeDe Wilson was the special guest.

Wilson (wearing shiny pomegranate-colored beads and matching bracelet) was in town to promote her new book, “The Birthday Cake Book,” and her seasonal titles, “A Baker’s Field Guide to Christmas Cookies,” and “Christmas Cooking for Dummies.”

She lives in Amherst, Mass., where she hosts her own public television cooking show, Seasonings with Dede Wilson. Happily, she’s friendly and down-to-earth and not an over-the-top food celeb. She’s also a contributing editor to Bon Appètit magazine; her luscious-looking four-layer chocolate peppermint cake is Bon Appetit’s cover girl for December.

The intense drinks and desserts Bissinger’s had whipped up
were so rich they kept me awake all night, but it was worth every toss and turn: a Pama liqueur and champagne cocktail served with pomegranate seeds and a wisp of orange peel; pomegranate-laced panna cotta topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce in a Bissinger’s striped chocolate cup; a dark chocolate shavings-covered “blackout” cake made of alternating layers of pudding and cake brushed with pomegranate juice; and (best for last) a tiny cup of satiny drinking chocolate — not too sweet and just hot enough — concocted by chief choclatier Terry Wakefield. Since most of the chocolate I eat comes from a vending machine, the entire evening was a revelation.

Bissinger’s is planning to double its current space, expanding westward with the addition of a fireplace, a wine bar and a chocolate dipping station. It also plans to keep carefully expanding its range of delectables, like Sumatra Mandehling Espresso Beans, pumpkin bark and wine.

“We’re in the small indulgence business,” said Ken Kellerhals, Bissinger’s president. “In this economy, that’s a good place to be.”