Is This The Biggest Chocolate Easter Egg in New York City?

Who knows? But consider the jaw-drop vital statistics of the ultimate Easter egg on view at the Peninsula Hotel: three pastry chefs, 48 hours and 45 pounds of chocolate.

The result stands three feet tall and boasts enough hand-made candy flowers and butterflies to fill a small army of Easter baskets.

Executive pastry chef Deden Putra knows a thing or two about heroic,  look-but-don’t-nibble hotel pastries. He wowed guests in the lobby at Christmas with twin reindeer and a sleigh fashioned from lollipops.  I caught up with Deden and asked him about his latest creation.

What was your inspiration for the egg?

Spring with its cheery colors, good energy and fresh spirit.

What was the biggest challenge creating it?

Transporting the finished product from the kitchen to the lobby.

Were the butterflies difficult to design?

They’re not too difficult if you understand how to work with chocolate. You roll out white chocolate, cut it with a butterfly-shaped cutter, and add the detail. Let it dry overnight at room temperature and color it the next day with special coloring made for chocolate.

We’ll leave that to the pros. What about the flowers?

They take a bit more skill. I made them piece by piece.  Once the chocolate crystallized, I assembled them. I used an air brush to color them, and for that you need a lot of experience – and patience.

I can only imagine. All that chocolate is edible, isn’t it? How many people would it feed?

I would say it could feed more than 100.

But a lot more people than that will see it on the big round table in the upstairs lobby.

Published March 21, 2013

 

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