Santa is already here in town and you truly won't believe how big (and sweet) he really is.
The Hilton Americas-Houston and its award-winning pastry chef Mahesh Weerasinghe created a 1,000 pound chocolate holiday display featuring Santa Claus and his elves.
Entirely hand-sculpted from what equates to a half ton of dark chocolate and chocolate dough, the larger-than-life Santa sits in his chair surrounded by two elves, a pack, a wagon full of toys and a lamppost, all atop a base of poured milk chocolate which has been carefully crafted to resemble the boards of a weathered wood floor.
The amount of chocolate used to create the piece is equivalent to 95,000 chocolate kisses.
The amount of chocolate used to create the piece is equivalent to 95,000 chocolate kisses. It's 2,432,000 calories of chocolate.
Using his training from award-winning chocolatier Rudy Wieder, combined with his own artistic talent, Weerasinghe crafted the tasty one-of-a-kind creation by sculpting the chocolate just as an artist sculpts clay. It took approximately 400 man-hours and two months of creative work and construction to go from the initial conception to the completion of the chocolate scene, which also includes a gingerbread-bricked fireplace behind the figures to complete the sweet Christmas diorama.
The unique creation will be on display in the lobby of the Hilton Americas — located at 1600 Lamar — until Dec. 30.
What will happen to the chocolate figures in the new year, you wonder?
Hilton Americas public relations manager Tere Perry tells CultureMap that it will be stored until the 2014 holiday season. At that time, Weerasinghe will add more to the display (perhaps a Mrs. Claus?) and the hotel will continue the tradition for years to come.
The one-of-a-kind chocolate holiday display at the Hilton Americas was crafted using 1,000 pounds of chocolate.
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