If you are known for indulging your sweet tooth over the festive season, then the latest sugar-based announcement from Hilton is sure to get your taste buds tingling and festive juices flowing.
The Hilton Americas Hotel in Houston has put on display a giant, half-ton chocolate sculpture of Santa, handcrafted by award-winning pastry chef Mahesh Weerasinghe from more than 1,000 pounds of dark chocolate.
The display, which cost over US $5,000 to make, includes life-size models of Santa’s elves, a chimney made entirely of gingerbread bricks and icing sugar, and a milk chocolate floor, shaped to look like weathered wooden floorboards.
Approximately 400 man-hours and two months went into the making of the sculpted confection, which tips weight-watchers scales at nearly 2.5 million calories.
"Chef Mahesh sculpted the creation using chocolate just as an artist would use clay," hotel spokeswoman Tere Perry told the Houston Chronicle.
“We are going to add on to it each year … Next year it will be even larger," she added.
The sugary sculpture will be on display in the lobby of the Hilton Americas Hotel until the end of the holidays, at which point it will go into cold storage until next year.
Unfortunately, chocolate lovers hoping to take a bite out of the sweet treat will be disappointed to learn that the whole thing has been sealed with lacquer, rendering it inedible.
All photographs courtesy of Hilton Hotels
December 18, 2013
Hilton displays half-ton chocolate Santa
by DOTW News
A 2.5 million-calorie chocolate Santa, tipping the scales at over half a ton, has gone on display at the Hilton Americas Hotel in Houston, US