By Brian McVicar | The Muskegon Chronicle 

MUSKEGON — The detail is almost excruciating in scope — A Chinese warrior mask, with two, twisting dragons rising from its base.

Shelli Hallman and Laura Alvarez's creation looks like it could land a spot at any arts and crafts store. But making it even more special is this: It's made out of chocolate.

Hallman and Alvarez, both students at Baker College's Culinary Institute of Michigan, took first place in the Masterpiece Competition at the 22nd Annual MSU Museum Chocolate Party fundraiser in East Lansing last month.

The award was a big honor for the students, both of whom live in Grant, and Luis Amado, department chair of Baking and Pastry Arts at the culinary institute.

“Knowing that they competed against professionals makes it even better,” Amado said about the contest pitted students against professional pastry chefs.

Three schools — each with three teams — from across the state participated.

Crafting the piece wasn't the only challenge students faced in the competition. Transporting the piece from Muskegon to East Lansing proved a challenge, too.

It took some creative packaging and lots of air conditioning, Amado said.

“We had the air conditioning on the whole way,” he said.

Creating the piece took the students about a month, Amado said. Some days, the students spent between six to 12 hours on the project.

Because the piece isn't edible — it has been handled by too many people and exposed to too much bacteria — students face a tough decision: What happens to the piece now?

The piece most likely be melted so students can use the chocolate for other projects, Amado said.

“It's like separation anxiety sort of thing,” he said. “We don't want to melt it.”

Other students at the culinary institute who took home awards include Chad Starr, Joseph Gonzalez, Ashleigh Hile, and Elizabeth Adamson.

Star and Gonzalez won third place in the masterpiece competition, and Hile and Adamson took home the people's choice award.

“It makes me want to work even harder for next year,” Amado said. “I hope more students get involved because I think competing makes students hone their skills.”