In the middle of the Pâtisserie de l’Île-Bizard shop for all to see stands a towering chocolate masterpiece.
Measuring over a metre tall, the sculpture is completely made of 80 per cent dark chocolate.
The project took more than 40 hours to complete and was dreamed up by studying pastry chef Oliver Caissy.
“It’s 100 per cent chocolate. You might think there is metal rods holding it but no,” Caissy said.
The sculpture depicts a feisty chick fending off a trickster rabbit who is trying to nab bright, colourful eggs from a green, egg-shaped hot air balloon.
“It’s all (edible), you can take a bite out of a piece, and it tastes pretty good, actually.”
Caissy, alongside friend and fellow pastry chef Safia-Louise Julie, constructed the Easter-themed hot air balloon art piece.
With little experience between the two chefs, all their work was all done alongside and under the guidance of chocolatier and owner Philippe Gouyet.
“To have him allow us to do something of this scale, with so much material just trusting us to pull this off, it’s a huge blessing,” Julie said.
It’s a good thing they had Gouyet by their side as the chefs say they learned a lot from the experience.
“We have to be patient because all of this was made by hand. It’s not easy,” Caissy said.
Engineering a chocolate piece of this scale had its fair share of challenges. One was simply keeping the 13-kilogram piece of chocolate standing.
“I’m really impressed and shocked that we were able to pull this off something of this height just with so much detail,” Julie said.
The hot air balloon will be standing tall on display all Easter weekend for patrons and clients to admire.
As for its future, that is still unknown. The shop may have a raffle for a lucky customer.
Both Julie and Caissy say they would like nothing more than to see their work enjoyed and if lucky enough, they would gladly taste their spoils.
“I hope I get to try a piece, maybe break the egg. That will be satisfying,” Caissy said.