It was an offer a chocolate lover could not refuse. Be one of the judges for the first ever Utah Chocolate Competition.

Amateur and professional chocolate makers entered their best candy creations for fame and bragging rights. The winners will be announced as part of the annual Utah Chocolate Show, which takes place Friday and Saturday (Nov. 21 and 22) at the South Towne Expo Center.

The title of the competition, A Small Extravagance, is deceiving because this (see the photo) was the huge tray of chocolates that I had to taste. It included milk chocolate, dark
chocolate, truffles, dipped chocolates, toffees, caramels and fudge. (Like I said it was a chocolate lovers dream.).

Most of the chocolates were good, a handful were fabulous. A couple were wasted calories: too sweet, too artificial tasting or (sorry about this) they tasted like peanut butter, my most unfavorite flavor. Maybe those entries got better scores from the other two judges, Kurtis Baguley, executive pastry chef at The Grand America Hotel and Raymond Lammers, executive pastry chef at Stein Eriksen Lodge.

Anyway, after I recovered from my chocolate buzz, I realized that the state of chocolate in Utah is for the most part in good hands. Especially when I find out who was entry number A-4, a speckled treat filled with divine milk chocolate. I've really got to have more of those.